Student Life

[Dai the Socket]

Hey.

I was just wondering, anyone got any suggestions for my situation? I'm not sure if anyone else is / has been in this exact one so thought I'd post. Essentially I'm only 4 weeks in to my first semester at University, with £1200 of my student loan put in to my bank 4 weeks ago.... I have £400 left.

Constant partying, expensive books, nice food and lots of take aways has kinda taken its toll.

I don't have a overdraft set-up yet 'cos I didn't think I'd need one - actually I hope not to get one.

Is the only way to work? I've got a my second job interview at Apple tomorrow, although no doubt I'll be paid monthly so won't be paid for ages. I get like £30 a week from being a photographer but still..

Any ways of saving money? How much do people usually spend a week when living in halls....

Thanks!

Nick

EDIT Oh and I don't think that a contract phone (£25), Motorbike insurance (£48) and gym membership (£22) a month help much.

Edited October 19, 2007 by Nick Carter

[Tomm]

I'm sure you'll calm down after the first few weeks and won't save so money. It's pretty obvious though - cook proper food (not takeaway) and don't spend so much going out. White ace is your friend.

But most people have overdrafts, too.

[OD404]

I'll just echo what Tomm has already said. I started uni with a lot of savings, all of which were gone by the end of the first year. I've found its a good idea to make yourself a budget, or at the minimum record exactly what you spend on a weekly basis. It will help you see where you are spending a lot and have potential for cutting back without spoiling your fun

I have an Excel spreadsheet which I still use now I'm working that shows what I've been spending and plans out a rough guide to the coming months and its been extremely valuable to me.

[Grant2004]

Hopefully for you, you will calm down on the partying and wont spend as much. My bro did that on his first year at uni and got an overdraft quite quickly. But don't cut down too much you still need to enjoy yourself or it will be crap.

On the money saving front dont get takeaways, dont go out to eat, buy Sainsbury's Basics and Tesco's Value food its still edible ( just ).

And now you have all your books thats a big cunk of money out the way.

Stevo's idea is a pretty good one, think i'll be using that when i go to Uni

Edited October 19, 2007 by Grant2004

[Fish-Finger-er]

with a lot of my mates, they wer amazed at how good some food was when cooked, yet how cheap it was to buy ( i used to be a chef for a few months,before i started for bt).

stuff such as chilli made with stir in sauce, the cheapest mince,and then chips or rice, generally costs like £1.50 a portion(get the chilli from home bargains, the mince from asda smart price range) is stupidly nice, and generally does 2 big evening meals out of one serving(a jars meant to serve 4, but bollox to that kind of portion were growing lads).

stuff such as chicken or pork in honey and mustard sauce, served with chips, or baked potatoes, costs a similar amount (but best off if you and another housemate go splits on the portion, as its dodgy to reheat)save some of the sauce,and a tiny bit of the meat for another dish another time(mentioned in a minute)

pot noodles. despite being the so called student food. forget them, at like 80p a pot noodle, there rather expensive. what isnt expensive though, is mug shots, similar idea, but without the pot, they come in a pack, you pour it into a regular mug, pour boiling water in, stir a few times over a few minutes and eat. 3 for £1 at morrisons, and they take up way less space, which is handy in a house packed with like 8/9 people.

pasta....buy it, from asda or tesco, they do a 3kg bag of pasta for £1, its the same as the posh 500g bags, but at like 15% of the price, 3kg dried pasta(so closer to 10kg when cooked) goes a hell of a long way, and youve got some sauce and meat from above, dice the meat real fine, chuck it and the sauce in with the pasta and consume.

takeaways are generally expensive.so try to bother as little as possible. however if one of your housemates/there close mates works in a pizza place, say to them that you could come to some kind of deal. last year one of my student mates in manchester, was living next to a girl who worked in an independant pizza retailer, pizza planet or summit. his house swung her like 50p-£1 each everytime she came round after work, shed normally bring 2-5 12" pizzas or the like left over at the end of the night, and quite often nick a bottle of pop on her way out as well. she was happy, as rather than bringing the food back and having her housemates devour it, she made like an extra £4-5 for doing no work(so basically an hours extra pay), they where happy they got stupid cheap pizza's.

then theres shopping, if your getting general stuff,and your continuing to buy the same as normal, i suggest goin to lidl/netto/aldi. otherwise, choose your times to go, for example, by making one well timed trip to asda at around 9.30pm, you can do wonders. the 24hr asda some of my mates used to live near(i assume most are the same). used to sell its french sticks off at 10p,cooked chickens at like 50-£1, cooked sausages at like 10p a pack etc. so you used to come in at like 10.15, have sausage/chicken butties, that would cost like 15p each, and then have a load of bread to eat for the next day or so. i expect morrisons, tescos, sainsburys do the same

also drinks, start drinking squash/water other than pop. your part of a business, abuse that fact, and blag a makro card(if your willing to blag 2 or more(no extra work)(you can blag up to 12 for approved purchasers) ill swing you some cash for it, further helping your problems) but places selling crated koppaberg at £1.15 a bottle after vat, etc can only do good for a student in my eyes.

