Did I budget enough for Graduate School?

Hi guys - I am planning to start school in September in Scotland and a little worried about my budgeting. I've checked and double-checked and triple-checked my finances. As it stands, I have enough to cover the full tuition (it's a 1-year postgraduate taught course), full accommodation, living expenses (which I padded), settling in costs to cover clothing, bed linens etc, and have an emergency fund of 15K GBP. I am worried that even though I've padded my living expenses (est. 920 GBP a month for Scotland, not including rent), that I will somehow find myself running short of money, especially if a major emergency strikes me or my elderly mother. This is literally all the money I have in the world. I do have some freelance consulting gigs in the pipeline for the fall/winter, and early 2026, but it's not a sure thing yet and the pay is decent but not major. What do you think - should I relax??

If you're sure and you've got an emergency fund that you're happy with, then no need to stress. Of course, do keep track of your spending over the months, but you should be alright

Hi guys - I am planning to start school in September in Scotland and a little worried about my budgeting. I've checked and double-checked and triple-checked my finances. As it stands, I have enough to cover the full tuition (it's a 1-year postgraduate taught course), full accommodation, living expenses (which I padded), settling in costs to cover clothing, bed linens etc, and have an emergency fund of 15K GBP. I am worried that even though I've padded my living expenses (est. 920 GBP a month for Scotland, not including rent), that I will somehow find myself running short of money, especially if a major emergency strikes me or my elderly mother. This is literally all the money I have in the world. I do have some freelance consulting gigs in the pipeline for the fall/winter, and early 2026, but it's not a sure thing yet and the pay is decent but not major. What do you think - should I relax??

Hi there,
it sounds like you have made a thoroughly informed choice, with 15K in savings as an emergency fund - do not stress! You have mentioned doing part time gigs - to ease your worries, you can maybe take more of these on but do not do it as the expense of burnout.
Kind regards, Jenifer (Kingston rep)