Student finance + budgeting
Hello, I’m currently in year 13 and I’m think of applying to UCL, KCL, Bath, York and a few others and those are expensive unis to live at. I was wondering if any current students at those universities have an advice on money saving and budget, and how early they started looking at accommodation and all the others. As I want to be able to save some money but also have a little leeway to spend, I’m also interested to see how much you guys spend per month in Uni and how to make extra cash
Reply 1
Original post
by AlysstarHello, I’m currently in year 13 and I’m think of applying to UCL, KCL, Bath, York and a few others and those are expensive unis to live at. I was wondering if any current students at those universities have an advice on money saving and budget, and how early they started looking at accommodation and all the others. As I want to be able to save some money but also have a little leeway to spend, I’m also interested to see how much you guys spend per month in Uni and how to make extra cash
Hello,
I'm not a student in those universities but I do study in London and it is indeed very expensive when you rent out. The best advice I can give is to rent the cheapest accommodation you can find since accommodation expenses takes away most of your student finance. Living expenses and shopping can be budgeted accordingly and you'll also have more money to enjoy if you rent an affordable accommodation.
All the best
-Sarah (Kingston Rep)
Reply 2
Original post
by AlysstarHello, I’m currently in year 13 and I’m think of applying to UCL, KCL, Bath, York and a few others and those are expensive unis to live at. I was wondering if any current students at those universities have an advice on money saving and budget, and how early they started looking at accommodation and all the others. As I want to be able to save some money but also have a little leeway to spend, I’m also interested to see how much you guys spend per month in Uni and how to make extra cash
Hi,
If it's helpful to know, you can chat with our current students online and ask them all your finance-related questions, and more!
We've pulled together some great pointers from York students on how to take the stress out of spending while studying, such as looking into the York Futures Scholarship and cutting out travel costs entirely. See how you can get money-wise 👇
In case you haven't seen it, you can check out our Cost of Living Hub (some options have eligibility criteria) where you'll see some of the help we offer our students, including free food events, access to a free work wardrobe and providing free period products and non-food items.
I hope that helps for now! ❤️
J 😀
Reply 3
Hi!
I’m a current student at Bath so hopefully I can give you some insight.
Honestly, it is an expensive city to live in, and is definitely comparable to London prices. I spend about £700 a month on rent and I share a house with friends, we live in the city and commute to campus (about 20mins by bus). In terms of actual monthly spending, I normally spend around £200-£250 a month on food, socials, transport and random bits. Most students live in Oldfield Park so it is very easy to go to Lidl (a cheaper option than a lot of others) or even order a grocery delivery.
For first year, most people just apply through the university accommodation system after results day, so you don’t need to panic-search early. Second-year houses can be more expensive, but you get to choose who you live with – I live with friends that I’ve met throughout my time at Bath. Most people start looking around November, but you’re able to find housing relatively easily even in the summer, so no need for panic searching!
Bath also has quite a few scholarships and bursaries that people forget to check. A lot of students I know get support they hadn’t even realised they were eligible for. https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/undergraduate-scholarships-bursaries-and-other-funding/
Even if you think you might not qualify, it’s worth reading through them — some are based on household income, others on personal circumstances.
For making extra cash, plenty of students here work part-time. Campus jobs (cafés, events, ambassador work) are really popular because they’re flexible around uni hours and you don’t have to travel if you live on campus. Equally, shifts don’t have to be long hours so fitting them into your regular schedule is easy. Bath city centre also has loads of retail/café jobs if that’s preferable.
If you’re already thinking about budgeting in Year 13, you’re already doing amazingly. Once you’re here, it becomes easier to find your own ways to stay within budget - e.g. you may spend a lot on social life at the start of the year, but then choose to focus your time on societies instead (which may cost you way less).
Hope that helped. Happy to answer anything else if you’re unsure!
I’m a current student at Bath so hopefully I can give you some insight.