if your doing drugs through uni, then one way to cut back on expenditure is cutting out the coke and mdma.....powdery drugs are not designed for students, drugs in tablet form, were designed with students in mind. although being straight edge is a cheaper option still, and makes you look 'core.

as for the overdraft, its interest free, i wouldnt be too shy about gettin one, just dont use it all to quick, you normally get a 12 month grace period to pay it back after finishing uni before the interest starts, and when you come out of uni, youll be used to living on a pittance, so can plough all your money into paying it back, i have a fairly low paying job, and am currently raising over £600 a month to pay off debts/save for a new car, and im used to living a regular life, without money restrictions, and still am to a certain point.

[011001000110010101110010]

£1200 loan and i have about £800 left, i had to spend £180 taxingmy car and paying a £100 court fine. S'all good!

Edited October 19, 2007 by derf

[Shaun H]

£1200 loan and i have about £800 left, i had to spend £180 taxingmy car and paying a £100 court fine. S'all good!

What about residence fees? I had £1350 or something, then Aston took £940 in residence fees and now I only have £200 of that loan left

Work owes me £500 though so I should be fine once I get the f**kers to pay up

In the meantime, OVERDRAFT ***!

[Billy]

Does your uni not offer any bursaries or grants? All in all for the next academic year, I'll be getting about £3500. I cant see me spending all that at all, especially with living at home.

[Hendrix]

I'm in the same sort of boat as you mate. A lot of things to do, not much money to do it with.

I've ended up buying a weeks worth of food, and never eating out. Barely using my mobile and using internet facilities at Uni to cut down on Internet costings. Also, railcard and student card being used as often as possible.

Noting - I haven't ridden my bike in about a month now I think!

[Dai the Socket]

Does your uni not offer any bursaries or grants? All in all for the next academic year, I'll be getting about £3500. I cant see me spending all that at all, especially with living at home.

The government doesn't reward people who are outside of 'low income groups' - unfortunately.

Thanks for the comments, ill keep them in mind. Kev goin' on about pills being student drugs haha well amusing. I've got quite a lot of pasta and some soup which I think ill have tomorrow with some bread. Although cheap bread is absolutely wank.

I've got some cheques clearing soon which will make my bank flusher and yeah, having to spend £100 on my bike, £150 on books, £45 on a sport card, oh and £15 a week on snowboarding doesn't really help my case does it.

Keep ideas coming though

[chrishayton]

lol nick im like you, well skint, turn to drinking cheap vodka before you go and stop having take aways. if i dont drink i spend like 15 quid a week on food. if i go out like 3 nite o spend near 200. so get pissed beforehand and you ll be ok. glad i dont have insurance to pay for though

[Krisboats]

I'm doing alright at the minute. Freshers week is over, i've bought pretty much everything i needed for the house that i never thought to get (things like towel rails and drying racks for pots all add up) I've paid my first months rent and so far i've only used £100 of my overdraught as i still haven't received my loan through. I eat fairly well, maybe not as healthily as my other housemates but tuna, pasta and lots of milk isn't exactly bad for me.

If you can't be arsed to cook for yourself go down the pasta route. Find a type of pasta you like and that still tastes good cold and then just cook a lot of it. I like pasta, tuna mayo and lettuce with a bit of sweetcorn thrown in there for crunch and its easy enough to make too much and keep 2-3 portions in the fridge for quick snacks throughout the week. It comes to a total of about £2 to make as well so is far cheaper than any takeout stuff.

I do know people on my course who've spent just over a grand at uni so far almost primarily on going out every night so don't worry, you're definately not doing badly.

At the end of the day though, if you do get a job its a bit more money for you to relax a bit more and if your course doesn't take up many hours a week it can be a great way to keep yourself occupied.

[boon racoon]

money saving ideas:

- drink frosty jacks or similar white cider

- take drugs

- eat beans on fried bread every day (actually really nice)

[Janson]

just out of interest, how much money do you 'get' every month for living and stuff? How much is the rent?

I get about 600 quid to live for every month, and pay around 350 quid every month for rent/internet/tv.

As long as I don't spend more than 8 quid on food every day, I'm fine.

Take outs are a real killer, they drain the wallet quickly. Also going out to 'normal' places like pubs and clubs. Private parties or stuff that the union or other societies arrange are usually much cheaper.

[Tom Booth]

Nick, go to halifax and get student account, upto 2.5k overdraft no intrest, for 5 years. Although my sister took one out when she went to Hallam, and this is about 6 years ago, finished her course, she got a letter a few weeks ago sayign they'll start charging her on anything over 200 into her overdraft.

