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living costs in the UK?

international studeng here. can anyome tell me the actual living costs in the uk, such as accomodation, going out, groceries etc? how much do you pay per year for all of to live in uni? i know tjat is differs depndending where in the UK so what about Warwick or Bristol? I heard Newcastle is relatively cheaper or St Andrews.

i know its a lot to ask.but it would be really appreciated if any domestic students could confirm what its actually like to live there vinstead of online wesbites, links etc

Reply 1

Callicious

Original post by Anonymous

Live in Edinburgh- putting aside my rent (I rent from my uncle, so only £300 for the actual rent, but I pay for maintenance fees/etc and do all that sort of thing) my bills are:

groceries : £60 a week
internet and phone: £20 a month (use my phone as tethering for internet- unlimited data.)
bills: around £1,400 a year
rent: £300 a month from my uncle
misc. maintenance costs (add this to rent): £1,000 a year
home insurance (add to rent): £200 a year
residence association fees (add to rent): £100 a year
going out: One train trip every 2 weeks to somewhere new with a accom- on average £100 I'd say
books/study material: Around £500 a year
home decoration and the like: Close to around £200 a year I'd hedge a bet

Edit: I live a fairly cushy life and I have a rather fancy flat- albeit old, hence the maintenance costs. Your rental fees will likely be a lot higher if you're privately renting an apartment like I am.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 2

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

Original post by Callicious

Good grief, £60 a week on groceries??

We're a family of 6 people plus a dog, and we spend £200 a week on groceries (including household cleaning products and toiletries), which averages out at about £33 ish per person per week.

Where on earth are you shopping? Waitrose?

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

Callicious

Original post by PinkMobilePhone

Lidl and Home Bargains (though I do eat a fair bit and have quite a wide range of recipes that count a lot of fresh fish/meat)

Reply 4

JOSH4598

I think @Callicious gave a pretty good answer. Just on the point of rent, I live in York where rents are quite expensive. It's about £7,000 per year for on-campus student halls (44 weeks) and probably a similar figure for 52 weeks in private rental accommodation such as a house share. You'll generally be paying £5,000-£8,000 for your rent depending on where you live in the country. In London that figure will likely be £10,000 to as much as £15,000 if you stay for the full year. Rental costs will be by far you biggest, and most student loans barely cover the rent let alone other living costs.

Reply 5

londonmyst

It depends on multiple factors.
Particularly the location, type of accomodation and lifestyle preferences.
Dietary needs, health issues, social life and standard of living preferences- all these are very important factors in relation to an accurate estimation of usual weekly & monthly expenses.
I spent many years living on less than £20 a week for groceries after paying London rent and bills.

Reply 6

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

Original post by Callicious

Lidl and Home Bargains (though I do eat a fair bit and have quite a wide range of recipes that count a lot of fresh fish/meat)

I shop at Tesco.
I would have thought Lidl and Home Bargains would have been cheaper.
We also eat fresh fish and meat, and definitely not small portions.

I'm still baffled by your grocery cost, but oh well.

Reply 7

Smeraldettoi

Original post by Anonymous

North and Scotland= mostly cheap as chips

London/ south east= prepare to sell your organs

Reply 8

Callicious

Original post by PinkMobilePhone

Aye- believe it or not it actually was in the £80-ish regime back in 1st year when I first started living alone- we only had ad Tescos/Aldi nearby. The Lidl knocked £20 off (though I do still hit Tescos for the late bargains and the like near midnight on Sundays :tongue:

)

Anyhow, it's worth noting that I drink a lot of tea (think about 100g worth of leaves a day) which definitely adds to the weekly running cost :lol:

Reply 9

username5637224

As the mother of an international student at Bristol thís year I can say that without having gone for luxury accommodation, but having chosen something more than satisfactory you need to budget for about £7000 in rent and then £30 to £40/week for food and toiletries etc plus a budget for clubs and other social activities over a period of about 40 weeks a year.