Honestly, it is an expensive city to live in, and is definitely comparable to London prices. I spend about £700 a month on rent and I share a house with friends, we live in the city and commute to campus (about 20mins by bus). In terms of actual monthly spending, I normally spend around £200-£250 a month on food, socials, transport and random bits. Most students live in Oldfield Park so it is very easy to go to Lidl (a cheaper option than a lot of others) or even order a grocery delivery.
For first year, most people just apply through the university accommodation system after results day, so you don’t need to panic-search early. Second-year houses can be more expensive, but you get to choose who you live with – I live with friends that I’ve met throughout my time at Bath. Most people start looking around November, but you’re able to find housing relatively easily even in the summer, so no need for panic searching!
Bath also has quite a few scholarships and bursaries that people forget to check. A lot of students I know get support they hadn’t even realised they were eligible for. https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/undergraduate-scholarships-bursaries-and-other-funding/
Even if you think you might not qualify, it’s worth reading through them — some are based on household income, others on personal circumstances.
For making extra cash, plenty of students here work part-time. Campus jobs (cafés, events, ambassador work) are really popular because they’re flexible around uni hours and you don’t have to travel if you live on campus. Equally, shifts don’t have to be long hours so fitting them into your regular schedule is easy. Bath city centre also has loads of retail/café jobs if that’s preferable.
If you’re already thinking about budgeting in Year 13, you’re already doing amazingly. Once you’re here, it becomes easier to find your own ways to stay within budget - e.g. you may spend a lot on social life at the start of the year, but then choose to focus your time on societies instead (which may cost you way less).
Hope that helped. Happy to answer anything else if you’re unsure!
Reply 4
Alysstar
OP
9
Original post
by University of BathHi!
I’m a current student at Bath so hopefully I can give you some insight.
Honestly, it is an expensive city to live in, and is definitely comparable to London prices. I spend about £700 a month on rent and I share a house with friends, we live in the city and commute to campus (about 20mins by bus). In terms of actual monthly spending, I normally spend around £200-£250 a month on food, socials, transport and random bits. Most students live in Oldfield Park so it is very easy to go to Lidl (a cheaper option than a lot of others) or even order a grocery delivery.
For first year, most people just apply through the university accommodation system after results day, so you don’t need to panic-search early. Second-year houses can be more expensive, but you get to choose who you live with – I live with friends that I’ve met throughout my time at Bath. Most people start looking around November, but you’re able to find housing relatively easily even in the summer, so no need for panic searching!
Bath also has quite a few scholarships and bursaries that people forget to check. A lot of students I know get support they hadn’t even realised they were eligible for. https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/undergraduate-scholarships-bursaries-and-other-funding/
Even if you think you might not qualify, it’s worth reading through them — some are based on household income, others on personal circumstances.
For making extra cash, plenty of students here work part-time. Campus jobs (cafés, events, ambassador work) are really popular because they’re flexible around uni hours and you don’t have to travel if you live on campus. Equally, shifts don’t have to be long hours so fitting them into your regular schedule is easy. Bath city centre also has loads of retail/café jobs if that’s preferable.
If you’re already thinking about budgeting in Year 13, you’re already doing amazingly. Once you’re here, it becomes easier to find your own ways to stay within budget - e.g. you may spend a lot on social life at the start of the year, but then choose to focus your time on societies instead (which may cost you way less).
Hope that helped. Happy to answer anything else if you’re unsure!
I’m a current student at Bath so hopefully I can give you some insight.
Honestly, it is an expensive city to live in, and is definitely comparable to London prices. I spend about £700 a month on rent and I share a house with friends, we live in the city and commute to campus (about 20mins by bus). In terms of actual monthly spending, I normally spend around £200-£250 a month on food, socials, transport and random bits. Most students live in Oldfield Park so it is very easy to go to Lidl (a cheaper option than a lot of others) or even order a grocery delivery.
For first year, most people just apply through the university accommodation system after results day, so you don’t need to panic-search early. Second-year houses can be more expensive, but you get to choose who you live with – I live with friends that I’ve met throughout my time at Bath. Most people start looking around November, but you’re able to find housing relatively easily even in the summer, so no need for panic searching!
