College

barbiegirl123

So i am really stressed out atm. I will be starting college in September and I have no summer job to earn money. i have been applying for jobs on indeed and handed CVs in everywhere but i have heard nothing back yet. i have about €8000 in savings and my parents said they would cover tuition and accommodation but i am just scared i will not have enough for food transport etc. how much would u usually spend every week in college approx?, I also applied to Susi but we didn’t qualify

Princess Calla

You parents are covering the lions share of expenses and I'd guarantee you will be sent back to college with enough food to feed an army each time you visit home

How much you spend is up to you.... You can do a weekly shop in lidl etc and bring packed lunches and snacks each day... Batch cook at the weekend for dinners etc or you can eat everyday, snacks lunch dinner in the college canteen.... Obviously one is alot more expensive than the other.

How much do you intend on socialising... Obviously if you plan on hitting a club a few times a week is going to be alot more expensive than having a few drinks at house parties etc.

Tbh if I had your savings in college I wouldn't have bothered working and just concentrated on getting good marks and enjoying the experience.

Gerianam

Very few students would have 8K in savings even after working all summer. You will be fine. your parents have said they will cover accommodation.

barbiegirl123

Gerianam wrote: »

Very few students would have 8K in savings even after working all summer. You will be fine. your parents have said they will cover accommodation.

I have only €2800 that i can access but the other 5500 is inaccessible and my parents will give it to me after college

Tork

€2.800 is still a nice cushion to have though. You're in a better position than a lot of your peers who also won't have had summer jobs this year. There is no straight answer to your question because none of us knows what your lifestyle or spending habits are like. Maybe to put your mind at ease you could start doing up some rough maths now. It shouldn't be too hard to find out what it'd cost to get to and from college on a bus or to get home at weekends. If you have never shopped or cooked for yourself, sit down and work out some imaginary menus and see what the ingredients cost in the shops. . You will save a lot of money if you make the effort to plan your own meals, bring in your lunch and don't go overboard on takeaways and ready meals. If you're stuck for ideas, this website is pretty good https://cookingonabootstrap.com/ . You will already have a rough idea how much you spend on clothes, socialising, cosmetics, entertainment etc.

You might be able to bolster your savings by getting a part-time job after you start college anyway. This summer will be a write-off for a lot of people I think.

radiotrickster

Write up an idea of what you’d want to eat on a weekly basis and add everything you’d need for it into a basket on the Tesco or SuperValu app to get an idea of what you’ll spend on food if you make all your meals in a week. Multiply by four for a months estimate.

In Dublin anyway, I think a monthly student bus pass is about €130ish and the dart version is a bit more? Not too sure but it might not be worth getting if you’re doing a lot of remote learning. Look into it anyway.

Add in any extras (nights out, clothes, video games, phone bills) and you’ll have an idea of what you’ll spend each month.

Keep a little aside for Christmas presents if you can too!

I earned two to three grand a year throughout college. I lived at home but still, I mostly lived off of Tesco meal deals, cereal and whatever chocolate was on special offer. You should be fine with your savings!

As others have said, it's just a case of making a budget for yourself. Accommodation is the most expensive (and along with food, the most important) thing, and it's also the only thing where you don't have much freedom/choice in terms of how much you want to pay. This has been taken care of by your parents so this should be a huge advantage to you over the next year - a lot of your peers wont be as lucky so you certainly wont be alone if things are a bit tight over your first year.

Everything after accommodation is down to you being aware of your budget and sticking to it. €2,800 is more than enough to feed you for the year, but make sure you have a clear plan of how well you can afford to eat and how often you can afford to eat out. When it comes to socialising etc., you'll be in a similar boat to most of your peers as everyone will be finding it tough to get jobs. Some people will be very well taken care of by their parents, so just be cautious not to fall into the trap of trying to keep up with people that have far more spending power than you. That's not to say you can't go out with those people, but just to keep in mind not to get caught up in expensive trips/rounds of drinks/fancy dinners. You have enough in savings to give yourself options, so just make sure you're aware of how much your lifestyle costs and that you're prepared to pare back your spending if needed.

It's about 10 years since I was in college so it's not very comparable, but at the time the student grant was about €1300 for the year and I survived quite comfortably on that. Student deals, leapcards, and funded society events will get you quite far.

Airyfairy12

My Susi grant in college was 3000 for the entire year to cover rent, bills and food with no financial support. You have 2800 with no accommodation to pay for. With the amount of student discounts going, you'll be grand.

Xterminator

Hi OP

id recommend a bike for transport. you can pick up a bike in dubin for €50 on adverts.ie etc.
save you hundreds, if your physically able to cycle to college.

Good luck, and like others have said, if you budget you can make 2800 go plenty far. Lidl and Aldi can stretch food budgets pretty good!

kob29

It sounds like you're in a decent financial position. But have you checked with the college what the plans are for your course regarding being on-site or online for September? There's a lot of talk around education circles of courses being online all or mostly until at least January, so it may not be worth getting accommodation. You need to get clarity on this as a priority.

Hannibal_Smith

Mod Note

OP I see you've started a number of threads on this across the site. I'm therefore closing this one.