Living expences

Ciaral

Can someone please give me a ball park figure of roughly how much it would cost to go to ucd and live in dublin??

Im living in waterford but the course i really want to do is only in UCD or trinity and UCD is definitely my favourite

The cost of it is a MAJOR deciding factor when deciding what course im doing, take it that i dont get a grant (i know i will but of how much im not really sure)

thanks in advance for help.:D

Theresalwaysone

You could probably survive on about 200 week including accom. Would be pretty grim though.

jimi_t

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

You could probably survive on about 200 week including accom. Would be pretty grim though.

I know a good few people who manage it, I do fine on under a hundred a week given I live with the parents, and no plenty of people who do. Accomodation, for the most part, is no more than 400 a month in any of the 'key areas' (dual carriageway, stillorgan, clonskeagh, ranelagh etc...) if you're quick enough to get it. Beware of going into town on a wednesday and liviing of weetabix till the following monday though...

Raphael

You can survive on €50 a week, plus whatever your rent is. That's survive, not live though. Trust me, there's a difference.

Stepherunie

I'd agree.

100e a week is more than ample to live on, though to do this there are some things you would have to be if you ask me:

a) A non smoker
willing to bring your own lunch at least a couple of times a week.


That's if you want to go out and you drink. I honestly believe those are the two biggest factors in still having money in college. Food on campus is insanely expensive so bringing your own is a great way to do it and most of the time it's nicer too!

Oh and if you do live off campus - bring a bike if you can - a bus ticket is 18e a week - even if you're a fair weathered cyclist you'll save yourself a smal fortune in bus fares.

FledNanders

Stepherunie wrote: »

I'd agree.

Oh and if you do live off campus - bring a bike if you can - a bus ticket is 18e a week - even if you're a fair weathered cyclist you'll save yourself a smal fortune in bus fares.

So true, I had a car my first 2 years of college and it sucked away so much of my (measly) weekly budget from part time work. Cycled for third year and brought lunch in and saved a fortune, i.e. could afford to go out way more. Also became fit as a fiddle

Stabshauptmann

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

You could probably survive on about 200 week including accom. Would be pretty grim though.

lol. Someone a little spoilt?

Stabshauptmann

Stepherunie wrote: »

Food on campus is insanely expensive

Rofflecopter.

Edit. A hot sandwich in UCD is 3.50 compared to 5eur in the real world. You can get your dinner for as little as 3.50 if you have the student special or 5eur for a main course. The average cost of pub grub is 10-12eur.

Food in UCD is cheap. It is very poor quality, but it is not expensive.


*Prices based on the 2006/2007 academic year, but I doubt they've gone up that much

Stabshauptmann

Between the 200eur a week spending money being grim and 3eur sandwiches and 5eur dinners being extorionate students crack me up.

Food: If you live close enough to eat at home you can do it fo 40eur a week - thats a hot meal a day, a light option, breakfast and the odd treat.
Transport: Walk or cycle
Accomadation: 100eur per week is possible
Phone: 20eur a month is Luxury, can be cut down a lot lower
Books and study material are annual costs and can be quite cheap with a combination of pillaging and the library.

So the only real question is your entertainment budget.
There are 5 days in a student week.
society or sports night, parties (4 cans * 1.50) and nights on the town (2eur drink Tues night in Redz for example). Not to mention all the free stuff and free booze to be had.
You can have a good social life on under 20eur a week.

Now thats not exactly the most stylish lifestyle, but remember I said the student week is only 5 days. Weekend work. The above is what one can afford from working at the weekends.

Stepherunie

a) cheapest sandwich is now 3.50
b) 20e credit a week????? Serious luxury! I manage on about 20 a month!


Having a lunch, even at 3.50 a day though 5 days a week adds up to 17.50, which is a lot out of a 100e when you can make yourself a weeks worth of lunches for a fiver a home. More my point really!

Basically if you know how to spend money properly 100e is a decent amoutn to live on without punishing yourself too much.

gubbie

jimi_t wrote: »

I know a good few people who manage it, I do fine on under a hundred a week given I live with the parents, and no plenty of people who do. Accomodation, for the most part, is no more than 400 a month in any of the 'key areas' (dual carriageway, stillorgan, clonskeagh, ranelagh etc...) if you're quick enough to get it. Beware of going into town on a wednesday and liviing of weetabix till the following monday though...

