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How much do you spend per week at uni?

10

My parents are covering my accommodation and I'm getting the minimum SAAS loan.
How much does one generally need to save for uni?? I have no idea how much people need per week for food/going out/books/everything.
I have a job rn but it's getting in the way of education so idk if I should quit now or not since I have only saved about £1,000 (not been at the job very long)

Reply 1

username5119592

8

Original post

by nom06

My parents are covering my accommodation and I'm getting the minimum SAAS loan.
How much does one generally need to save for uni?? I have no idea how much people need per week for food/going out/books/everything.
I have a job rn but it's getting in the way of education so idk if I should quit now or not since I have only saved about £1,000 (not been at the job very long)

for food I can suggest this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yeiu6McMF4

Reply 2

nushnush338

9

I’m not so sure about unis out of london but I go to uni in london currently and most people I know spend like £200 per week excluding rent/bills. I personally only spend £130 tho just because I have a lot of exams so I’m not really going out. Travel with a travel card costs about £33 a week if ur zone 1-3 and groceries/food at uni is pretty expensive bc it’s all very central. For example, the main big supermarket for UCL students in garden halls is the Holborn Waitrose so that’s bound to be expensive.

When u go out in london it’s so expensive bc club entry starts at £10 normally, a beer starts at £5 and can go up to £12, even at a student event (this happened to my friend at Omeara). You also have to wait in line for hours to get into some clubs during freshers especially. At student union bars shots are usually like £2.50/3 I think tho. Plus late night Ubers/cabs can cost anywhere between £15-£50 bc they can double at peak times (3am) so a night out can easily cost u up to £100 if ur not careful.

Getting a part time job is essential in london if u want a social life tbh

I feel like unis out of london would be a lot cheaper tho bc rent is cheaper so ur maintenance loan can actually contribute to things like travel and groceries.

Reply 3

nom06

OP

10

Original post

by nushnush338

I’m not so sure about unis out of london but I go to uni in london currently and most people I know spend like £200 per week excluding rent/bills. I personally only spend £130 tho just because I have a lot of exams so I’m not really going out. Travel with a travel card costs about £33 a week if ur zone 1-3 and groceries/food at uni is pretty expensive bc it’s all very central. For example, the main big supermarket for UCL students in garden halls is the Holborn Waitrose so that’s bound to be expensive.

When u go out in london it’s so expensive bc club entry starts at £10 normally, a beer starts at £5 and can go up to £12, even at a student event (this happened to my friend at Omeara). You also have to wait in line for hours to get into some clubs during freshers especially. At student union bars shots are usually like £2.50/3 I think tho. Plus late night Ubers/cabs can cost anywhere between £15-£50 bc they can double at peak times (3am) so a night out can easily cost u up to £100 if ur not careful.

Getting a part time job is essential in london if u want a social life tbh

I feel like unis out of london would be a lot cheaper tho bc rent is cheaper so ur maintenance loan can actually contribute to things like travel and groceries.

thank you! I'm gonna be at a Scottish uni but it sounds like I have a long way to go before I'll have enough saved. Maybe I should keep at the job I have for a bit longer??

Reply 4

Muttley79

20

Original post

by nom06

thank you! I'm gonna be at a Scottish uni but it sounds like I have a long way to go before I'll have enough saved. Maybe I should keep at the job I have for a bit longer??

Most people spend nothing like post #2 - perhaps they did not read your post properly? Would your parents pay for catered halls? You then might need very little cash ... otherwise you can eat well on £30 a week.

Reply 5

nom06

OP

10

Original post

by Muttley79

Most people spend nothing like post #2 - perhaps they did not read your post properly? Would your parents pay for catered halls? You then might need very little cash ... otherwise you can eat well on £30 a week.

Ah this was reassuring thanks, it depends what uni I go to but only one option would be catered so most likely I'll be self catered. Also I have £2,000 saved since I forgot about what I had saved from various other things. Will that be enough to cover food/going out etc for the year? Also since the loan isn't going to accommodation I'll also have that.

Reply 6

Muttley79

20

Original post

by nom06

Ah this was reassuring thanks, it depends what uni I go to but only one option would be catered so most likely I'll be self catered. Also I have £2,000 saved since I forgot about what I had saved from various other things. Will that be enough to cover food/going out etc for the year? Also since the loan isn't going to accommodation I'll also have that.

I would have thought so .... as long as you don;t plan on partying and getting drunk every night :smile:

Reply 7

nushnush338

9

Original post

by nom06

thank you! I'm gonna be at a Scottish uni but it sounds like I have a long way to go before I'll have enough saved. Maybe I should keep at the job I have for a bit longer??

