Hi! My name’s Kelsey, I’m a first year Law student at the University of Exeter, and in this blog post I’m going to be sharing how much I spend in a week at university, as a commuter student to the Streatham campus!
Monday:
Each day the train is a £6.75 on a return ticket to Exeter St Davids station, I then take a 15-minute walk onto campus to avoid spending unnecessary money on the bus (although it is only £1.50).
I will usually bring my own food and drink from home to save money and avoid wasting all my money on food, when I could save it for something more important or exciting!
As a commuter, I thankfully don’t have to worry about spending masses amounts of money on a food shop, however, if you did live on campus there are plenty of cafes where you can buy cheap food – especially the £2.25 meals that they do!
On campus, there are also many microwaves available across majorities of study spaces within subject buildings. This means that if you commute or live on campus, you can save money just by making meals at home and then heating them up in the microwaves!
Some cheap meals that are great would be any sort of pasta dish! It’s cheap to buy the ingredients and will fill you up for a while so that you aren’t reaching for anything else. There are many student meal ideas on apps such as TikTok, and these can really help when it comes to saving money, as they will show you how many portions it makes and how much it is per portion. I would really recommend creating a meal plan for the week and making a grocery list, this way you won’t buy unnecessary foods, and also won’t go and spend money on takeaway food, which over time will add up quite quickly.
Tuesday:
As normal I spent £6.75 on the train today. Due to terrible weather, I also payed £1.50 for the bus to campus to protect my laptop to avoid any damage!
I also bought my own food to campus as normal to avoid paying extra. This is a good tip, even if you’re not commuting, use that weekly food shop to your advantage! Don’t waste unnecessary money on food.
In the evening, I went out for a meal with my friends. I feel privileged enough to be able to afford this whilst being at university, and it was one of the leading factors which led to me deciding to commute, as being able to do this whilst staying on campus would be a rarity. I spent £13.50 on a carvery and a pint of Diet Coke!
Another expense that also came out of my bank today was payment for my driving lesson at £57 for an hour and a half, again, thankfully I am commuting, as the two weeks I stayed at university accommodation, it was a struggle (for me personally) to be able to afford to do this.
Wednesday:
On Wednesdays I don’t have any lectures, workshops or seminars, and so I do not commute to University which therefore saves me some money.
I usually use my Wednesdays to catch up on work and therefore don’t go spending too much money. I did, however, have some errands to run with a friend today as we were buying some decorations for our Halloween party coming up. I ended up spending £2.28 in Home Bargains and £3.27 in the Range.
In the evening, I went out with my sister and my boyfriend to a 24-hour milk shed, I bought two of us milkshakes for £1.40 each.
I usually don’t spend much on days like these, however, today was an exception.
Thursday:
The only thing I spent my money on today was the train – so a cheap day for me!
Friday:
I spent £6.75 on the train today as normal!
I went and bought two ‘Too Good To Go’ bags today, one for £3.50 and the other for £3.99. These are such good value for money! The contents add up to at least over £11 and a lot of it can be frozen which helps save money when it comes to weekly food shops, or if you’re like me, it saves money on buying “sweet treats”.
I also met up with my friends this evening, and we all went out into the town. We each buy a round for one another, which usually costs around £30-£40 as there are 6 of us. I, however, was asked to pay for the cost of the food afterwards, which led to me spending £36.48 on a meal deal from Dominos. Dominos is a good student takeaway as they always have deals going on!
Weekend:
On the weekends I work both days, working from 10:00-14:00 on Saturdays and 10:30-15:00 on Sundays. I sometimes pick up extra shifts or stay longer if I’m needed.
On Saturday I didn’t spend any money!
However, on the Sunday my mum had come down from Bristol and so I got the train over to Newton Abbot to see her, which was a £3.70 return, and we went out for food with my meal costing £9.00.
Weekly total:
£164.02
This week there were a few more expenses than normal. However, this is more than likely about average for a week of student spending.
The University is incredibly good at giving cheaper options and also helping with financial problems. If you’re having issues financially, speak to a member of the SID team and see if they can aid you in helping you find any scholarships or bursaries that you might be able to claim, as every little helps.
I would also recommend getting a part time job – it can even be on campus! As it will help make your university experience that little bit more comfortable.
The Big Costs:
Of course, at university there are going to be the “big costs”, these will be things such as your accommodation, phone bills, transportation etc. For many of us this will be our first time coming to terms with these costs, and it can seem daunting and difficult. The University has some great advice on their webpages for you to gain access, and the SID team, located in the Forum on Streatham Campus, are available to give face to face advice to help you avoid financial worry. On top of this, the Career Zone is there to aid you in finding a part time job if you need one – this could be within the city centre, on campus (as the University offers a great variety of on-campus jobs!), or even remotely as a tutor for example. The “big costs” can seem scary, but there are so many resources that are available to you to help ease the worry.