This guys obviously never lived by himself. Accomodation is the following: around €4500 for on campus September-end of May, really far away (one bus distance/15-20 min cycle) is about €400 a month, and right beside UCD is about €500 a month. It is possible to get somewhere for €100 a week but really quite hard to find (unless you're willing to share a room with a stranger). On the other hand there are places near by that will charge €150 a week. Also most places don't include bills

Oh and if you're from Waterford go for the easy option and go for campus! That way you can make friends who will all be looking for somewhere next year so you could share a room and bring down costs. My budget when I was on campus (if you don't include going out, which only came to €20 for every night I went out) was only €60 a week purely because you bring stuff up from home and you can get lunch and dinner there... and I had meat for every meal... and a lot of other bits and pieces

jimi_t

gubbie wrote: »

This guys obviously never lived by himself.

Well in fairness I just said that. I don't get a grant and I can walk to town/college. Why would I want to move out?

and right beside UCD is about €500 a month.

I know about 40 people living in clonskeagh, some as close as Nutgrove Park. 400/month sharing(utilities incl.), 480 month for a single room.

Ranelagh (Charleston avenue, Oakley Road, Cowper, Beechwood etc...) is the exact same.

Rathmines (Leinster Road as far as Harolds cross) is the exact same, slightly cheaper in some parts of Rathmines.

Most expensive student place I've seen is a house nicer than my own up in Stillorgan grove - 8 people in a 6 bedroom house - 520 inclusive of utilities.

Prices went a bid mad last year with the perceived shortage, but there's plenty of decent places for reasonable money if you look

It is possible to get somewhere for €100 a week but really quite hard to find (unless you're willing to share a room with a stranger).

Who says they have to be a stranger?

seraphimvc

in fairness,if you manage to get the lucky campus accom,you can go with rent about 400euro(including bills/travel to home weekend) per month ,plus the food (say 50euro per week have your weekend home) and night out (30euro per week),positive thinking,500euro is the essential surviving expense for studying in TCD/UCD.

just found a nice place for next year :)finally can quit my crazy 3/4 hrs travel everyday(for the last 2 years!!)!it's just beside the campus and cost me 500euro per month,very good environment ,nice housemates etc.i mean,a nice place to live near the campus will cost you above 400 per month.trust me,have been looking around since february ,decent places cost.Unless you are going trinity,you may get some cheaper places near the city centre.

Theresalwaysone

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

lol. Someone a little spoilt?

Um... I didn't think so but now I do.

I was including accom of about 115 in that a week too though. It depends on person to person though of course. Depends on how much you wanna go on the razz, how lazy you are with regard preparing food/travelling etc.

I would advise you to buy a george foreman for where-ever you live. Very handy.

bassman22

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

You can have a good social life on under 20eur a week.

Ha, bull****! I only wish that were true

clickerfingers

jimi_t wrote: »

Well in fairness I just said that. I don't get a grant and I can walk to town/college. Why would I want to move out?



I know about 40 people living in clonskeagh, some as close as Nutgrove Park. 400/month sharing(utilities incl.), 480 month for a single room.

Ranelagh (Charleston avenue, Oakley Road, Cowper, Beechwood etc...) is the exact same.

Rathmines (Leinster Road as far as Harolds cross) is the exact same, slightly cheaper in some parts of Rathmines.

Most expensive student place I've seen is a house nicer than my own up in Stillorgan grove - 8 people in a 6 bedroom house - 520 inclusive of utilities.

Prices went a bid mad last year with the perceived shortage, but there's plenty of decent places for reasonable money if you look



Who says they have to be a stranger?

dont you think its kinda cheeky for you to claim that its not hard to find decent accom just because you know people who have done it before. you are lucky enough to not need to be in this situation so i just find it slightly arrogant of you to come here and claim that it is in fact easy, when i know of so many people (including myself) who have searched every summer, and are searching right now for anywhere decent to live.

jimi_t

clickerfingers wrote: »

dont you think its kinda cheeky for you...you are lucky enough... i just find it slightly arrogant of you...

Chip in shoulder much? On the subject of arrogance...

This guys obviously never lived by himself. Accomodation is the following:

The vast vast majority of my friends in college are from outside Dublin, I know exactly how hard/easy it is to track down 'decent' accomodation - as subjective a factor as that is. Asides from that, a few members of my family and many of my friends families make their living from renting and subletting accomodation to students, mainly in Dublin and Cork. The issue here though is that you're obviously having some accomodation issues, so feel free to vent on me - I don't think anyones taking you very seriously anyways.

Stabshauptmann

Stepherunie wrote: »

a) cheapest sandwich is now 3.50
b) 20e credit a week????? Serious luxury! I manage on about 20 a month!

I said 20e per month. 20eur a month will get you the luxury of the o2 anytime deal. TBH you can survive on a lot less. 10eur a month is more than enough.

