Uni living expenses

[gumbald]

I'm bored of this thread. I don't think you're enjoying uni like you should. £28.49 on champage? We'd get a crate of beer, bottle of wine and some mixers for that!

And preprocessed food like "melon wedges" will cost more. Although, the stress of throwing a dinner party, how could you possibly manage to cut a melon up? I mean, you've got to consider choosing which wine to start with first and uncorking it and everything.

 

[VIRII]

OK - well I find it amazing some people buy new computers every year. My 2003 box is still going strong and I plan to get another 3-4 years of life out of it. I guess I just place a high priority on food.

For example, say you have a couple of people over and are cooking for 4, it is so easy to run up a pretty big bill;

Smoked salmon amuse bouche, melon and parma ham to start with, fillet steak stuffed with gorgonzola and wrapped in pancetta with new pototates and vegetables, followed by St Agur + oatcakes followed by a cheescake type thing for pudding (by this time I am usually too drunk to prepare some food hence why we always end up with ready-made puddings)


1 Scottish Oatcakes Waitrose 0.69
1 Offer Organic Strawberry Ice Cream Waitrose 2.59
2 Frü Three Berry Cheesecake 5.58
1 Royal Tokaji Blue Label 1999 9.99
1 Pancetta Waitrose 1.89
1 Saint Agur 1.98
1 Paltrinieri's Gorgonzola Apicante Waitrose 3.50
4 British Beef Fillet Steak Waitrose 29.59
1 Garlic Infused Olive Oil Waitrose 2.99
1 Bertolli Lucca Olive Oil Spread 1.24
1 Farmhouse Batch - Sliced Wholemeal Bread Waitrose 0.95
1 Farm Assured Reserva Parma Waitrose 3.69
1 Melon Wedges Waitrose 1.99
1 Les Sinard Perrin Chateauneuf 2004 17.00
1 Organic New Potatoes Waitrose 1.99
1 Ghillie & Glen Scottish Smoked Salmon - Oak Smoked 6.69
1 Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV 28.49
1 La Grille Classic Sauvignon Blanc 2005 6.99


Total £127.82 just for hosting one simple dinner party for 4 people. Even if you only do that once a month I think it makes my point about how much food bills can stack up!

£56 on wine and champagne.
£30 on steak.

Bwahahahahahahaha.

Melon slices? You can't cut a melon yourself?
Ready made salad?

Ridiculous in the extreme unless you have an income of some description but that is hardly typical student fare. I doubt most students really appreciate a £10 bottle of wine either.

£10 per steak?

You would save a fortune if you learnt how to cook and stopped trying to impress a bunch of kids with expensive plonk.

 

[VIRII]

I don't agree at all. In the army you live in a mess and get food provided every night and going out costs nothing. The expenses of a junior officer are close to nothing. When I have been away with the army I have been looked after incredibly well and hardly ever had to put my hand in my pocket.

You must be joking. The mess isn't free at all and officers have to buy a huge amount of their own kit. Do you think that army houses are free to officers as well when they get family postings?

 

[osc89er]

I went to uni at edinburgh and I'm afraid to say that your idea of the essentials in life places you firmly on the far side of the yah fence.

It's all well and good if you choose to spend your money on good food, I like to eat well too (as my waist line would tell you) but your idea of a cheap meal is ridiculous if you think it is typical for anyone but yourself. It's easy to eat well for far less than £250 a month, all you have to do is cook from fresh. Going to Waitrose for pre-sliced melon is the prerogative of the cash rich, time poor professional. You are a time rich, (sorta) cash poor student.

Typical students are horrified at the thought of £30 for a meal at a restaurant. My mate who works for an investment bank in London is horrified at the thought of regularly going out for a £30 meal, although to be fair his
colleagues are not. Nor would any of them have spent a month eating in restaurants when they had already PRE-PAID for their meals at Pollock Halls.

Typical students would never even consider hosting a dinner party that costs them £127, nor would they think it even the slightest bit rude to ask that their guests bring their own booze. After all, even the well to do think it is polite to bring a bottle of wine to a dinner party.

Typical guys at uni are not the least bit offended if they don't get a £20 present off their mates, even their best mates. They understand that money is tight and they would much rather just have their mates be there than observe the social niceties and spend money on stuff that they didn't really want in the first place.

[rant over - I could go on and on...]

 

[semi-pro waster]

Typical guys at uni are not the least bit offended if they don't get a £20 present off their mates, even their best mates. They understand that money is tight and they would much rather just have their mates be there than observe the social niceties and spend money on stuff that they didn't really want in the first place.

The part about presents is absolutely true in my experience, I've got some very good mates from uni and I wouldn't expect a present from them nor they one from me however we would always make the effort to go out for the persons birthday and make sure that they had a great time. If it is a 'notable' birthday (21, 25 etc) then they might get some form of present other than a drink bought on the night but that is about as far as it goes with most.

 

[Greenlizard0]

That is far too much money. I spend that amount of money on food which will last for 3 months if not more.

