budgeting in Portsmouth

Hi!

I've been a student at Portsmouth for 4 years now so for any new students wondering about budgeting I'm here to help.

I personally worked money out each month, as I got paid each month from work. And set this money aside to pay for the things below.

I spent this much roughly per month on these items...
Food - between £60-£80 each month on food each month and found it easier to buy food as and when I needed it (roughly each week). I would recommend doing a food shop for yourself personally before you join university, so you have a rough idea about what your budget would be. Also, I don't buy takeout that often and I'm vegetarian so keep this in mind, as takeout's are expensive and meat is too.

Travel - £0 (unless I visited home by train, which was £20 for an open return ticket). Shops are no more than a 10-minute walk away from halls and bars and clubs are a 5-minute walk or less from halls, so no uber was needed. Plus the university bus service is free, which stops right outside a Lidl and is a 5-minute walk from the bus stop to halls.

Washing - I would do laundry once a week and it would cost £5 for each wash. Do keep in mind halls washing machines are contactless payment on an app and they only accept the washing tablets, so no liquid or powder.

Outings - going bowling and cinema are about £5 for a ticket, so depends on how often you would go.
Nights out can be cheap and are no more than £6 entry. There is a pound party where drinks and entry are a £1. Most of the time I went out double spirits are no more than £5.
The beach is free.
There's an adult play zone which is £9.50 per person and would most likely cost you no more than £20 including entry, drinks and travel.

Gym - I went to pure gym and a student membership was about £20 per month. This is pretty similar to most gyms in the area.

I also joined a society, which cost £200 for the year.

I hope this helps and feel free to ask any more questions!
Best wishes
Chloe - Official Student Rep