Bath also has quite a few scholarships and bursaries that people forget to check. A lot of students I know get support they hadn’t even realised they were eligible for. https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/undergraduate-scholarships-bursaries-and-other-funding/
Even if you think you might not qualify, it’s worth reading through them — some are based on household income, others on personal circumstances.
For making extra cash, plenty of students here work part-time. Campus jobs (cafés, events, ambassador work) are really popular because they’re flexible around uni hours and you don’t have to travel if you live on campus. Equally, shifts don’t have to be long hours so fitting them into your regular schedule is easy. Bath city centre also has loads of retail/café jobs if that’s preferable.
If you’re already thinking about budgeting in Year 13, you’re already doing amazingly. Once you’re here, it becomes easier to find your own ways to stay within budget - e.g. you may spend a lot on social life at the start of the year, but then choose to focus your time on societies instead (which may cost you way less).
Hope that helped. Happy to answer anything else if you’re unsure!
Reply 5
Original post
by AlysstarHello, I’m currently in year 13 and I’m think of applying to UCL, KCL, Bath, York and a few others and those are expensive unis to live at. I was wondering if any current students at those universities have an advice on money saving and budget, and how early they started looking at accommodation and all the others. As I want to be able to save some money but also have a little leeway to spend, I’m also interested to see how much you guys spend per month in Uni and how to make extra cash
How much maintenance loan and/or grants/bursaries do you roughly expect to receive? Do you have any savings? If yes, how much? Are your parents or any loved ones gonna give you money on a regular basis or as a lump sum or help pay for living expenses? This also plays a large part.
What type of accommodation are you looking to get? I don’t live in London, Bath or York but for any university that you’re looking to go to, these are very important (I’d argue the most important) facts to consider.
Because once you have these numbers you can do some start to do arithmetic see how much disposable income if any you’ll have left over and see how many hours you’ll need to work a week. Also gives away if you can actually afford to save up or not or heck realistically afford to live in these areas (especially as a full time student) in the first place.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 6
Hi there,
I did my undergrad at York, and private housing there is definitely in high demand and can be quite pricey. If you’re looking for a group house, most students start arranging viewings around November and try to secure somewhere by December or early New Year. There are private halls too, though these can be expensive. If budgeting becomes difficult, some students choose to live in Leeds and commute — it’s only about 20 minutes by train — but you’ll then need to factor in rail fares.
For budgeting advice, Unibuddy has plenty of student-written blogs you might find useful. If you go to Content, Topic, and select Budgeting from the top down menu, you’ll find lots of tips from current students: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/chat-to-a-student
Most students tend to work up to 16 hours a week, but this really depends on your course and workload. For example, I worked in a café doing two 8-hour shifts over the weekend. York has a strong tourism sector, so there are lots of part-time opportunities in retail, hospitality, bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels. Many students use a regular part-time job as their main source of income, then top it up with flexible roles like student ambassador work, seasonal jobs over Christmas, or research assistant roles (usually more common from second year onwards).
Hope this helps!
Megan (LJMU Rep)
I did my undergrad at York, and private housing there is definitely in high demand and can be quite pricey. If you’re looking for a group house, most students start arranging viewings around November and try to secure somewhere by December or early New Year. There are private halls too, though these can be expensive. If budgeting becomes difficult, some students choose to live in Leeds and commute — it’s only about 20 minutes by train — but you’ll then need to factor in rail fares.
For budgeting advice, Unibuddy has plenty of student-written blogs you might find useful. If you go to Content, Topic, and select Budgeting from the top down menu, you’ll find lots of tips from current students: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/chat-to-a-student
Most students tend to work up to 16 hours a week, but this really depends on your course and workload. For example, I worked in a café doing two 8-hour shifts over the weekend. York has a strong tourism sector, so there are lots of part-time opportunities in retail, hospitality, bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels. Many students use a regular part-time job as their main source of income, then top it up with flexible roles like student ambassador work, seasonal jobs over Christmas, or research assistant roles (usually more common from second year onwards).
Hope this helps!
Megan (LJMU Rep)
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