Self-catered vs. catered accommodation

I am going to apply for accommodation so I really want to know which will help me save more, self-catered or catered accommodation?

Reply 1

gr8wizard10

Well.. Self-catered is cheaper as in renting halls, although catered means an easy life for you. Regardless, it's seemingly affordable either way. I have an offer for Loughborough and have chosen I'd go for the Catered halls, if I don't get into my Firm choice.

Loughborough University

Loughborough

Reply 2

thenickoftime

If you've never budgeted before and you don't really know how much a weekly food shop costs, catered is probably better value. If you're careful at planning your own meals and budget, self-catered is your thing.
It's really a balance of costs, how willing you are to cook decent meals, having full control of your diet, how social you're willing to be in your hall (dining halls tend to be more sociable than common rooms) and time management.
I went for self-catered (Harry French) and don't regret it one bit. It was a great way to introduce myself to the possibilities there are with cooking for myself.

Reply 3

JoshG273

I'm in DC (David Collett), and to tell you the truth it is so good being able to roll out of bed at quarter past eight, get showered and dressed, and then have a full english and still be in for a lecture at 9am.

However if you are good at budgeting it is a lot cheaper to save money in self-catered. On of my friends in Bakewell has only spent about £200 since September on food, just by buying things like pasta, rice and noodles in bulk. His flat all chip in and get huge bags of stuff like that.

Reply 4

Sehun

I've been catered and self-catered, and catered for me was sooo much better. Three meals a day and you can eat as much as you want to an extent. Although you might be sick of potatoes by the end of the year..

Reply 5

username1291227

I've firmed Loughborough and I'm choosing Catered, hopefully Cayley. My ex boyfriend (lol) is in his first year in Cayley and whenever I used to go down and stay, the food was always of a good standard and there's a large choice! It comes out cheaper in the long run going catered apparently, and I know that as for buying food if you're in self-catered, the supermarket is a long walk (even a drive) away, and the shop on campus (the PO as it's known) is expensive for food! The only downside to catered is having to cook on weekends but there's a take-away on campus (Papa Si's) which is cheap, which most people live off of on the weekends :-)
I will also add, Cayley is near the PO, Papa Si's and close to the union, so it's a super good location! :-))

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