I thought i's post this up as it may help people understand how much money things cost for uni and so on...
I went to Swansea Met (as it's known now) to do Illustration; 3 year course not too bad, i ended up choosing Swansea over Southampton because the rent is half of what So'ton was!
I'm currently re-doing my 3rd year on a part time basis; it all got a little stressful for me, and along with personal problems i just didn't do well on the last hurdle xD
I have a house with my BF (and a friend) now, and before that i was sharing a house with 3 other friends.. rent isn't so bad when you share, and if you shop around a bit it helps alot; the student house i had had bills included in the rest; kept us from fighting over who used the most electricity!, plus as a student you don't have to pay council tax ( I do now - its £972 for this year!)
to give you an idea of how much rent costs...
my student halls was £60/ week where i had a small room, shared a kitchen with 20 others on the floor (it was not a pleasant place to cook in) and was woken constantly by parties xD
the shared house i got with friends was £55/week, including bills; i had the biggest room, a living room, kitchen between us and even a small garden; was a pretty good deal
other friends got a student house for about £46/ week + bills on top at about £15/week on average but they had constant fights about who owed more on bills etc; it was really bad
my current house now is £425 / month; our friend who lives with us pays £100 (because he's on incapacity benefits, he can't pay so much) and the BF and i Split the £325; it works out at £37.50/ week each
on top of that we pay bills, tax and for things like internet and TV.. in total we spend just over £20/week on the bills
as for other fees;
i was lucky i got into uni the year tuition top-up fees hit, so i only pay £1125/year for those; although for going part time in now have to pay £12/ credit im doing that year; im trying to do 40 credits (minimum of each module) er year to keep costs down now.
for the rest of you i believe tuition fees are now something like £3500 /year yes?
but your LEA can pay that for you; especially if you're getting the loan
other expenses....
Food:
on average living alone and cooking for one cost me about £30/week; now i share with others its £20/week (we spread the cost)
others i know can live on £10/ week for food.. but its not good food
Supplies for the course..
it varies on what course youre doing....
Art, Law and the Sciences are the most expensive statisticly...
on av. i spent about £80/ month on art materials; i boutgh in bulk at whatever low rate i caould find, and it's worked out quite well
on top of that though i made some on-off investments:
£1500 on PC; £500 on a Wacom Tablet, £400 on assorted sortwares, about £300 on other peripherals (scanner, printer, webcam( that i never use
))
these however i used out of my personal savings and some inheritance....
Travel:
I chose to live pretty centrally, so i walk everywhere, however getting a young person's railcard was a really good deal; it saves me 1/3 of trainfares
Socialising:
well this is the sticky one (literally if you're a messy drinker)
it really depends on how much you go out, and where to.
I dont drink so often anymore so i'll spend maybe £10/ week on average...
however in 2nd year i was out 3 /4 days a week; it cost me about £80/week, less when others bought me drinks of course!
so it is manageable; you just have to shop around a bit for deals, find the best place to live, and the right kinda people who you want to live with
do bear in mind that I'm in Swansea; prices here are ALOT cheaper than in other parts of the country.. for example cheapest rent in Oxford is around £80/week with bills on top, plus a pint here is £2.25... Oxford; more like £4
