UNI LIVING COSTS HELP!! xx

You get three instalments. The first one is mid October, the second is early January and the third is early April.
First instalment = £1000
Second instalment = £1000
Third = whatever remains

I dint accommodate myself, but my friend does and she had to pay accommodation fees upfront for the first semester (about £1200, and she's in low quality, cheaper accommodation) - before the first instalment.

I'm not sure about when she paid for the second semester.

Also the phrase "I'll get a job as soon as I can"....if you don't have a part time job already assume you won't in uni. Most places won't hire without experience and you can't just assume you'll get a job right away.

And you don't have to pay any more tuition fees, but you will have to pay for printing, travel home, and books can cost £40 or more. You'll also have to pay for food, and my friend says it can cost her £100 or more a week.

Tbh, as someone who wanted to move away this time last year but ended up staying cause I didn't think I'd have the money, I don't think living in accommodation is worth it. You read online that most students do it, but honestly it's probably about 1/4 of first year students who do. It costs a lot and while the experience does look great, you do question if it's worth the money. Another friend I know has to ask her parents for £200 every month to help her with the cost of it all.

Plus the government are already cutting grants and I can see them cutting maintenance loans down. Not getting rid of them, but definitely see them reducing the amount of money you get.

My advice is unless you get a part time job within the next month (which could be transferred to a place near the accommodation, I.e. retail/fast food chain companies) you won't be able to afford to live away.

If you are desperate to, go somewhere which is about an hour away from where you currently live. That way you can stay at home during second and third years.

You get three instalments. The first one is mid October, the second is early January and the third is early April.
First instalment = £1000
Second instalment = £1000
Third = whatever remains

I dint accommodate myself, but my friend does and she had to pay accommodation fees upfront for the first semester (about £1200, and she's in low quality, cheaper accommodation) - before the first instalment.

I'm not sure about when she paid for the second semester.

Also the phrase "I'll get a job as soon as I can"....if you don't have a part time job already assume you won't in uni. Most places won't hire without experience and you can't just assume you'll get a job right away.

And you don't have to pay any more tuition fees, but you will have to pay for printing, travel home, and books can cost £40 or more. You'll also have to pay for food, and my friend says it can cost her £100 or more a week.

Tbh, as someone who wanted to move away this time last year but ended up staying cause I didn't think I'd have the money, I don't think living in accommodation is worth it. You read online that most students do it, but honestly it's probably about 1/4 of first year students who do. It costs a lot and while the experience does look great, you do question if it's worth the money. Another friend I know has to ask her parents for £200 every month to help her with the cost of it all.

Plus the government are already cutting grants and I can see them cutting maintenance loans down. Not getting rid of them, but definitely see them reducing the amount of money you get.

My advice is unless you get a part time job within the next month (which could be transferred to a place near the accommodation, I.e. retail/fast food chain companies) you won't be able to afford to live away.

If you are desperate to, go somewhere which is about an hour away from where you currently live. That way you can stay at home during second and third years.

Firstly if OP will be getting £8000 from student finance in total then they clearly will be getting more than £1,000 in each installment.

Your friend must be buying caviar and lobster because I bought a lot of meat and I never spent more than £25 a week on food.

And I have to agree with milliemogs that you've underestimated the number of people who move out for uni- during my undergraduate degree I met a grand total of 3 commuters. It makes it so much easier to participate in uni life living out. And not everyone has a uni they like an hour away.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Its much appreciated!!
ill be getting 8k from maintenance loan
and a further 2k from my uni.
If i spend 6-7k on uni.
Will 3k be enough to live off until i find a job?

Assuming you work out a budget and don't blow your money in one go, £3k for the year should be enough. However your accomodation is very pricey, will you be in London?

Ill be at uni of Leeds. I'm paying for an en suite room for 6500 a year. Im currently looking for cheaper accommodation... The average accommodation in halls is around 5-6k. Are you renting privately?

Ouch, looking at the Leeds price list you can still get ensuite in most halls for a grand less than that if you go self catered. Have you already signed a contract for the first hall though? I'm now back home after finishing uni and before that I was in another city.

I will be going self catered as I can cook food i like. It makes the experience better i think. thanks for the advice. How was uni. what course did u take?

Oh definitley, I agree self catered is the way to go. I had a couple of hiccups but overall had a good time, I studied International Relations.

What kind of hiccups if you dont mind me asking?
Im doing business management. I wish you all the best for the future!

It is perfectly do able, so many students live in accommodation and cope just fine.
There is absolutely no need to spend £100 per week on food, if you are living on a budget £25/£30 is plenty every week.

Throughout my whole degree I don't think I met a single person who lived at home. I would say a lot more rent accommodation than you are saying.

Also the loan is paid in more or less 3 equal installments, the final one is slightly larger. The first is usually the start of october (after your first few days at uni).

Part of uni is about being independent, learning new skills and coping away from home. You will need to get a job based on your finances but plenty of people do. Learn to budget and you will be absolutely fine.

Student halls are one of the best bits about uni if you like socialising, going out etc.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Its much appreciated!!
ill be getting 8k from maintenance loan
and a further 2k from my uni.
If i spend 6-7k on uni.
Will 3k be enough to live off until i find a job?

it would be better if you could find cheaper accommodation, having extra money to live on will make a bigger difference than having a slightly bigger bedroom! but £3kish should be doable, just work out a budget for yourself in advance so you know what you can be spending and make sure you stick to it so you're not panicking later in the year! You absolutely cannot rely on getting a part time job, it might happen but it might not so budget as if it wont and then if you find one then that money can be for 'fun' stuff. When writing a budget make sure you include money to travel home, some spare cash for over summer, money for a deposit both for this year and for next year (this will have to be paid before summer), extra cash for during freshers week, christmas presents, new clothes you might need etc and have plans for emergency spending, ideally this means having some savings but if you're sensible with money your emergency money could be your overdraft... don't worry about expensive books and stuff, almost everything can be bought second hand or found in the library, I only needed to buy one book during my whole degree...

Ignore the other poster, you absolutely do not need £100 a week and the majority of people will be in halls. I found about £60 a week was a good general budget, this meant I could have a generous food shop allowance and basically eat anything I wanted and still have plenty left to have fun with. I never felt I was restricting myself too much on that budget!