Finance @ Salford for International Students

Daca ati citit posturile anterioare, stiti deja ca scriu si pentru blogul universitatii. Avand in vedere ca scriu despre exact acelais lucru si acolo, m-am gandit sa le transfer si aici. Acesta este primul post dintr-o lunga serie. Others will come in due time.

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Hi there and a BIG thank you for reading this blog.
Since this is the first post on this blog, some background info on me is in order.
I am an international student (from Romania) that came to Salford last September to study Business and Management. Compared to England, the average income in Romania is much lower, therefore I have to keep a close eye on my budget.
After a tad of research I found this web app that helps tremendously with creating and sticking with your budget. It’s called Lovemoney and more than a webapp, it's a whole personal finance solution that comes in with money saving ideas and UK banks/services reviews. I urge you to fiddle with it even before coming to Salford University.
Since many prospective students are really worried about budgets, I will do a  fictitious monthly one that keeps everything to a minimum.

Accommodation:

University of Salford offers plenty of accommodation options at competitive prices, anywhere in between £59.50 per week (Castle Irwell Village houses) to £155.25 per week (3 rooms family accommodation in Matthias Court). There's plenty other accommodation offers in the area including Waterside Village and Cosmopolitan among others.
Minimum monthly rent: £238

Food:

The most popular retail store for University of Salford students is Tesco Express. It is not the cheapest of them, but it is certainly the easiest to get to as the free University Bus has a stop right next to it. Other options include Cooltrader, Sainsbury’s and many others. There are smaller stores like Spar, Texaco and others that sell many stuff but at much higher prices, the advantage being that they are much closer to your accommodation. With big retail stores, you have the ability to order groceries on-line and have them delivered to you. A great tip is to gather up with some friends and order together and split the delivery costs.
Assume you have a light breakfast (a ham sandwich, some milk with cereals and some biscuits with jam for example) at home. You can have your lunch at one of the University canteen or in Cafe Yours (owned by the Student's Union, together with Bar Yours) at very competitive prices (2-4 pounds per meal). All the profits made by the Student's Union goes right back into providing better services for students, so every time you eat there you feel good about yourself. Even though it's not healthy, I consider dinner to be my main meal. For the purpose of this example, I will consider a dinner that consists of 2-3 chicken drumsticks (or 2 slices of pork/beef), some French fries (or mashed potatoes or rice or fried vegetables) and some fresh vegetables.
Add to all that the usual snacks, drinks and fruits you eat and drink all day long.
Average monthly food cost: £130

Fun:

Entirely optional of course but it adds a lot to the whole student life concept. Manchester, being one of the liveliest cities in the world, hosts many great clubs and bars for all tastes and ages. Some favourites include: Hard Rock Cafe, 42nd Street (The unofficial University of Salford students’ club), Tiger Tiger, PURE and Satan’s Hollow. The entrance is about £2-6 and the normal pint of beer/cider is anywhere between £1.50 and £4. Average night, including taxi to and fro’ is about £10 minimum.
Except clubs and bars, there are plenty other ways to have fun on the cheap (or even free). The University of Salford hosts plenty of events including musical festivals and various exhibitions. If you don't feel like going really far, you can just grab a bottle of Coke (or alcohol, obviously) and invade the common room of your accommodation. Even if your friends are not available, it's a great way to meet new people and have plenty of fun doing it I am not exactly sure about the other common rooms but the one in Castle Irwell has a huge plasma, 2 Xboxes and plenty of games (free of charge) to add to the fun.
Monthly average between free and paid fun: £30

Miscellaneous:

Contains everything from stationary to clothes (this might vary wildly from girls to boys –.–), printing stuff to transportation and banking/library fees/charges. It varies wildly from month to month.
Average monthly miscellaneous budget: £25

I may have missed a lot of stuff and added or subtracted £s where I shouldn't have, but on the low end of an average monthly budget, you will spend anywhere in between £400 and £500, not including the tuition fees (for which you are entitled to a loan from Student Loans Company). If you are wealthy and feel like livin' the dream, you can easily spend £2000-£3000 per month.

The University of Salford provides extensive support and advice for a wide range of problems and issues students might have, one of them being finance. I advise you to check this webpage (  http://www.advice.salford.ac.uk/money ) if you'd like to find out more about their services.

Spending is only balanced by income and if you don't want to live off your parents hard earned money, I advise you to check  the Careers and Employability advice center for workshops and personalized advice regarding your current and future career.

If you want to find out more about what it's like at Salford, why not watch some of our student videos on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/InternationalSalford.