Hey! It’s Evie, a final year History and Politics student in Penryn. Today I’ll be running you through some of the day-to-day costs of life here at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall campus, and hopefully showing you that you don’t need to spend a lot to have a good time!
I know the money aspect of university can be daunting, and I remember finding it super useful to read blogs on this topic before joining myself. It can be really tricky to work out how much you’ll need to spend until you’re actually living it yourself, and although it does vary a lot person to person, this should give you more of an idea about what is possible. It’s particularly useful to understand the average prices and budgets you might want to have in mind, so I’ll be sharing all you need to know for the essentials and giving some tips on keeping costs down but still having a fun university experience.
Rent and bills
The biggest cost at university is, of course, your accommodation. Rent prices for a room in Penryn and Falmouth can range anywhere from around £400 to £800 per month with bills factored in, or above this if you’re wanting something more luxurious!
In your first year you’re likely to be staying in University accommodation, which tends to be on the upper end of prices because you have all your bills and support included. Having this all sorted out for you makes the process a lot smoother and means you don’t need to worry about how much extra you’ll need to budget for things like gas and electricity. There are also options like having a shared room in Glasney Student Village which helps to bring costs down.
In second and third year most people move into private accommodation, like a student house with your friends. You can choose to live in specific student accommodation halls too, which I’ve found often is a bit more expensive but could be a good option if you’re not sure who you want to live with, as you would be allocated a flat similarly to first year. Both years I decided to opt to share a house with friends.
In second year our rent was cheaper but bills weren’t included, so we had to set up and pay the gas and electric, water, and Wi-Fi bills ourselves. We allocated one person to each, contacted the companies to work out how much the monthly payments would be for the water and Wi-Fi, and set up regular payments to the one person paying. For gas and electric payments which were based on our usage, we worked out a monthly average amount based on the previous tenants’ estimates, which made it easier when it came to the more expensive winter heating costs as we’d been reserving more money during the summer months. Although it did need adjusting at times, this approach made it a lot more manageable to know how much we needed to budget for bills on top of rent.
There are lots of different ways to go about paying bills with your housemates to make doing it yourselves easier, which does often work out cheaper. But if that seems a bit overwhelming and you’d prefer to have a single set amount to pay, you can pay for packages aimed at students that sort it all out for you. Alternatively, some accommodation offers bills included in the overall rent price, which is how my house this year has worked. The overall price does tend to be slightly higher for this, but the consistency across the year means you don’t get caught out by expensive heating bills over winter, and takes out the stress. Make sure you know what the cap on usage is if you have one though, and check that this is actually a liveable amount as I know some people have had to pay extra on top as it’s not covered the amount of heating realistically needed. The Students’ Union has lots of advice on housing and renting, and there are always people to contact if you need help.
Food
Food shopping is the other most essential cost of living, and again can vary a lot depending on your choices and how you organise it. I’ve found it works best to come up with meal ideas, write a shopping list accordingly and then do a weekly food shop around this, rather than just going around buying things you fancy at the time without a proper plan. I like to do a smaller scale version of batch cooking by making a bigger portion and keeping leftovers in tubs in the fridge for the next couple of days. Some people go all in with batch cooking and storing meals in the freezer to last them the week, which may work for some people, but I think can get tricky with shared freezer space. Either way, some form of batch cooking works well especially if you’re just cooking for yourself, as most recipes are for multiple people, it’s easier to use up ingredients, and it saves time!
I think getting organised with this is the main thing that’s brought my food shop costs down. You don’t need to have an overly complicated meal plan but having a rough idea of a few meals per week that you can make last until your next shop is essential in my opinion. Falmouth and Penryn have an Asda, Sainsburys, Lidl and Tesco Express within easy reach, so you have plenty of choice of where to shop, but I definitely find Lidl to be cheapest for weekly shops.
I usually spend around £20 per week on all the essentials for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, but I do sometimes do midweek shops for snacks and topping things up probably totalling another £10. I would say this is on the more ‘budget-friendly’ side of things, compared to others who I know who spend up to £40, although I’m sure you could manage even less than me if you were super conscious, and didn’t do the extra snack shop.
