Original post by sheffunistudentHi! Firstly congratulations on receiving an offer to study here - you will love the city and University. Where abouts do you live at the moment, if you don't mind me asking?
The biggest cost will be rent. I would strongly advise staying in University-owned accommodation; it is of very high quality, in great locations, and is the best way to meet lots of people at the University. Applications are open now, and I would advise applying early. Rent varies dependent on the room type - with the cheaper options you will share a bathroom, for a little more you can have an en-suite.
Food is also a significant expense - but can vary a lot. If you shopped for most stuff in the local Sainsbury's supermarket, cooked most of your meals from scratch, I would say that you would spend around £25 per week. Obviously if you were very frugal with your money, you could spend less, whilst if you have expensive tastes, you will spend more than this. If you decide to buy lunch each day when away from your flat, this also soon adds up (£3 for a meal deal lunch, vs. £1.50 for a packed lunch). You will come to realise that buying a ready-made lasagne from the supermarket will cost you £3.50, but you could spend £10 and make your own - it will make 6 portions (so saves money) and is probably nicer/healthier. A good lesson in life learned by students is to minimise inputs whilst maximising outputs (e.g. in the lasagne example you would be spending less and getting a better outcome).
Textbooks can be a significant cost, depending on your course. Textbooks can be very expensive, but if you put up with borrowing from the library, then you could avoid this expenditure. But if you were to buy second-hand copies of the key text books, I would allow for around £80-100 a year.
Socialising - a big part of student life here in the UK. I spend more on going out than I do on food. In first year I spent around £80 a week socialising - but I did go out a lot (to nightclubs three times a week), I went to pubs regularly, we went to the cinema/bowling/into the Peak District, etc. Some people spend a lot less than I do on this area (but some do manage to spend more). I would advise you to join in as much as possible - join sports teams, departmental societies, go out with your flatmates, etc. However, it all adds up. In second and third years, you will spend a lot, lot less in this area.
Obviously there are a lot of other miscellaneous purchases that you forget about: clothes, stationery, bus fares, train tickets, etc.
Hope this helps - if you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!