Having a lunch, even at 3.50 a day though 5 days a week adds up to 17.50, which is a lot out of a 100e when you can make yourself a weeks worth of lunches for a fiver a home. More my point really!

Unless you eat plain pasta, how do you do that?

Basically if you know how to spend money properly 100e is a decent amoutn to live on without punishing yourself too much.

On 100e you can live well, not a "grim" existence

Stepherunie

Plain pasta with sauce for five days would cost you less than 3e....


I've regularly made my sandwiches or pittas and things for a week on a fiver. Okay so I don't have 10 different fillings but i'd have minimum 2 for that.

Stabshauptmann

bassman22 wrote: »

Ha, bull****! I only wish that were true

But I told you how you could do it, so how is it bull****?

Now if you dont know how to enjoy yourself without drink or you *need* to go to a pub to drink and cant score unless its in a nightclub then yes you'll spend a lot more. But there is lots of free stuff to do and a lot cheaper ways of getting drunk.

Saving money is definietly possible, it just requires more effort.

Stabshauptmann

Stepherunie wrote: »

Plain pasta with sauce for five days would cost you less than 3e....


I've regularly made my sandwiches or pittas and things for a week on a fiver. Okay so I don't have 10 different fillings but i'd have minimum 2 for that.

Its just that either cheese or meat would cost 3/4 eurs by themselves...

Stepherunie

Nope, I've done it. In fact I did it last week. (Laughs at the insanity of having to defend her budgeting ability)

seraphimvc

god i dont think i can survive with plain pasta + sauce whole month.......

CaptainRedeye,i guess she means without meat/cheese

Stepherunie

Nope I had sandwiches with cheese last week!

In the interest of making it sound more realistic as it seems I'm a bit mad - make it a tenner to make your lunches for a week!

gubbie

jimi_t wrote: »

Who says they have to be a stranger?

Believe me, if you live in Waterford/Cork/Kerry/Limerick most of your friends are going to be going to UCC or UL or a local IT. You'll probably find one person-probably that person you've barely talked to until you realised they're going to UCD. They'll probably go for on campus-why wouldn't they, it's practically guaranteed

To the OP I really can't stress how much easier it would be just to go for accomodation. If you want somewhere cheap it'll take a bit of work and travelling up and down from Waterford is neither cheap nor practical

jimi_t wrote: »

The vast vast majority of my friends in college are from outside Dublin, I know exactly how hard/easy it is to track down 'decent' accomodation

No you can only sympathise, not empathise

Maybe Steph just buys really really cheap plastic cheese... its all possible, you just won' be buying fancy stuff. Sure you can feed yourself on sausage sambos for a week on about €5 too

Stepherunie

gubbie wrote: »

Believe me, if you live in Waterford/Cork/Kerry/Limerick most of your friends are going to be going to UCC or UL or a local IT. You'll probably find one person-probably that person you've barely talked to until you realised they're going to UCD. They'll probably go for on campus-why wouldn't they, it's practically guaranteed


Maybe Steph just buys really really cheap plastic cheese...

Plastic??? Tch camembert for me danke!!!!!


And there is no guarentee with waterfor for campus.

It's based on distance so those from donegal, kerry and west cork would have pretty much guarenteed.

Once you hit waterford it becomes unclear. It is completely dependent on the applications received. Now they have a very good chance, but it's not a foregone conclusion.

bassman22

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

So the only real question is your entertainment budget.
There are 5 days in a student week.
society or sports night, parties (4 cans * 1.50) and nights on the town (2eur drink Tues night in Redz for example). Not to mention all the free stuff and free booze to be had.
You can have a good social life on under 20eur a week.

I don't dispute that you can survive on less than €20 a week for social life... but surviving isn't living. I don't think you can have a good social life for less than €20. I'm not just talking about drink here, non-alcoholic activities add up pretty fast too

convert

The cost of living away from home in Dublin is going to vary hugely, depending on your rent, your bills, transport costs, whether or not you buy or make your meals, and how much you go out.

You can expect to pay between €400 - €500 for rent, depending on where you're looking. Digs can be a cheaper option in that there are no bills, but it depends on whether or not you want to live in somebody's house.

If you do go for the option of renting a house or apartment, then you need to be prepared to pay bills. These will vary depending on the size of the house, how many housemates you'll have and whether the house uses electricity or gas.

ESB bills for a 4-bed house that has gas heating can be somewhere around €100 every 2 months, probably a bit less. The gas bill will probably be around €200 for a billing period, depending on how long the heating is on, or how often you need to boost it for hot water/heating.

So if you take an average rent of €400 + €12.50 (ESB) + €25 (gas) and your basic monthly living expenses come to approximately €437.50.

