Thursday 12 May 2016

Budgeting for London Living Costs

When thinking about funding, I've found that it's easy to forget though that aside from the huge fee for tuition alone, there's 2 years worth of living costs to work into calculations as well.

So how much do you really need to live in London? I've been doing a fair amount of research to estimate this, after speaking to friends who live in London, LBS alumni and current LBS students. Obviously this is highly dependent upon your lifestyle and what you plan to prioritise with a limited budget. I'm just going to share here what I've gathered so far.

Speaking to alumni, something like £300-350 per week is a pretty reasonable budget as living costs. I thought this sounded quite good so I've been using this as the basis for my living cost budget.

Of this budget, the bulk of it would naturally go towards rent. Especially since I plan to live close to school (which everyone advises is a good idea at least for the first year). I did some research on rentals and you can get a room in a 2-3 bedroom apartment in St John's Wood, Marylebone and Maida Vale (suburbs near LBS) for £230 per week, all bills inclusive. I've thus made this my max price for looking for accommodation.

I've heard from friends that food in London is cheap - if you cook it yourself. Basically what this means is that groceries are cheap, but eating out isn't (expect £15-20 at an average restaurant). Friends have said that groceries are cheaper in London than in Singapore. For instance, you could get 3 whole chickens for £7 (though that is a lot of food for one). I'm not sure if I'll find time to cook properly much, but putting together sandwiches and the occasional cooked meal for lunch is doable. Mind you, I'm not a very big eater so I'd say my food budget tends to be on the leaner side. Current students have also mentioned that every now and then corporates sponsor a reception or event with drinks and nibbles i.e. free food that helps cut down on costs ;) I've also heard that it's not unusual that some students attend these events solely for the free food...so you do what you gotta do.

Entertainment is extremely varied depending on how social you are and how much alcohol you're looking to consume. Despite having worked in the alcohol industry, I'm a very light drinker so I'm not expecting to have very high entertainment costs.

Summary of my expected general weekly budget
  • Rent in shared apartment - £170-190
  • Bills - £40-50
  • Transport (should be low if you live close to school) - £10
  • Food - £40
  • Entertainment (depends on how much you party/drink and I don't drink much) - £40-50

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