Can a uni student live on about £100 per week?

I'm in sixth form and just calculating some student finance stuff.

The government maintenance loan for 'living costs' is £8,024 per year.
Accommodation for the Uni of Bradford is £3,906 for 42 weeks (an academic year).

£8,024 - £3,906 = £4,118 (p/yr excluding accommodation costs)

£4,118 divided by 42 (weeks) = £98.04 (per week).

Is that enough? What other costs come with studying away from home at university? Is it worth getting a small part time job? During university or prior to university?

I already have a functioning laptop by the way; I'm not a big alcohol drinker; and I try to control how much clothing I buy.

Thanks! :smile:

Reply 1

Mayhem™

19

you can easily feed yourself on £30 a week, so that leaves money for travel and other necessities
however if you want some 'luxuries' and flexibility, a part-time job sounds great :smile:

Reply 2

username944192

21

Yes, that's enough. Part time work would obviously help and is always worthwhile experience even if you can afford to live without it.

Reply 3

ByronicHero

20

Incredibly easily, yes.

OP

Thanks guys! :smile:

Original post by maggiedavies

I'm in sixth form and just calculating some student finance stuff.

The government maintenance loan for 'living costs' is £8,024 per year.
Accommodation for the Uni of Bradford is £3,906 for 42 weeks (an academic year).

£8,024 - £3,906 = £4,118 (p/yr excluding accommodation costs)

£4,118 divided by 42 (weeks) = £98.04 (per week).

Is that enough? What other costs come with studying away from home at university? Is it worth getting a small part time job? During university or prior to university?

I already have a functioning laptop by the way; I'm not a big alcohol drinker; and I try to control how much clothing I buy.

Thanks! :smile:

Firstly are you sure that you'll be getting £8000 from Student finance- that is the maximum loan available for students whose household income is in the lowest bracket? Apologies if you will be, just wanted to check.

Secondly yes its perfectly possible.

Reply 6

Alexion

17

Original post by maggiedavies

The government maintenance loan for 'living costs' is £8,024 per year.

That's the absolute maximum loan anyway - are you sure you'll be entitled to all of it?

Reply 7

donutellme

18

Yes... With £80 left to spare.

Reply 8

maggiedavies

OP

8

Original post by jelly1000

Firstly are you sure that you'll be getting £8000 from Student finance- that is the maximum loan available for students whose household income is in the lowest bracket? Apologies if you will be, just wanted to check.

Secondly yes its perfectly possible.

Original post by Alexion

That's the absolute maximum loan anyway - are you sure you'll be entitled to all of it?

My answers to the Student Loan Calculator:
UK Student Full Time
Tuition is £9,000 p/yr
Not living with parents and studying outside of London
Annual Household Income: Okay, I guessed at this but I remember my parents guesstimating it to be around £26,500. We definitely earn less than £30,000 for sure.

:smile:

Reply 9

-sashadasha-

6

I budgeted to £60 a week and I've always got money left over which I carry forward into a separate pile of extra money which saves up to use for buying myself nice things

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Reply 10

jelly1000

21

Original post by maggiedavies

My answers to the Student Loan Calculator:
UK Student Full Time
Tuition is £9,000 p/yr
Not living with parents and studying outside of London
Annual Household Income: Okay, I guessed at this but I remember my parents guesstimating it to be around £26,500. We definitely earn less than £30,000 for sure.

:smile:

In that case I apologise, but in your case student finance is meant to be enough to live on and should be as long as you budget properly.

Reply 11

SophieSmall

21

Yes, that's far more than a lot of student live off.

I advise you make up an excel budget now for the academic year (or the whole year if you fancy) and input values for how much you think things will cost. So obviously include things like rent, food, travel ect. But also don't forget you'll need to pay a deposit (and sometimes fees +advance in rent) for second year accommodation/ housing in your first year also, and some places have the tenancy agreement starting over the summer.

Whether a job is worth it is up to you, you certainly don't need it to survive by any means. But it's always good to have work on your CV and a bit more money in your pocket. Or in my opinion a bit more money in savings, it's always good to have some savings stored away.

If you need any help with making a budget spread sheet feel free to message me, I have a template.

Reply 12

Tiger Rag

22

You need to take into account that you may need to buy things like train tickets if you're planning on travelling home; so may have less than £100 a week to live on. But it's doable.

Reply 13

Elegantsolution

3

Learn to cook well without wasting food now, if you can, and that will help you a great deal in terms of your budget.

Reply 14

doodle_333

19

I reckon £60 is enough to live comfortably on at uni a week (as in be able to go out and socialise etc and not eat rubbish)

so that leaves you a pretty big chunk left over to spend extra during freshers, buy yourself some clothes, pay for train tickets, get a few luxuries, pay for next years deposit etc and as a safety net in case you overspend

Reply 15

cherryred90s

20

Original post by maggiedavies

I'm in sixth form and just calculating some student finance stuff.

The government maintenance loan for 'living costs' is £8,024 per year.
Accommodation for the Uni of Bradford is £3,906 for 42 weeks (an academic year).

£8,024 - £3,906 = £4,118 (p/yr excluding accommodation costs)

£4,118 divided by 42 (weeks) = £98.04 (per week).

Is that enough? What other costs come with studying away from home at university? Is it worth getting a small part time job? During university or prior to university?

I already have a functioning laptop by the way; I'm not a big alcohol drinker; and I try to control how much clothing I buy.

Thanks! :smile:

Need to take into account social activities. That would cost about £10-20 per week (if you plan on going out weekly)
Travelling back home, check train tickets and bus/taxi fares.
There will be days when you will not want to cook or won't have time and you'll probably get a takeaway
Washer/dryer at uni will cost money weekly or fortnightly.
Printing credits if you don't have a printer.
You've got to be prepared to buy books if your library doesn't have them or if they're all out on loan (this won't be weekly but it is another cost to consider)

Reply 16

RibenaRockstar

14

If I were you I would let yourself spend 55-60 pounds a week all in (including monthly stuff like phone bills etc) for the first term and see how it goes, saving the rest for things like second year accommodation deposit. I have in the past done this by having two bank accounts and transferring across what I needed weekly.