How much money will make uni life “comfortable”?

Okay I know it’s based on individual circumstances but what would be a good amount of money to have going into uni, I’ve worked for the past two years and am on a gap year. I’ve been thinking about quitting my job and travelling but how much money should I hold back to make sure I don’t “regret” doing this.

Ps: I can work during summer and I’m not a big spender (easy to say when living at home)

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Original post by wjg05

Okay I know it’s based on individual circumstances but what would be a good amount of money to have going into uni, I’ve worked for the past two years and am on a gap year. I’ve been thinking about quitting my job and travelling but how much money should I hold back to make sure I don’t “regret” doing this.

Ps: I can work during summer and I’m not a big spender (easy to say when living at home)

Hi @wjg05,

a "comfortable" uni life can be costly and very much depend on what you want to do while at university. For this reason, I is hard to put an exact amount on how much you would need keep. Instead It might be useful to plan out a forecast of how much you think you'll spend and what other income you'll have:

•

Student loan - Are you planning on applying for a maitenance loan? If so, how much would you qualify for?

•

Part-time job - Would you be wanting to work a part-time job durig your studies?

•

Accomodation - How much will you likely be paying for you accomodation?

•

travel - How much will you likely need to spend travelling to and from lectures and home (if you want to go back home for a weekend)?

•

Shopping - How much does your regular shop cost?

•

leisure - How much would you be spending on leisure activities (e.g. societies, gym membership, nights out)?

The forecast would not need to be specific, but would still give you an idea of how much money you will need to save for university. It might be worth considering a worst case scenario for this, so that in reality you are more likely to have more money left over.

Hope this is helpful.
Matthew O'Boyle
Student Ambassador

Original post by wjg05

Okay I know it’s based on individual circumstances but what would be a good amount of money to have going into uni, I’ve worked for the past two years and am on a gap year. I’ve been thinking about quitting my job and travelling but how much money should I hold back to make sure I don’t “regret” doing this.

Ps: I can work during summer and I’m not a big spender (easy to say when living at home)

Hi!

Yes, sadly a clear answer is kind of hard to reach. It depends on if you want to join clubs and societies, how often you want to go out, if you want to be buying lunches or making them. We have this web page (https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/students/money/uk/budgeting.htm) which kind of outlines the expected costs for a student per month which I found really helpful to look at before going to uni!

But I'd look through this and see what parts apply to you. I.e. as I'm going to university in Scotland and under 22 my bus travel is free so I'd take that off of the expected cost.

If this is looking like a lot of money (which especially now it really is) Heriot-Watt provides ideas and support on how to make that money stretch a little further here: https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/students/money/uk/cost-of-living.htm and I'm sure if you go googling you'll find similar pages for other universities so you can see what kind of help they offer too!

Sorry I couldn't give you a more conclusive answer but I hope this might help a little 🙂

- Jessica
2nd year, Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)

Original post by wjg05

Okay I know it’s based on individual circumstances but what would be a good amount of money to have going into uni, I’ve worked for the past two years and am on a gap year. I’ve been thinking about quitting my job and travelling but how much money should I hold back to make sure I don’t “regret” doing this.

Ps: I can work during summer and I’m not a big spender (easy to say when living at home)

Hi there!

It’s a really difficult question to answer as each city is different and it depends on a lot of things (like whether you want to share accommodation or not or whether you want to bring a car).

I have linked our cost of living page Here which roughly breaks down how much it is to be a student at UCLan (which is the cheapest student city to live in!).

I personally work along side my degree and many other students do this to make things more affordable whilst you’re at uni!

I hope this helps!

Rebecca, UCLan

How much money will make uni life “comfortable”?

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