The Student Room Group

Is £89 a week a lot to live on?

I'm going to a midlands university so the prices of food etc is not too bad, unlike in places such as London. I've figured out that after rent I am likely to have around £89 left a week to spend on things like food and going out etc.. Does that sound like a reasonable budget that I'm likely to be able to live on?


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Very reasonable, especially if you're going to budget wisely. You're lucky :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by littlejellybird
Very reasonable, especially if you're going to budget wisely. You're lucky :smile:


How much do you suggest I budget for spending on food a week? That's all the necessities I really need to buy, the rest will then be on social aspects etc...


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You will be fine on that. Anything above about £50 is realistic to live on.
Original post by Shannon1329
How much do you suggest I budget for spending on food a week? That's all the necessities I really need to buy, the rest will then be on social aspects etc...


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You could live off healthily with a food budget of £20-25 per week. This will be more than enough depending on your diet
Reply 5
£89 a week is a lot more than some people will be getting. Spend it wisely though, save some for emergencies! (Alcohol fund) :wink:
Reply 6
Ok just took into account my phone bill.. And it's now £52 a week for social and food expenditure.. I guess I'll just have to budget well!


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I have £50 a week after rent and manage quite well . Some months i even have money left over to save towards other things :smile:


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That is a decent budget. You should be fine.
Original post by Shannon1329
Ok just took into account my phone bill.. And it's now £52 a week for social and food expenditure.. I guess I'll just have to budget well!


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Your phone bill is £37 a week? :eek: wtf
Original post by SophieSmall
Your phone bill is £37 a week? :eek: wtf


That is exactly what I was thinking.
That sounds definitely realistic just spend it wisely for example instead of buying 3.99 ring binder by one for a £1 in pound land and get hold of lined paper that's 15-40p from Tesco, asda and Sainsburys value range stock up or use your laptop for notes.

Get a better value contract or pay a you go deal on mobile. My orange bill used to be 40 quid a month, so at the end of contract I ditched them and got one for 18.00 unlimited texts, phone calls and a couple of gig of internet.

Instead of buying expensive sandwiches wait till they priced down usually from 2Pm and make use of discount cards, 99p shops and market stalls


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Also at this time of the year many shops do special offers for students buy one get one free that kinda thing


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Original post by SophieSmall
Your phone bill is £37 a week? :eek: wtf


Mines the same, not all that much considering it's unlimited everything, includes insurance and 08 numbers and the phone was free. Phone alone would have cost £400+ to buy, I'd much rather get that free then pay the £37 a month than have to shell out all that money in one go for a phone plus Giff Gaff sim etc. Also get to sell this phone on once the contract ends.

Original post by Shannon1329
Ok just took into account my phone bill.. And it's now £52 a week for social and food expenditure.. I guess I'll just have to budget well!
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I'd say that's fine! You can get away with spending between £10 and £20 on food per week easily, I do. That leaves £30 for going out. Realistically you'll probably only be going out what, once or twice a week? You'll probably predrink too so I think £30 will be alright!
Top tip: buy bulk frozen meat and frozen vegetables. Any fresh vegetables buy from a market or something; not a supermarket. Their profit margins are ludicrous.

£52 is plenty, I managed £40 just fine. Don't go food shopping when you're hungry and always go for basics ranges etc. I managed on £15-20 food budget per week and I buy a heck of a lot of meat etc. (which is expensive).

Also, should go without saying but make sure you actually stick to your budget or you will be ****ed later in the year.
Reply 15
Original post by Precious Illusions
Mines the same, not all that much considering it's unlimited everything, includes insurance and 08 numbers and the phone was free. Phone alone would have cost £400+ to buy, I'd much rather get that free then pay the £37 a month than have to shell out all that money in one go for a phone plus Giff Gaff sim etc. Also get to sell this phone on once the contract ends.



I'd say that's fine! You can get away with spending between £10 and £20 on food per week easily, I do. That leaves £30 for going out. Realistically you'll probably only be going out what, once or twice a week? You'll probably predrink too so I think £30 will be alright!


A week
Original post by Kre
A week


Woops! My mistake! I think OP definitely meant a month though - £37 is normal for a monthly contract.
Bants... why does everyone feel the need to buy a new phone whenever their contract is up? "Upgrades" aren't free; you pay for them by signing up for a hugely overpriced contract for a year or two. When my current phone contract is up I'm going to be quite happy keeping my current phone and paying a fraction of the price I currently do for the same plan.

Not that I'm a judgmental prick or anything.
Reply 18
Original post by Precious Illusions
Woops! My mistake! I think OP definitely meant a month though - £37 is normal for a monthly contract.


Yes sorry my phone is £40 a month but I also meant to mention I took into account my insurance for my mac as well so my actual budget is actually £50 odd! My mistake!!
Original post by Implication
Bants... why does everyone feel the need to buy a new phone whenever their contract is up? "Upgrades" aren't free; you pay for them by signing up for a hugely overpriced contract for a year or two. When my current phone contract is up I'm going to be quite happy keeping my current phone and paying a fraction of the price I currently do for the same plan.

Not that I'm a judgmental prick or anything.

Tbh I often find that after 2 years my phone has problems, last phones battery life was awful and would randomly switch off after it got down to 20%, so I needed a new phone regardless really. If your phone is still fine then yeah it's not worth getting a new contract (I've waited 6-12 months after contracts have ended before starting up a new contract before.)

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