Fresher's Week Budget - How much??

I'm trying to budget for the start of my university year and I dont have the slightest clue as to what I should budget for to spend on freshers week. What about past freshers.. what did you spend? and freshers this year coming - what do you think?

:smile:

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Reply 1

Ruffiio

Are there fancy dress events that will be taking place?

If so, will you be partaking in these events and want to buy a costume?

Do you drink?

How many times will you be going out during freshers, every day?

What is the cost of attending these special themed freshers events/club entry costs?

Will you be signing up to any clubs/societies, do these societies have membership costs?

Does your university have a gym? Will you be using this gym and if so how much is the membership, if any cost at all?

Reply 2

HannahH9055

I will most likely be going out every day during freshers week. Does our student finance start on freshers week? Or do we need our own money for freshers week?

Reply 3

Geo21

I've told myself £90 for that week but I'm guessing people spend much more. I'm on quite a tight budget and £90 even seems ridiculous to me. Haha.

You will need your own money for freshers as you won't get any finance until you are enrolled.

Reply 4

HannahH9055

Ah okay, yeah I'm on a very tight budget! There will be loads of drinks deals and that though so that's a good thing. Are any of you getting a wristband?

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Reply 5

SophieSmall

Original post by HannahH9055

Ah okay, yeah I'm on a very tight budget! There will be loads of drinks deals and that though so that's a good thing. Are any of you getting a wristband?

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Hello if you don't think you'll have enough money to tide you over for the first possibly 2 or 3 weeks while at uni before student finance comes it's really worth looking into getting a student account with an overdraft.

As for wristbands whether or not it is worth it will entirely depends on your are, the amount and type of clubs you will want to go into per night and how often you will be going out and how expensive the wristband is.

At my uni (LJMU) no one on my floor bought the wristband and it was a good job we didn't as it would have been a wast ofd money because the we did't go to the majority of the clubs that were included in the wristband.

At OP, how much you budget will vary depending on the student and their area, I don't know the difference York is to Liverpool but this is what I spent:

£100 on first food shop + kitchen items + towels + toiletries (I shopped at ASDA for most of these as there basics ASDA price range is very cheap and quite good quality) I bought some things such as some toiletries and a plate set from Wilkinson's as they are incredibly cheap and they usually have very cheap student stuff in September.

About £30 for pre-drinks for the first 2 weeks, I bought 3 bottles of vodka and fruit juice to mix it with and it lasted me 2 weeks, in this space of time I went out about 9 times. This is big difference to the amount going out further on the year as my liver would have failed otherwise :tongue:

In clubs during freshers week probably spent only about £15 on club entries overall but that is because we mainly went to the non-student clubs (though they were still full of students) and went to clubs that were very cheap entry or didn't charge entry at all (Baa Bar which is a chain club was always one of the first choices.).

For drinks in clubs I again probably only spent about £20 overall in the first 2 weeks, this is mainly so little because I would drink most of my nights alcohol before I went out to save money, that and drinks can be incredibly cheap in Liverpool.

We also went out for food in pubs a couple of times during Freshers which racked in another £20 spend.

I don't think I've forgotten anything but that adds up to around £185 spending during the first 2 weeks of university which covered all costs from moving in essentials and house stuff to pre drinks and more.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 6

KX321

Really depends on you. How much you like to drink and how often you plan on going out. In my experience £20 is a decent night out, that's a couple of quid entry and somewhere with £1-£1.50 drinks. But then you've got things like pre-drinks to factor in.

Reply 7

HannahH9055

Thank you so much, that really helped!! :biggrin:

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Reply 8

orange crush

In my first freshers week I spent less than £200, but that was cos I was too young to buy drinks or go into proper clubs, so I just bought the freshers union wristband for like £40 and spent the rest of the money buying bottles of vodka and crates of beer to drink before hitting the union for nights out.

In the freshers week of my second year I was a freshers volunteer during the day so I got massively discounted entry to the union but still managed to spend like £500 during the week.

Going to try to keep it down this year but it's so hard because I don't enjoy clubs unless I'm pretty smashed so I need to have like a 35 of vodka before going out (not much change from a tenner once you buy a mixer as well), couple of quid for cabs either way and like £3-5 for entry so that's you spent £15 without a single drink in a club, and even at £1 drinks I can probably drink 15-20 drinks in the 3 hours in the club.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 9

HannahH9055

On freshers week will I need my ID to get into places? I am 18 but I'm Jw?