 

[PureAppleJuice]

Jesus, you could cook a good Thai Red curry with high quality ingredients for about a tenner, that'll server 7 - 8 people and will keep for a few days. But £120 for a '4 Person Dinner Party', think you're a hundred years too late, you might be better off as a British officer in colonial India : /

 

[DB_SamX]

Well, I was sa...organised enough to do my end of year accounts at the end of my 4 years of uni. On average I spent 8-9K a year.

£3500-£4000 on accomodation a year (including bills).
£1200 on annual fees

leaving £3500-£4000 on food, transport, going out, 1 week trip to europe a year, mobile phone.

In year 1 & 4, I spend £1k on new laptops.

So, ~ £35k in all, income from £13k loan, fees and allowance from mum, year out and holiday jobs.

I could get a better breakdown; I have a spreadsheet.

Overall, I lived comfortably but not extravagantly; I saved a lot of money as I barely drink. That was at Soton.

 

[<F0rb>]

I haven't been to uni yet, but this is how i look at it.

Most costs are fairly static, and can't be changed. That leaves rent, which will depend on where you live, but in general you will have the money if it's an expensive place anyway ( not always the case, but mostly )

Then you have food/going out/enjoying yourself. I think this is personal pref., how much you are willing to spend and think you can afford. The only thing i feel is a little rediculeous is that £130 meal, you could eat out somewhere nice for that

 

[SAM81]

i think this is a wind up, who the frig throws dinner party's at uni?

 

[DB_SamX]

i think this is a wind up, who the frig throws dinner party's at uni?

My housemates and I did. I know a lot of people who did too. Not at that expense though.

 

[Dark_Injection]

Lol at that food menu, seriously?

Can you not just by cheap pasta - 50p, block of cheese, £1 something, and some veg to chuck in a couple of quid.

The cheese will stay for sandwhiches and the veg for another night, or do a load up and save it. So that is what, say about 1.20 MAX for a meal a night. Sandwhiches in the day with the cheese.

Jesus you must have been one spoilt kid at home.

Try going backpacking with sweet FA in money and try and live off that, it is the same as uni.

I love my food more than anything, but luckily i can cook and understand saving food and such. You, seem to not be able to grasp that.

(This is to the guy who has dinner parties btw)

The rent is right though, well for me anyway. I am going to Falmouth and they charge a RIDICULOUS amount for halls, but i really want to stay in them to meet people. Im paying £92 a damn week, which i find stupid....Next year will be a lot cheaper im guessing.

 

[Haircut]

i think this is a wind up, who the frig throws dinner party's at uni?

We did dinner parties, but not quite like that.

I remember once cooking a 3-course meal for 9 people for a total cost of £45 and there were plenty of leftovers the next day as well.

 

[osc89er]

Lol at that food menu, seriously?

Can you not just by cheap pasta - 50p, block of cheese, £1 something, and some veg to chuck in a couple of quid.

The cheese will stay for sandwhiches and the veg for another night, or do a load up and save it. So that is what, say about 1.20 MAX for a meal a night. Sandwhiches in the day with the cheese.

Jesus you must have been one spoilt kid at home.

Try going backpacking with sweet FA in money and try and live off that, it is the same as uni.

I love my food more than anything, but luckily i can cook and understand saving food and such. You, seem to not be able to grasp that.

(This is to the guy who has dinner parties btw)

The rent is right though, well for me anyway. I am going to Falmouth and they charge a RIDICULOUS amount for halls, but i really want to stay in them to meet people. Im paying £92 a damn week, which i find stupid....Next year will be a lot cheaper im guessing.

The rent does not have to be as high as £350 in Edinburgh. Most people I know are under £300 a month. Halls can be ridiculously priced, but that includes food, electricity, heating, internet, cleaners etc.

 

[Dark_Injection]

I dont get food

Nor internet, nor phone line, and im still paying 92 !

But ye i do get a cleaner muhaha.

 

[Killa_ken]

The first month will be reasonably expensive as you'll be buying stuff that you forgot to bring and stocking up the fridge, buying food and what not.

 

[Tommy B]

I'm completely reliant on the maintanence loan, which for me is £1,300/term or something. Is there a good way of making sure you don't run out of cash?

What I might do is shove it all in a savings account, divide it up by the number of weeks I'm there, and take out the fixed sum of divided-up cash each week and put it in my current. That way it's impossible to mess up my finances.

 

[Killa_ken]

I'm completely reliant on the maintanence loan, which for me is £1,300/term or something. Is there a good way of making sure you don't run out of cash?

What I might do is shove it all in a savings account, divide it up by the number of weeks I'm there, and take out the fixed sum of divided-up cash each week and put it in my current. That way it's impossible to mess up my finances.

How many weeks per term?

 

[A2Z]

eating 6/7 meals a day with lots of meat/fish/fruit/veg costs me £40/week max when at uni...

and if you want to cook for a number of people just put more pasta in the pot and more mince out to defrost

 

[Mr^B]

This HAS to be a wind-up.

A pretty good one too. Congratulations!