Budgeting for Uni

Hey, I was wondering if anyone who has been at uni already could give me a rough idea of how much they would spend on food a month? Also how much you would spend on going out a month if you can remember or budgeted yourself? I'm just trying to work out how much money I'll need to save, thanks 😊😊

Reply 1

claireestelle

Original post by Blobfish13

I spent less than £90 on food a month :smile:

Reply 2

JDC216

I budget for £20 a week for food, can easily do it under that, and then about £15 each time I go out, which is usually only once a week, less frequent than that once assignments start rolling in (i'm going into my 3rd year so dissertation and lots of coursework)

Reply 3

Blobfish13

Original post by claireestelle

I spent less than £90 on food a month :smile:

Did you cook lunch and dinner or just dinner? Also did you go to many restaurants or takeaways?? Sorry for all the questions

Reply 4

Blobfish13

Original post by JDC216

Ok thanks

Reply 5

claireestelle

Original post by Blobfish13

Did you cook lunch and dinner or just dinner? Also did you go to many restaurants or takeaways?? Sorry for all the questions

I normally had soup or toast for lunch then cooked dinner, nope takeaways once or twice a month really. I planned all my meals in advance and had plenty of freezer space to make use of.

Reply 6

JustGeorgeJ

Original post by Blobfish13

Hello

My budgets varied across my First Year and Second Year; the follow is my personal experience with budgeting.
Luckily in First Year, Student Finance allowed me to have around £80 a week to live off - when I first started I was shopping for myself and was looking at around £20 - £25 a week on food shops unless I was doing a full restock then I was looking at nearer £30. However, half way through First Year I ended up doing a group shop with my flat mates and my weekly shop went down to around £10 a week which was decent.

During First Year, I went out every week at least once. I spent at least £20, if not a little more and going out with drinks and entry and other prices added in. I drove to visit home a lot as well so looking at adding £20 of petrol for a couple of weeks and then whatever was left over allowed me to treat myself now and again.

In Second Year, my accommodation price went up because I moved into a Student House that was a little more expensive than halls - this meant that Student Finance allowed me around £30 a week to live in (BIG CHANGE!). I was still doing group shops so again, I was only looking at around £10 a week on shopping, sometimes £15 depending on a restock kind of thing. I struggled a little more with money because I used my car often and still wanted to go out now and again but I made it work.

Going into my Third Year - it's half and half. Up until Christmas I'll have little money but then after Christmas I get a decent amount of money to live off as I've moved into a different Student House that is cheaper.

What I'd say is, always plan out your finances. Know how much money is coming in and how much is going out and always try to stick to your budget. Plan ahead and keep reviewing to make sure your on track. Finance stress isn't worth it - I can tell you that!

PS: A little thing that helped me discover how much I'd spend a week on shopping was just before I start university, I did a 'practice shop' on my own and planned out my meals and figured out how much it would cost me!

Hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 7

Blobfish13

Original post by JustGeorgeJ

Hello

That's great, thanks so much 😊 What uni are you at?

Reply 8

JustGeorgeJ

Original post by Blobfish13

That's great, thanks so much 😊 What uni are you at?

No problem at all :smile:

I attend Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to message me.

Reply 9

XxKingSniprxX

I'm probably spending £125/week on just food. <---- I :dumbells:

& I'm currently bulking so would eat way more
than the average person.

Pro tip: regardless whatever you do, meal prepping is key. :moon:

Reply 10

Arkasia

WTF you're all on budgets of string.

I spend about £40 a week on food and drinks, not including alcohol (probably another £30)

Reply 11

Blobfish13

Original post by Arkasia

WTF you're all on budgets of string.

I spend about £40 a week on food and drinks, not including alcohol (probably another £30)

I was thinking I would spend around that much too, thanks

Reply 12

JDC216

Original post by Arkasia

WTF you're all on budgets of string.

I spend about £40 a week on food and drinks, not including alcohol (probably another £30)

Not everyone can afford to spend £40 a week on food.

Reply 13

Manitude

I got by quite easily on £60/week for food and socialising. So that would be about £240/month for everything after rent.

In hindsight I wish I'd got a part time job to supplement that as now that I have a lot more disposable income I am free to do more of what I want.

Reply 14

The Empire Odyssey

Original post by Blobfish13

I would say around £40-£60 a month.

Shop around for deals and don't get lazy with online shopping. I personally would try and get my frozen stuff like veg, chips, pizza and whatnot from Iceland and sometimes they do 1L of coke or fizzy drinks for £1 which is cheaper than buying 2 for £2.50 or £3 at Tesco.

If you have shops that are closer, try doing it that way as it's cheaper. Difficult if you don't have a car of course, but you would save at least £5 if you shop around. And soon enough, those fivers will soon to add up.

Reply 15

doodle_333

Original post by Blobfish13

Did you cook lunch and dinner or just dinner? Also did you go to many restaurants or takeaways?? Sorry for all the questions

you can do a practice shop online at tesco etc and come up with a basic food budget/see what you can get for what money - obviously if you then had an aldi/lidl you would spend less than a practice shop at tesco

I spend about £30 a week on food but I am definitely more indulgent than I need to be so I think £20 would do you find providing you're happy to be careful

I went out to eat/got take out quite regularly but some students never do, depends on what you want to prioritise money for

again, alcohol changes so much depending on what you do and how often - you can cut down costs by not drinking too heavily, drinking more at predrinks and less out, going somewhere you can walk home from, not going uot as often

you'll find people who happily got by on £40 a week at uni and others who swear they couldn't have coped with less than £100 - you need to think for yourself what you're going to want to spend and draw up a budget, in my opinion the more you can save up and take the uni the better your experience will be