Catered vs self catered accomodation

I haven't done too much research, but it seems like catered accommodation is more expensive than self-catered. Is the price of the meals included in this cost, or have I just stumbled across more expensive accommodation?

Reply 1

Emily_B

15

Yes, cost of catering is included in catered accommodation costs. Pros of this being: you don't have to worry about going out buying food, nor do you have to worry about cooking etc. Cons being: catering service dictate meal times, what they serve (although there does tend to be an ok choice) and portion sizes.
Although self catered tends to be cheaper, you do have the cost of food and cooking time to factor in... however, I found this way more convenient, as I had full control over what I was eating, portion sizes, meal times (very useful when lectures at strange times or doing extra curricular stuff) and how much to spend on food.

Reply 2

BoatTheBuilder

OP

3

Original post by Emily_B

Yes, cost of catering is included in catered accommodation costs. Pros of this being: you don't have to worry about going out buying food, nor do you have to worry about cooking etc. Cons being: catering service dictate meal times, what they serve (although there does tend to be an ok choice) and portion sizes.
Although self catered tends to be cheaper, you do have the cost of food and cooking time to factor in... however, I found this way more convenient, as I had full control over what I was eating, portion sizes, meal times (very useful when lectures at strange times or doing extra curricular stuff) and how much to spend on food.

Thanks for the reply! i'm just a little worried since my cooking skills are pretty limited to toast and noodles, I know I will learn more if I am forced into cooking, but I am scared it will be embarrassing. I'll also have the weekends to teach myself to cook I guess. I also value my time, and I'm not the most sociable person so I doubt ill have too many social things which clash with my meal times. Breakfast will be an excuse to get out of bed too, so I'm definitely leaning towards catered. Its just the financial side I'm a bit worried about, I'm not sure exactly how big a financial difference it will be.

Reply 3

Interea

19

Original post by BoatTheBuilder

Thanks for the reply! i'm just a little worried since my cooking skills are pretty limited to toast and noodles, I know I will learn more if I am forced into cooking, but I am scared it will be embarrassing. I'll also have the weekends to teach myself to cook I guess. I also value my time, and I'm not the most sociable person so I doubt ill have too many social things which clash with my meal times. Breakfast will be an excuse to get out of bed too, so I'm definitely leaning towards catered. Its just the financial side I'm a bit worried about, I'm not sure exactly how big a financial difference it will be.

It really depends how much you eat - in a lot of places catered accommodation is done on a meal card, and you get a certain amount of money on there each week that you can spend, and quite often it doesn't carry over into the next week. This was one of the key things that put me off catered, since the uni would put something like £50 of the rent on the meal card each week, and I only spent £20 on food in an expensive week otherwise. Maybe try and find the specifics of how paying for food works at your chosen accommodation/uni, and that'll give you a more realistic idea of if it is worth it for you.

Reply 4

Muttley79

20

Original post by BoatTheBuilder

Thanks for the reply! i'm just a little worried since my cooking skills are pretty limited to toast and noodles, I know I will learn more if I am forced into cooking, but I am scared it will be embarrassing. I'll also have the weekends to teach myself to cook I guess. I also value my time, and I'm not the most sociable person so I doubt ill have too many social things which clash with my meal times. Breakfast will be an excuse to get out of bed too, so I'm definitely leaning towards catered. Its just the financial side I'm a bit worried about, I'm not sure exactly how big a financial difference it will be.

If you think you might miss a meal then they can give you credit or a packed lunch [depends on the uni].

It can work out cheaper if you factor in the time shopping and food can't get stolen from the kitchen! If you have lots of lecturers the time saved is worth it.

Do check each uni for how many meals it includes.

Catered vs self catered accomodation

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