Here’s an example of a typical weekly shopping list for me and the meals I would make with the ingredients…
- Greek Style Yogurt 1kg = £1.49
- Frozen blueberries = £1.99
- Crisp strawberry cereal = £1.59
- 6 mixed weight eggs = £0.99
- Wholemeal loaf of bread = £0.89
- Cream cheese = £0.95
- Bistro salad = £0.75
- Penne = £0.41
- Spaghetti = £0.28
- Tins of chopped tomatoes x2 = £0.43 each
- Tin of green lentils = £0.49
- Tin of chickpeas = £0.49
- Mushrooms = £1.29
- 3 mixed peppers = £1.79
- Tortilla wraps = £0.99
- Tin of black beans = £0.49
- Tofu = £0.85
- Cheddar = £2.79
- Onions = £0.99
- Garlic = £0.50
Total = £20.87
*prices correct as of June 2026
This shop would be enough for me to make all my main meals for the week. I’d have yogurt with frozen blueberries and granola for breakfast everyday, and then for lunch I could switch between having fried eggs on toast with garlic mushrooms or a cream cheese and salad sandwich depending on if I need to pack the lunch to take onto campus. A good tip is to get a big loaf of cheap sliced bread and then freeze it so you can use it longer than the best before date and don’t end up wasting it! Then you can just defrost the slices you need in the toaster. For dinners, the ingredients allow for three portions of lentil, mushroom and tomato sauce for spaghetti ‘bolognese’; three days of fajitas with peppers, tofu and black beans; and a day (or two) of blended chickpea, tomato and pepper sauce. All include garlic, onion and grated cheese on top.
I find it works best to group meals together that use shared ingredients, like peppers and mushrooms in this example, but sometimes I make multiple dishes that include broccoli or spinach to make sure I use up what I’ve bought. Planning meals in this way to avoid food waste simultaneously helps the environment and your budget. Freezing food is also very helpful for this when you’re by yourself and can’t get through everything quickly enough.
There are also a few things I have to buy every so often but last a few weeks or months, like coffee, tea, cooking oil, cleaning products, toiletries and toilet roll. These are a few pounds each so do need to be factored into overall costs even if they’re not as frequent, but I usually try to buy one thing with each shop to keep them in stock and avoid having to buy them all at once as that would add up a lot!
The Students’ Union offers plenty of support with advice on budgeting, food supplies from the SU community pantry, and free soup Fridays.
Transport
If you’re not living on campus, it’s important to budget for the cost of the bus to lectures, and if you are on campus you’ll still want to travel into town every so often. Around the Penryn Campus, single journeys are capped at £3, so you need to calculate how many times you’ll be using the bus to account for this cost. It’s also useful to work out how this compares to the price of daily, weekly or monthly passes, as these can be worthwhile. As these have undergone some changes recently, I’d recommend keeping an eye on the university social media pages for updates on discounted prices as sometimes you can save a lot by being a student.
People living near a train station may find it works out cheaper to get a return train ticket with a 16-25 railcard, or those closer to campus may find it’s better to hire a Beryl bike, so it’s worth checking your options. Also, if you find a house in Penryn town or somewhere in between the campus and Falmouth town, you can walk! I’ve been in a good position this year where I’m within easy walking distance of all the shops and cafes in Falmouth, but a bit closer to campus so my bus fare is less than the £3 max if I remember to tap off, and I usually walk home as it’s downhill on the way towards Falmouth and a nice way to naturally fit some exercise into my day. Walking one direction when I have lectures makes my usual weekly spend on transport around £10, but bear in mind if you need to travel both ways every weekday this could be £30!
Other essential costs to consider
There are a few things not included in average weekly spends but are important to consider over the year. One of the most expensive things I do is go home for holidays, which I have to make sure I’ve budgeted for. A big tip for this is to book in advance and get a railcard if you travel by train! Towards the end of the year you may also need to put down house deposits for the next year’s accommodation, which is usually a full month’s rent, and sometimes this is needed before you get your previous deposit back, so make sure you find out about this and save accordingly!
Moving into university accommodation in first year also comes with some initial costs like bedding and kitchen equipment which can be expensive but are one-time purchases if you look after everything. This needs to be accounted for but I wouldn’t factor it into day-to-day spending as if anything does break you can usually find a reasonably cheap replacement, especially if you look second-hand! This also goes for clothing, which of course is essential, but you likely already have enough of, and can buy fairly inexpensively from the huge array of charity shops in Falmouth! I know some people like to spend a lot more on clothes shopping if they can afford to, but I would class this as a fun activity rather than a necessity.
If you live in student accommodation, you’ll need to pay a few pounds to use the washing machines and dryers, so remember to budget for this. Also, the cost of any medicines or prescriptions you need regularly or might need if you get ill is important to save some money for. You could check if you’re eligible for a HC2 certificate if you have low income, which a lot of students don’t seem to realise can include them but could be a huge help if you have frequent healthcare costs. Toiletries can also be expensive, but there are normally cheaper options and offers available. There are free period products in many toilets around campus for those who need them, which is helpful in emergencies and if you’re struggling with how much the cost can add up for something so essential!
Any subscriptions you have for phone contracts and streaming services also need to be factored in, and if you’re planning on watching BBC channels or live TV, remember you’ll need a TV licence.