Sorry lol then yeah if it’s in Scotland u don’t need to worry tooooo much about money but be careful. Definitely keep the job but scotland will be a lot cheaper than london for sure. If it’s getting in the way of ur studies maybe cut down to only one or two shifts a week or stop closer to ur exams so u don’t overwork urself. It’s good to have savings just in case things go to **** and u don’t have to explain urself to ur parents and it feels good to have that independence. If ur in Scotland realistically u won’t need to spend more than £70 a week unless if ur travelling tons or partying tons with like alcohol and other substances lol like this would cover some lunches out and some drinks out and a cab if u need one at night (depending on whether ur in a city or campus uni, if ur on campus u can get away with spending much less I think). Basically just make sure u allow urself to have some excess cash in ur savings so u can just have fun and focus on getting used to the course and making friends in first year. Make ur life easy and allow urself to have as much freedom as u can :smile:

Reply 8

username5326522

21

£25 for food weekly and that's all I pay for

Reply 9

normaw

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by nom06

My parents are covering my accommodation and I'm getting the minimum SAAS loan.
How much does one generally need to save for uni?? I have no idea how much people need per week for food/going out/books/everything.
I have a job rn but it's getting in the way of education so idk if I should quit now or not since I have only saved about £1,000 (not been at the job very long)

My son is on the minimum maintenance loan and he sets a budget of £100 per week (based on three 12-week terms). This gives him some money to get him through the hols. He is at a northern uni in self-catered accommodation and his weekly shop is around £25 per week. One load in the hall's washing machine and then tumble dryer costs £5. He has additional transport costs if he goes into town from campus, and nights out make the biggest hole in the budget. He's not had to fork out for books so far as most of what he needs is available in the library but we did spend a lot pre uni purchasing all the materials needed for the course (architecture). He has ongoing printing and materials costs. Freshers week will likely bump up your spending from socialising and paying fees to any societies you join, but it should settle down after that. Try to manage on your loan if possible and keep your savings for a summer holiday or any field trips that are offered by your course.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 10

Muttley79

20

Original post

by normaw

My son is on the minimum maintenance loan and he sets a budget of £100 per week (based on three 12-week terms). This gives him some money to get him through the hols. He is at a northern uni in self-catered accommodation and his weekly shop is around £25 per week. He has additional transport costs if he goes into town from campus, and nights out make the biggest hole in the budget. He's not had to fork out for books so far as most of what he needs is available in the library but we did spend a lot pre uni purchasing all the materials needed for the course (architecture). He has ongoing printing costs. Freshers week will likely bump up your spending from socialising and paying fees to any societies you join, but it should settle down after that. Try to manage on your loan if possible and keep your savings for a summer holiday or any field trips that are offered by your course.

Most unis allow printing free for a certain amount - £100 a week is far too much - teach him how to live more cheaply!

Reply 11

normaw

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by Muttley79

Most unis allow printing free for a certain amount - £100 a week is far too much - teach him how to live more cheaply

What I didn't say was that he rarely spends his budget and printing is an accepted extra cost for architecture students. Also, one-off costs often pop up such as rail fares home or to visit a friend at another uni, or tickets for a college ball, or buying clothes or deposits for a field trip, etc.

Reply 12

TopBun

20

I didn't want to have to work through my first degree at Uni (though I did lots of summer jobs so I felt like I was actually contributing)

Easily the most expensive thing was going out drinking - so me and my mates learnt to brew our own - just an idea

Reply 13

Interea

19

I have a similar situation to you (my parents pay my rent and I get below minimum loan), and it's definitely more than enough to live on even without savings, so you should be in a pretty strong position. I averaged £55 a week last term, but that was with some expensive one-off purchases all falling in the same few months, so this term my weekly average will likely be a fair bit less.

Reply 14

skylark2

18

Define "need". If your definition of "going out" is the most expensive club night, lots of expensive drinks, a meal at an expensive restaurant, and a taxi there and back, you're going to spend far more than if for you "going out" is student night, a few cheaper drinks, you eat normal dinner at home before you go anywhere, and you cycle or take a bus.

Reply 15

Rober Ganvazis

5

In general, it depends. It all depends on different situations. For example, not so long ago I had to change the Internet in my dorm room. Since my old Internet was almost dead. And it worked very badly. And so I pay about 100 euros a month. Because I like to eat in canteens. And there are different expenses. Let's say I buy different books every month. All these things fluctuate.

Reply 16

tinyperson

18

My sister saved a lot of money each week making her own lunches. She ordered her own printer to keep in her room. You can also cut down on expensive costs by not going out so often and by limiting consumption of alcohol. When trying to find decent childcare, try to find cheaper ones nearby if that is possible.
One other very important thing to bear in mind is taking out student memberships at gyms etc. See if you can manage to find a relatively cheap one that is local to the university and sign up for some weekly activity and fun exercise classes and so on.

How much do you spend per week at uni?

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