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Reply 10

SophieSmall

Original post by HannahH9055

On freshers week will I need my ID to get into places? I am 18 but I'm Jw?

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Most definitely, always take your ID. Nothing ruins a night faster than being refused entry to clubs.

Reply 11

MrEFeynman

Original post by HannahH9055

On freshers week will I need my ID to get into places? I am 18 but I'm Jw?

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Definitely, all it takes is one awkward bouncer and your night can be turned ****ty.

In regards to spends during freshers, probably about £300. This doesn't include the various bottles of spirits, I would have already bought for my room, or any other preparation spending (hiring costumes, etc.).

Reply 12

brendonbackflip

Well I've been trying to headspace mine (this includes start-up costs for me) but its hard because I don't know how much stuff will be.

In terms of food, my dad's going to do my first food shop for me when I move in, and I know you happen to live off free pizza handed out at freshers fair, so that cost should be pretty minimal. For anyone else though that's probably going to be quite a lot because of getting basics and that.

Alcohol's a different story :tongue:

I get smashed easily, so hopefully I'll be able to get alcohol off others and be settled for the night. So long as I don't buy drinks in the nightclubs, I'm sure a couple of bottles of vodka + some juice or whatever will be more than enough for the week which should be about £20. Really it'll probably be more than that because I'll give into temptation of excessive drinking games and nightclub cocktails but I can dream.

I don't know what entry to events will be, I'm going to be generous and say £10 for each one (but I really don't think it'll be that much, at least not for every event), so that's £60-70 if I go out every night. Taxis, if I share them, will be about £1.50 (I have this extra info because my sister went to the same university) so that's £15 max. Realisitically I'll probably get the munchies so that'll be another £15 going on that for the week

Society + club entrance fees will also be that; I know my department one is £35 for 3 years but I'm hoping any others will be cheaper. So I'll hope £50

I also want to get things like an NUS card (£12), possibly a semester bus pass (about £70), books (far too much - I hope £100 at the most, it'll only be for one semester)...I can't think of much else.

Then there's going to be random costs I won't be able to predict. Like fancy dress or i don't even know.

All together I got around and at least £350. I hope to have about £300 saved up specifically for freshers, so that's not too bad. Not sure if I missed anything.
edit: I don't actually know, I'm being pretty generous because I'm trying to save a little bit so it won't affect my loan even if I do spend £300 in a week! I really hope I don't get up to £350 but I'm a horrible budgeter. Also some of the stuff I want to get like a bus pass and NUS card might not be typical purchases for everyone, and my society cost is high because I'd be paying for 3 years all at once for department. And as I mentioned I thought £10 just to get into events every night (I don't even know if I'll be going every night) was unrealistically high but I'm trying to make sure. So don't worry if this seems too high!!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 13

HannahH9055

Oh my god I am no where near gonna be able to take £300! I have a passport I use for ID Now but it's out of date but it works in my town in the clubs and my step dads a police officer and he says that they don't look at the valid date so I'm hoping it's the same in Warrington and Chester where I'm going

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Reply 14

kate113855

My first year of uni I spent about 150 quid in Freshers. And then probably averaging 30 quid a week after that. Sometimes less and sometimes more depending on if I went out or had a takeaway.

Reply 15

Clip

Wait, what?

Are you guys talking about £300-350 on going out; or are you talking about books and stuff?

Even for a real idiot, £350 sounds a lot on just going out and getting hammered. On the other hand, £350 on all the books, socs etc sounds very low.

Reply 16

orange crush

Original post by HannahH9055

How are you planning to do uni on such a shoestring budget? /curiosity

Reply 17

brownsugar-xx

Holy crap this has freaked me out. Does anyone know if funding from SAAS arrives in time for freshers week?

I was only hoping to spend £100 or under not including food shop.

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Reply 18

orange crush

Original post by brownsugar-xx

Holy crap this has freaked me out. Does anyone know if funding from SAAS arrives in time for freshers week?

I was only hoping to spend £100 or under not including food shop.

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Your first SAAS (double payment) arrives after you enrol, which is usually midway through freshers.

So your £100 can last you the first 2 or 3 nights and then double SAAS arrives

Reply 19

brownsugar-xx

Original post by orange crush

Your first SAAS (double payment) arrives after you enrol, which is usually midway through freshers.

So your £100 can last you the first 2 or 3 nights and then double SAAS arrives