The fun stuff!
That’s pretty much all of the essential things you need to account for in your budget, so now we’ll move onto entertainment, activities and socialising – which are just as important in a different way but can cost as much as you want them to! I would say this might be where people’s expenditure varies the most based on their lifestyles, as some activities are a LOT more expensive than others.
Since first year, I’ve got into the habit of having a second debit card that I transfer a set amount of money to each week from the account my income goes into. Having just a week’s worth of money on the card I’m using day-to-day allows me to stick very closely to the budget without being tempted to go over or accidentally spending more than I can early in the term. I work this amount out by accounting for any outstanding costs for the term (like rent, bills, trains home, etc.) and then dividing the remaining amount by the number of weeks before the next student loan instalment. If possible, I’ll then subtract around 10-20% which will be kept in the main account so that if any unexpected costs crop up (which they always do – whether that’s flu medicine or a friend’s birthday), I’ll have some money kept back ready for them. I’ve found over the years I’ve spent around £65 a week including food shops and bus travel. This leaves me with about £35 for fun activities.
I would say this is on the lower end of what people spend from what I’ve heard, which I think is mostly explained by me not really drinking alcohol. In first year, I did drink and go on nights out two to three times a week, and that definitely made my weekly budget need to be a bit higher (I think it was more like £80 a week) as well as meaning I wasn’t able to spend much on other activities. How you budget for drinking and nights out really depends on personal preference, but I would say it’s definitely helpful to factor this into the first few weeks of university as you’re more likely to want to go out and socialise with potential new friends, even if you’re just buying soft drinks. Of course, you can pick cheap drinks or limit the number of times you go out, so this can be made manageable and still be enjoyable! Most venues here don’t charge an entry fee, or if they do it’s usually quite low, so you can still go and enjoy dancing, listening to live music, or chatting to friends without needing to spend much. A perfect example of this is Games Room in Falmouth, which offers free pool and board games on Sunday – Tuesday so you can just buy a cheap drink or two and have an evening of entertainment.
However, there are so many fun things you can do at university that don’t involve drinking and are often more budget-friendly as a result! Living in Cornwall means there are so many beautiful walks you can go on, beaches you can explore, and sea swims you can do without having to pay anything (except maybe £3 for the bus). Having so many free outdoor activities on your doorstep is definitely an advantage to living in the South West, even if it can be a pricey region at times. I’ve written about some of my favourite local activities in a previous blog, many of which are free, and really allow you to make the most of student life here in Penryn!
There are also many nice ways to keep yourself entertained and social for free (or very little) at home, like cooking with friends, baking, painting, or playing a game. Last year my housemates invited a few of our friends over each week to watch Gilmore Girls on a projector on the wall, so we could have a cosy evening together and catch up about our weeks without having to spend anything. Any kind of movie night is a nice way to spend an evening, particularly if you’ve had a busy day and just want to chill.
Finding things second hand is one of my main tips for enjoying any hobbies or activities you want to do on a budget, especially given how many good charity shops we have locally. I love reading, so I get a lot of books for about £1 from charity shops. I also play guitar but couldn’t bring my guitar to university so I found one for £8 on Facebook Marketplace that has seen me through third year! If you do enjoy clothes shopping as a hobby, this is also a great way to bring costs down but still have a nice time browsing for things. Vinted is also great for this and means you can make a bit of extra money if you have anything you don’t want anymore which is a bonus!
In terms of exercise, gym memberships can be expensive, but there’s often student deals or you can join sports societies which have low membership prices. Personally, I prefer to do activities like hiking, running, or sea swimming which are all free. Falmouth is also part of the national Park Yoga scheme over the summer which is really fun to go to, and there are various other community sports facilities you can access for good prices.
My last piece of advice is to make the most of student discount! Eating out can get very expensive so I don’t often do it, but it can be lovely to socialise or celebrate a special occasion, and costs can be brought down if you pick somewhere that offers a discount. Similarly on toiletries, clothes and travel, there are plenty of deals to make the most of, some of which I’ve mentioned but are all worth looking into more closely so you’re not paying more than you have to!
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I hope this run-down has helped you get more of an idea about how much living expenses are at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, and how much they can vary based on your choices and budgeting skills – so if you need to prioritise bringing costs down, you can. There are so many ways to make your university experience enjoyable without spending excessively. Outside of the course itself, it is ultimately the friendships, hobbies and experiences you have that make your life at university fun, and I really want to highlight that this is possible regardless of budget!
If you are worried about money or require more specific help with funding and hardship support, there are so many resources for you through the University of Exeter and Students’ Union websites. It really does feel like there are a lot of initiatives and support programs in place to help students who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, and wellbeing in relation to this is a big priority on Penryn Campus.