How expensive should Uni accommodation be?

My question is in relation to accommodation and how it should be budgeted. Lets say i can get around £7000-£8000 maintenance loan if my accommodation is £6000 does this mean that its very difficult to budget for food and other luxuries. Rent inc internet bills etc so is £2000 a year enough for food and other extra costs, bearing in mind parents are willing to help with cooking for food so that i can freeze pasta sauces rice etc And they may provide extra money for food costs. But would you say £2000 is enough budget to cover additional things so exc rent and bills would this be sufficient.

If you could also provide me details of how much you on average spend a year for Rent (inc bills) and the rest inc food clothes etc

Reply 1

Tiger Rag

This is a difficult question to asnwer, because the amount of rent depends on where you live. And of course, we all spend different amounts, depending on whether we go out clubbing, etc.

However, for food, I wouldn't spend anything more than £20-25 a week.

Reply 2

doodle_333

I would say £3000-3500 would be more comfortable, although if your parents will help out a lot you might manage...

can you find cheaper accommodation?

I lived happily on about £60 a week (obviously with a little extra at freshers, christmas etc), that was a comfortable budget that wasn't too difficult to stick to which is more ideal for first year so you don't overspend and get yourself into trouble... but I also lived somewhere where accommodation was cheap, I only paid like £4000 max

Reply 3

bilbosbae

I pay £137 a week for an ensuite double bed flat right in the city centre of Liverpool.
All my bills are covered and I spend around £10-15 a week for food (I'm vegan though so spend less than most).
Other bits (toiletries, cleaning products, clothes, textbooks etc) probably cost me around £35-45 a month.

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Reply 4

Inazuma

That's masses left over IMO, esp if you have extra help on top of that large loan.

Reply 5

Helloworld_95

For £2000 per year you'll be fine, you'll have to pay some attention to what you spend each week but you'll be comfortable. If you only have £1000 left over it's a different story, for a lot of people that would just about cover food, maybe a night out each week as well if you were careful.

Reply 6

TrojanH

If you get the max loan I assume your household income is <25k and therefore you should be eligible for bursaries and grants for extra free money from your uni. 2K is plenty but I would budget anyway, excel it all up and figure out total costs per week on average and then work it out from there. Also, getting a part time job, 1/2 days a week (8-12h) would net you an extra 50-100 per week for just a day or two of work. That would mean you could be a lot more lax about spending and still have some in the bank.

Also, you would get a student overdraft of 1-1.5k and that would help you, could easily work through summers and holidays as well.