is spending £10 a day at uni too much?

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Is this after rent/bills/transport? Does it include food costs (i.e. home food costs that is to say meals etc) or is that already factored in? Probably not really excessive if including meals (I.e. weekly food shop) although you might be able to trim the food shop costs down a bit.

If it's just for your "walking around money" then it's maybe a bit more than I'd spend routinely (if you did that every day for a year that's £3650!) but a couple times a week spending a tenner on a costa coffee with friends and/or going out for a drink after uni can be manageable as long as you ensure your other costs are covered.

That said I do think you might be approaching this from the wrong angle - try not to think of it as "how much can I spend" and think of "this is my reserve money, which I have available if I need it or if I want to treat myself now and then".

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by artful_lounger

Is this after rent/bills/transport? Does it include food costs (i.e. home food costs that is to say meals etc) or is that already factored in? Probably not really excessive if including meals (I.e. weekly food shop) although you might be able to trim the food shop costs down a bit.

If it's just for your "walking around money" then it's maybe a bit more than I'd spend routinely (if you did that every day for a year that's £3650!) but a couple times a week spending a tenner on a costa coffee with friends and/or going out for a drink after uni can be manageable as long as you ensure your other costs are covered.

That said I do think you might be approaching this from the wrong angle - try not to think of it as "how much can I spend" and think of "this is my reserve money, which I have available if I need it or if I want to treat myself now and then".

so this is the money after rent/bills/transport, and it isnt £10 a day - more like my maximum is £10 a day, but most days I spend around 5/6

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Anonymous

so this is the money after rent/bills/transport, and it isnt £10 a day - more like my maximum is £10 a day, but most days I spend around 5/6

I would aim for not spending more than £40 a week on your food shop - certainly that used to be very achievable, although with the cost of living crisis things don't go as far as before. But as a student even now I think managing a weekly food shop of £30-35 is probably plausible? After that then £20-30 a week spending money is...ok. I think you can probably manage some reasonable entertainment/indulgences for £20 or under a week (albeit may be more of a once a week activity than a daily one), but depends on exactly what it is you like to do and how often!

A useful budgeting tool I've found is to just take out X amount in cash each week (not too much! also just so if your wallet is lost or stolen you're not out of pocket a huge amount) and have that be your budget for the week for your day to day costs. Do your food shopping with that, use it for any extra bits you want to spend as you are out and about, and that way you know exactly how much you are spending and can be more aware of small regular costs that add up (and can help you maybe focus on turning daily small but not essential costs to occasional ones over the week instead - which can save a lot of money over time).

That will help contain your routine costs, and then if there's an odd indulgence or entertainment activity you want to go for in a given week, you can just do that on top of it and recognise it as a non-routine spend :smile:

Reply 4

Muttley79

20

Original post by Anonymous

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Don't forget costs of washing, drying plus other stuff you need.

Original post by Anonymous

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Hi there!

£10 a day budget sounds reasonable to me. If you want to maximise your spending, it might be worth making not of your spending so you can work out how much of your money goes where. This is super helpful for balancing a budget. Hope this helps!

Reply 6

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

16

Original post by Anonymous

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Anon,

I think it's too much.

It's easy to get into the habit of spending money just to spend money. I would focus more on trying to save money rather than spend it!

It might be an idea to try not to spend every day. It's easy to get into the habit of spending money on things that you don't really need and it's easy to get into unhelpful habits e.g. buying a £4 coffee every day instead of drinking a coffee at home, bringing coffee with you or just getting more sleep so you're not dependent on a strong cup of coffee! You could use the money saved for some nice groceries or for a takeaway when it's been a long day, when you need to work, and when you don't have time to cook!

I assume you're not going to be buying alcohol or going to clubs every day, so you will end up saving money, but remember that there's lots of things that you might not realise that you need to pay for weekly e.g. toiletries, laundry, items for when the season changes (pocket tissues, lozenges, clothing etc) or kitchen stuff like bin liners, kitchen towel, washing-up liquid etc..

Be careful with items that you can pay for using your card or phone, as it easy to spend more than you realise an to find it more difficult to keep track of your spending. This is why using cash can be so helpful!

Also beware of any direct debits you might have forgotten about.

Hope that helps,

Oluwatosin – 3rd year student – University of Huddersfield

Reply 7

Bigfishytime

11

go foodbanks and bin-diving and save the £14 instead

Original post by Anonymous

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Hi there!
For most people, learning how to budget is something they really start to learn at university so try not to worry too much!!
I try and split my loan into weekly budgets and then half of this goes on my main food shop for the week. The rest I use for things like socialising or grabbing a coffee here and there!
Having a separate account to the one your loan goes into is the best way I’ve found to keep on track of my budget as it means I don’t overspend!
Putting aside any extra you have for things like birthdays and Christmas is always helpful!
I hope this helps!
Rebecca, UCLan Student

Original post by Anonymous

so I worked out that my budget technically allows me to spend £14 (but id rather spend £10 just to have the extra £4 in savings) but I try to spend either 10 or below, im new to adulting so I have no idea if this is too much?

(fyi, I spend the money mostly on food/alcohol/club tickets )

Hi there!

I'm Pip, a 3rd year TV Production student. I would start by saying there's no set 'too much' as your budget is based off your income/ student loan. If £10 p/w still means you can pay your bills and other essential purchases then I think that's great! It's always good to try to save where you can in Uni as you're never sure what expenses will come up when, but you're already aiming for under what your budget allows so that's a good start. Eg. In first year my everyday shoes wore through and I had to buy new ones, which I wasn't prepared for.

Like some of the other in here, I have a separate account for the money I need to pay bills - I think this just makes it easier to visualise.

Hope this helps!

Pip

Hello,

I am Haya, a final year student in UCLAN.

As a student, I used the 50-30-20 budgeting rules, which is 50% of my income for rent, bills, and necessities. 30% for wants like eating out, spending time with friends ,and 20% for savings like travelling, and buying things I want depending on you initial budget.

You can also use apps like Goodbudget to help.

Most importantly try to always have some fun!

Hope this helps,
Haya - MBBS5

is spending £10 a day at uni too much?

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