The Student Room Group

Weekly Budget To Live On?

What sort of budget would you guys set yourselves a week/month? I'm thinking of setting myself a budget of £50 a week (on everyday purchases, food, drinks, outings). Would this be ideal?
I'm going to assume that you're a first year student, but if I'm wrong I apologise for that.
First you need to deduct your rent from your matinence loan. This might leave you with some money left over, or it might go into your savings like mine did. From here you take whatever money is or is not left, see how many weeks until your next payment comes in, and divide the amount left by the number of weeks. This is the easiest way to find out how much you have to spend.
I personally only normally spend £20 a week, if that, normally with laundry costs included. Granted I don't really drink or go out, but consider where you spend your money when it comes to food. Try and avoid takeouts and ready meals, and learn how to cook. You could get a single serving lasagna for £2, or get some meat, pasta sheets, red and white sauce for about £4-£6 and end up with 6 servings. Thats a £8-£6 saving if you kept buying that £2 lasagna. Same goes for shepards pie and what not; it all freezes perfectly well.
Ultimately just make sure you're not overspending. Try to go one or two days a week without spending anything if you can, see if you and your mates can batch cook to spread out the cost of food, and never buy lunch on campus. My dad is the line manager for a company which makes a bunch of those two go sandwiches: costs them pennies to make, and they charge you pounds.
So ultimately £50 a week sounds like a lot to me when, if you're smart, you could probably get away with £30 a week and put that extra £20 away for a rainy day or a night out.
I'd say it very much depends on your lifestyle. There's people that cook all meals at home, barely buy new clothes, don't go lots of places, never go out, and live off less than £20 a week; there's also people that constantly eat out, go clubbing, buy new designer shoes, book weekend trips to all sorts places, you get the gist :tongue:

I spend about £250 per month after rent and bills, which I'd say is about average and more than enough to treat yourself to a pizza or new top every now and again. But really it depends on what you want so have a think about that first :smile:
I think that is fair enough
Personally most months I spend about that or less
I try to save most of my money so if any oppotunity comes up to go out and see something or have a trip away for the weekend that I don't stress about money
Original post by lightsabir
What sort of budget would you guys set yourselves a week/month? I'm thinking of setting myself a budget of £50 a week (on everyday purchases, food, drinks, outings). Would this be ideal?

Hi @lightsabir

I'd recommend trialing £50 a week, to begin with, but it's important to split up the £50 and budget how much you will be spending on food, drinks, and everyday purchases.

Once you've done this for a few months you'll know if it suits you or not. If you find yourself spending less than £50 then perhaps you could bank some of the money for a rainy day? If you need more you could always look at part-time work ( look on your campus as university roles are often more understanding when it comes to your studies).

Good luck!

Sarah,
Marketing Graduate :smile:
In most universities, approximately £50 a week (after rent and bills) is not a bad amount to budget for food, going out, incidental costs, books, memberships of clubs and societies - different courses may require you to travel to various placements etc and these (if local) are not covered by many unis, but do cost you - so always assume you will need a little bit more than you think, just in case, and that allows you to do the odd special thing like go to a departmental ball etc.

I do agree with learning to cook and trying to batch cook etc but think the vast majority of students would struggle to fully enjoy student life on £20 a week.

Quick Reply

Latest