How much to save for university

I'll be going to university in September 2016. Im currently on my gap year and i work full time. On an average month i make around 700 pounds, i dont know how much i should save for university, I was thinking if i saved 100 pounds a month this might last me for a year but a friend has told me this is too little.

How much did you save or how much do you think i should save?

I'm not the going out every weekend type so this should save money.

(Hopefully going to Manchester if that makes a difference)

Reply 1

Tiger Rag

Do you know how much you'll be getting from student finance? It's a difficult question to answer. You'll need some money for the first few weeks, which includes freshers weeks and money for a house deposit.

Reply 2

IFoundWonderland

So you're planning on living on £100 (granted, without student finance, but I assume a substantial amount of this will go to your accommodation) when you go to uni, but £600 a month now.. logic....

Reply 3

katiegn

i would save around 300 per month because im guessing you will be living without parents to substitute your money.

Reply 4

Shaqk

I should of really elaborated more sorry.

Parents will be supplementing me each term of university with some money yes. Its not that ill be living on £600 now, but that £100 pounds im saving is a DO NOT TOUCH sort of thing until i go university. Its not like ill be blowing 600 pounds a month on nothing.

Reply 5

SophieSmall

We need more specific details. Even your last post barely tells us anything.
You've not told us how much student finance you're getting, you've not told us how much money your parents will be giving you. Or how much your accommodation is, whether you'll need to travel to and from uni etc. There are so many factors that will affect the answer and you're giving us nothing to go on.

I don't know what you expect us to tell you from the grand 0 you've told us.

Reply 6

samina_ay

Save at least 300 pound or more per month, that should be enough.

Reply 7

Invisi97

Don't forget about books too.

And bookmarks haha

Reply 8

Shaqk

Original post by SophieSmall

Using the finance calculator it says ill be getting a 6.3k Maintenance loan to pay for living costs under the new system. I don't know how much my parents will be giving me each term, its up to them/how im getting on financially at university. The accommodation i want to stay in is 4.1k annually.

Reply 9

SophieSmall

Original post by Shaqk

Right well then, with the money you know you're getting after accommodation you will have 2.2k left for the rest of the year. This equates to £42.30 a week if calculating for a full 52 week year (if you plan to be self sufficient over summer) or. If you have an average contract length of 47 weeks (though many students go home earlier) £46.80 a week. For me personally. This is a good amount of money per week. Not amazing, but not a miserable amount. As I only tend to spend about £20 a week on food, leaving the other half for going out and misc. Though I don't go out every week, more like once a month.

So really, how much you need to save depends on your budgeting skills and your lifestyle. But with those figures, I doubt you need to stress about it at all. Especially if your parents are going to be giving you money

However I do advise saving as much as you can/ are willing to. Not just for uni sake. But it's important to have savings and money to fall back on in general. Remember you'll have to fork out for a deposit for a new place not long into your first year, and then sometimes depending on the contract you have for a new place you may have to start paying rent before any student finance comes in.

Reply 10

Shaqk

Thank you for the help

Reply 11

Rakas21

If you avoid university accommodation then your loan and parents contribution should more than cover everything so anything you save from your wage you should keep through university.