Student budget

Whilst at Uni I survived (and I mean survived) on £40 a week once rent, uni fees and material costs were taken out of my loan and savings.

The £40 had to include everything.. no wonder I came out of Uni a physical wreck!

p.s On no account should you lend money to a fellow student. As someone has already pointed out, the end of term is hard on everyone but you'll find the ones who've been raging hard and have pissed their loans up a wall to be the first to come and ask for a fiver, or a tenner, or maybe more. Fuck em (but in a nice way obviously).

I think I had a budget of £50 a week in first year, but my halls were catered (juries still out as to whether that was actually food mind). I would hate to have to do it again but it's ace really, enjoy!

You only need £2.59 a day (2.50 bottle of wine, 9p instant noodles)

Get the books out of the library and don't waste your time and money going to shit freshers' week events, it's all fucking school uniform discos and shit vodka. Especially at fucking Kings.

^she is right. Freshers week is crap.

Freshers week and first year social life makes me do a massive facepalm.

Yeah, fresher's week is an easy way to waste a lot of cash. If you really do want to do something with this, pick a couple of events at most and stick to those only.

Also, if you can't already, learn to cook. Books by people like Cas Clark (often available at charity shops) are worth their weight in gold to those on a student budget and you'll end up with a decent diet.

Wait until you get out into the 'real world' and have to pay proper rent, and rates, and bills, and credit cards, and all the other shit you have to pay for....then you'll be wishing you had £140 a fucking week to spend how you want

student 'budget' ? jeez!

Or do what I do and become a kept man. I won't say that life is completely without it's financial concerns but being an engineers* wife suits be very well. I'm a lucky git and I'm grateful for it every day of my life.

• a sexy engineer who likes cycling and my cooking.
  

You only need £2.59 a day (2.50 bottle of wine, 9p instant noodles)

i know somebody who got scurvy as a student because his diet consisted of noodles (without the little sachet of dried nose pickings) and cheap sliced white bread.

Or do what I do and become a kept man. I won't say that life is completely without it's financial concerns but being an engineers* anal sex toy is very well. I'm a lucky git and I'm grateful for it every day of my life.

• a sexy engineer who likes cycling and my cooking.
  
  

as mentioned in previous posts don't be flash with the cash, don't lend money out and beware of Freshers weeks hard sells and pretty women

If you want to save money you just go around bars stealing drinks, easiest way to have a laugh and save cash, other than I recommend staying out of clubs, go to dirty raves and gaff parties instead, cheaper and more fun to boot!! Foodwise I've always found places that do ethnic foods (Asian food emporiums that sort of place) are always substantially cheaper. If you want to eat well you need to plan your meals ahead and buy in bulk... 5kg of rice is always going to be cheaper than those piddly little supermarket bags... Use your food too, don't buy a pack of chicken breast, buy a full chicken eat it, use ALL of the meat, you can make sandwiches, curries, stir fry with the leftover bits of meat, then chuck the carcass in a pot with some veggies and you've got a chicken soup/stock for using later on... You'll be surprised how far you'll go on that sort of cooking and you'll save shitloads of money, don't eat fast food either, seriously expensive and doesn't really do you any good...

Learn to cook properly and really make use of your food and you'll save yourself a couple of grand in the year and you'll have the skillz to wine and dine any prospective lady/gentleman friends in top style ;)

as mentioned in previous posts don't be flash with the cash, don't lend money out and beware of Freshers weeks hard sells and pretty women

Unless you're going to cook for them, shag them silly and then have them do the washing up...

learn to cook. asap.

even if it's coke plus baking soda plus microwave.

i know how to cook quite a few things i think, what would you recommend as cheap, easy meals?

soup, pasta sauces of all varieties, stir fries (without using crappy packet sauces) almost anything cooked from scratch. If the facilities exist, get into freezer cooking. It'll save you time and money.

Buying food that you can freeze does save a fair bit on £££'s but also basically everything what The Seldom Killer just said. Don't buy junk food all the time.

I'm starting in a couple of weeks too, studying sound design at the uni of herts.

I am also shitting a rather large brick, what are your halls like velo?

well i didn't get my first choice which was modern almost brand new aparments with ensuite etc etc, but i got my second choice which is a more traditional style building (and has meant that i've saved a grand on rent), about 400 people, not ensuite, but the rooms look pretty nice from what i can see on the internet, self catered, got things like table tennis, pool, music room, and essentially, a bike lock up place, which i am hoping is actually locked up otherwise the bike will be kept in my room.

what about yours?

ahhh student days. going out clutching a tenner and still having change in my pocket after getting absolutely shitfaced....

learn to like tenants super is my tip.

go to supermarket, make notes on how much stuff costs, work it out for yourself....couldn't be simpler!

Don buy things like

• readymade dinners
  
• super-exotic hummus dip (student LOVE hummus)
  
• meat stuff that you won't eat and that rots in the fridge
  

not ensuite, but the rooms look pretty nice from what i can see on the internet, self catered, what about yours?

Shower shoes (basically a pair of flip-flops) will be an essential, you will be sharing with a bunch of grubby fuckers. Self catered can be a bit of an arse for food storage so, if it isn't looking secure, I'd strongly advise on a food cupboard in your own room and a small fridge freezer if you can persuade your parents to spring for one. Food will go missing and than you get into a cheeselicking situation.

A friend of mine was at Roehampton for a while and the situation got so bad that he eventually took to keeping most of his food at another friend's house in Peckham to cook about three/four times a week.

Just don't eat. You can get all the calories you need from alcohol.

Buying food that you can freeze does save a fair bit on £££'s but also basically everything what The Seldom Killer just said. Don't buy junk food all the time.

Also stake out the local Tesco's for when they put all their reduced food out and make sure you have a freezer. The Tesco's express's round Manchester are a goldmine, not sure what it'll be like in London. Just go in every other night at that time, sorted. Picked up £35-worth of Pizza's for £7 the other day :D

My flatmate and I spend about £20 a week on all our food that way. Also Home Bargains is the students eternal friend. 39p decent-quality curry sauces, cheap rice, noodles etc.

i got some great tips on how to wipe your ass should they be needed