And how often do you eat out?
Are you trying to budget for a student?
I suspect the answer is very different for a student (practically and socially) vs an adult who is used to shopping, meal planning and cooking at home.
Sorry, trying to budget for a student. I’ve read many things online but wants to ask real people. I’m from the U.S. where students have meal plans so it’s very foreign to me having students cook for themselves.
Would you provide more information on the location? London vs St Andrews vs Bath… will be different experiences and have different considerations.
Congrats to your student!
I will say that eating out very much depends on how wealthy you and your friends are. Most British students are poor, but an international crowd will likely have a lot more money. Eating out more than once a week would be unusual for most British kids, even that would be a stretch for many, despite there being cheap options around many universities (eg pizza or fish and chips for 10 pounds). Drinking is more expensive, with a pint costing 5 pounds or more in the south of England.
Groceries are far cheaper than in the US. It would be surprising for a student to spend much more than 40-50 pounds a week on food unless they have very high end tastes/buy lots of beer and wine. However it may take some time for a foreign student to get used to what is cheap and what is not, and to figure out they can cook from scratch rather than living off the more expensive prepared foods in the chiller cabinets.
I’d assume a combined budget of 300-400 pounds a month for groceries and eating out should be sufficient, depending on location. I note that Oxford suggests 300-500 pounds per month for food which includes 3 meals a day in college:
Depends on what the cooking/prep facilities are like in the dorm or flat! Particularly in U owned housing, you cannot assume that the stove/oven/fridge/sink set up will be comparable to what your kid is used to at home.
I lived in U owned housing in London. There was a hotplate, warming drawer type appliance, small fridge and an electric tea kettle in the communal kitchen. You couldn’t even plug in a crockpot without it being confiscated by the cleaning staff.
Belfast. There will be a full kitchen in the u housing.
It varied for my son. First year he was in an ancient staircase at Worcester College with no kitchen access. He would eat in hall but also grabbed cheap Tesco sandwiches or went to the Gloucester Green take away stalls. No college “meal plan” - all pay-as-you-go. His other three years, he had full kitchen access. I would agree on the 300-400 GBP per month estimate if you don’t splurge too often.
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