Cork cost of living for students- How much do you spend?

TAlderson

I was just wondering approximately what I should be expecting to spend this year for food, etc. I'm a US student, and according to Ireland I need 7,000 euros for a year, and according to UCC I need 8,000. It's looking like it's anywhere between 70-120 a week for housing (and I'd like to get on the lower end of that), and utilities and such come out to a few hundred over the year.

If you don't mind saying, how much do you generally spend per week, both for essentials like food and housing and for things like going out? I want to make sure I'm being realistic with my budgeting, and I'm thinking this might help others out who are wondering the same thing.

Thanks,

Tyler

confusticated

Depends on how much you go out, and how many people in your accommodation for bills...generally my food shopping comes to around €30 a week, sometimes a little more. I keep €10 aside for bills but they've never been that high, I was in a 2 person house last year and bills were around 50-60€ every 2 months (electricity & heating).

Rent in houses here is generally per week, but you pay monthly...it's 39 weeks in all usually, the lease goes from 1st of September to 1st of June. Deposit is a month's rent usually and there can also be a separate deposit for bills.

Since you're coming as a foreign student, keep in mind that you'll probably want to go travelling on weekends to see a bit of the country so budget for that - bus fare/car rental, hostels etc. Also if you get involved with clubs or socs there can be some small costs with travelling etc.

Going out is very hard to judge without knowing what you're into - if you want to go clubbing 3 or 4 nights a week it's obviously going to cost more than if you go for a pint once a fortnight! In college though usually people drink at a house party before going to town, so they buy drink in the off licence which is much cheaper than in pubs.

TAlderson

Thanks for the reply. I figure everyone's pretty different, but it's good to get a sense of what others are paying. I'm more interested in food and what's reasonable for rent, I don't want to overpay on rent just because I don't know what to expect, or not budget enough money to feed myself for the year.

I have thankfully not gotten the clubbing bug. I'm a musician, but I don't drink, so going out for me usually means finding a concert or gig to go to, or maybe a session/open mic night. Those usually don't cost too much (and I try to get a soda or some food at the bar to give them a little business), so that's nice. I can't imagine paying 10 bucks or more for a drink at swanky nightclubs!

-Tyler

confusticated

Nightclubs in Cork aren't exactly swanky anyway! About a fiver a drink I'd say, as a general rule.

There's a live music society in UCC, so that could be interesting for you, and there're lots of nice little music venues around Cork with different types of gigs.

Rent in and around college has always been about €90 for me, or a little less. That's for a 5-10 minute walk from college. You can find houses for €70 but they tend to be further away, and it's nice to be near college for convenience in the mornings but also going to stuff there at night, so you're not walking too far in the dark especially for the first while.