Student life is gooood, specially when you live at home, an about 30 mins every morning getting to uni.

And Janson, £600 a month!!!!!

I only got 850 to last me this simester.

[Barbra]

He's from sweedenland though, they have a nicer government probably?

[Brian Bleech]

I'm sure you'll calm down after the first few weeks and won't save so money. It's pretty obvious though - cook proper food (not takeaway) and don't spend so much going out. White ace is your friend.

But most people have overdrafts, too.

money saving ideas:

- drink frosty jacks or similar white cider

- take drugs

- eat beans on fried bread every day (actually really nice)

Netto strong white cider is best though - 2 litres for £1.69 or 2 bottles for £3!

Drink at home with mates before going to a club...

But yeah cut out the takeaways and expensive food. Just by finding cheaper places to shop you can save tons. Markets are ace for fruit and veg...

I made steak with potato and carrots the other night, cost me less than £2.

[PaRtZ]

wow i must be doing something wrong then

£1500 and after a bit of saving (and final £500 from job) I've got £1300 left. Thats after my accomodation fees hae gone out too, I did have £1900

Im eating 10p noodles from tesco! seriously 2 packs every couple of days (don't live off them) and you're full! dont forget fruit and veg too. but yeah as its been said above, cook at home and i've found, shots of vodka (neat) help you get drunk. Im spending about....£10 a night lol

Also if you're still running out of money, dont forget you need to keep fit....and doing trials is FREE!

Im running off the mentality that this money im spending is exactly mine....

[N.Wood]

Word to the drinking before you go out...

Its so much cheaper to buy alcohol in supermarkets than it is out in a club/union. A £2 Snakebite may seem cheap at the time, but you can get half a litre of decent, 7+% cider at a supermarket for cheaper than that.

Food wise, things that require someone elses labour cost more. Sliced bread often costs more than an organic loaf from the bakery section of a supermarket, pre-shelled prawns are about double the price of prawns witrh shells on, chopped/washed veg is again about double the price (eg a carrot costs about 20p, a bag of pre-chopped carrot costs about 99p) etc.

Also, you can pretty much always go to the supermarket and buy whatever you need and pay less than usual for it. Whether its on special offer, or 'yellow stickered' or you choose the own brand rather than a posh brand. Unfashionable foods cost less, eg turkey breast is often 2-3 quid cheaper than the same amount of chicken breast.

If you fancy a takeaway pizza, it'd cost about £7 for a decent sized, loaded one. Go to Sainsburys, you can buy pizza express pizzas/dough balls for less than half price you buy them in the resturant.

Get your essentials (toilet roll etc) from Wilkinsons or similar, and check places like Spa/Co op for buy one get one free deals, they're often really good.

Go to TK Maxx.

Use your NUS card.

Good luck!

[Haz]

I'm not doing too bad actually.

When I stared Uni, I had about £400, went through that in the first week.

Then I got around £1200 student loan, and a week or two I got my last pay check from work, about £200.

Balance currently stands at around £1100.

I've bought a lot of books and course materials, but I've calmed my drinking down, so I spend a lot less.

Edit: Piss poor grammar.

Edited October 20, 2007 by Haz

[Janson]

Regarding the money I get; about 190 quid is what the government gives me for being a student, the rest is a loan.

Also nice to know is that uni is free in Sweden.

[Tomm]

To be fair, living as a student is easy. Your loan etc is easily enough to live off if you eat sensibly and don't fritter your money away. It's just the other stuff that's expensive - going out, CDs, camera stuff etc (I bet you spent a good bit of loan on that eh?).

[Bionic Balls]

haven't bought any books meself...the library is actually stunningly good if you really want them...and you can just keep on renewing- it's easy..

it's all about mince, sausages and iceland chicken breasts (worryingly cheap compared to everywhere else..)..

frozen veg works well cos it won't go off...and slightly off veg just isn't nice!

and carlsberg- keep the calorie intake up

oh and....make sure you do eat some fruit...i tend to have an apple and an orange at ~11 o'clock everyday (an odd habit i know..) and a banana with me breakfast...

[Krisboats]

To be fair, living as a student is easy. Your loan etc is easily enough to live off if you eat sensibly and don't fritter your money away. It's just the other stuff that's expensive - going out, CDs, camera stuff etc (I bet you spent a good bit of loan on that eh?).

£3570 for my student loan, £3380 for my accomodation.... thats like what... £3-4 a week?

[chrishayton]

To be fair, living as a student is easy. Your loan etc is easily enough to live off if you eat sensibly and don't fritter your money away. It's just the other stuff that's expensive - going out, CDs, camera stuff etc (I bet you spent a good bit of loan on that eh?).

lol