Then you need to start thinking about food.

Aldi and Lidl are by far and away the cheapest for buying food. Tesco, Dunnes and M&S have become more expensive in the last 2 years. That said, Aldi and Lidl aren't always convenient to a bus route (city centre is probably the handiest for most people!), Tesco tends to be a bit better.

If you're happy to cook you can generally buy whole chickens (cooked or uncooked) for much less than chicken pieces. Veg tends to be cheaper, too, than pre-prepared or pre-packed options. Then there's the basic rice, pasta, etc. with sauces, etc. Cheese is also a handy option, goes great with crackers, bread, pasta, etc. for snacks, lunches.

If you're willing to cook, you can always live much cheaper. If I work hard on budgeting I can do a monthly shop for around €40-€50, and that includes 'luxuries' like mineral, icecream, crisps, biscuits, etc. It just depends on how much you're willing to cook. (Moreover, digs can cut down on some food expenses as most provide B&B at the very least).

So that's €437.50 + €40 = €477.50

Add it €20 call credit and you're looking at just over €500 per month.

Then you have to take travel and going out into account. That's a personal choice, so be prepared to budget for that too.

If you live basically you should be able to survive on €500 - €550 per month, which is expensive enough, but, as it goes, it's on the lower end of the scale!

gubbie

convert wrote: »

The cost of living away from home in Dublin is going to vary hugely, depending on your rent, your bills, transport costs, whether or not you buy or make your meals, and how much you go out.

You can expect to pay between €400 - €500 for rent, depending on where you're looking. Digs can be a cheaper option in that there are no bills, but it depends on whether or not you want to live in somebody's house.

If you do go for the option of renting a house or apartment, then you need to be prepared to pay bills. These will vary depending on the size of the house, how many housemates you'll have and whether the house uses electricity or gas.

ESB bills for a 4-bed house that has gas heating can be somewhere around €100 every 2 months, probably a bit less. The gas bill will probably be around €200 for a billing period, depending on how long the heating is on, or how often you need to boost it for hot water/heating.

So if you take an average rent of €400 + €12.50 (ESB) + €25 (gas) and your basic monthly living expenses come to approximately €437.50.

Then you need to start thinking about food.

Aldi and Lidl are by far and away the cheapest for buying food. Tesco, Dunnes and M&S have become more expensive in the last 2 years. That said, Aldi and Lidl aren't always convenient to a bus route (city centre is probably the handiest for most people!), Tesco tends to be a bit better.

If you're happy to cook you can generally buy whole chickens (cooked or uncooked) for much less than chicken pieces. Veg tends to be cheaper, too, than pre-prepared or pre-packed options. Then there's the basic rice, pasta, etc. with sauces, etc. Cheese is also a handy option, goes great with crackers, bread, pasta, etc. for snacks, lunches.

If you're willing to cook, you can always live much cheaper. If I work hard on budgeting I can do a monthly shop for around €40-€50, and that includes 'luxuries' like mineral, icecream, crisps, biscuits, etc. It just depends on how much you're willing to cook. (Moreover, digs can cut down on some food expenses as most provide B&B at the very least).

So that's €437.50 + €40 = €477.50

Add it €20 call credit and you're looking at just over €500 per month.

Then you have to take travel and going out into account. That's a personal choice, so be prepared to budget for that too.

If you live basically you should be able to survive on €500 - €550 per month, which is expensive enough, but, as it goes, it's on the lower end of the scale!

Thats shocking... never show this to my parents cos I know I can't live on that

johnnyflav

Dublin is ridiculously expense place to study in. I could barley afford to finish out my degree and that's with a substantial student loan.

My experience was renting for €380 p/m in a tiny shared room in Stillorgan plus utilities which came to about €60/70 each month. One of the housemates was an electricity and heat junkie and refused to curb his usage or take more of the bill. This was the only place that I could find in almost four weeks of trawling the classifieds. UCD accommodation office was of no help and coming from Waterford, doesn't matter to them as regards distance. I'm from there myself too OP.

Living expenses are huge. Budget for €100 per week, but be prepared to pay up to €140.

You're basically looking at how you'd be living if you were on minimum wage living in Dublin’s most expensive suburb.

Going back again, I'd take a much more critical approach to why you're going to college and how seriously you'll take it. Your lost earnings from not being in the workforce force over four years could be as much as €100k, add to that the deficit you get from paying your way through college (~€48k), and you have to ask yourself is your degree going to be worth the best part of €150k, especially when you see that some disiplines will earn on average as little as 2% of those with no third level education. (taken from a UK study in the Sunday Times last year, the lowest earning degree was Arts, highest was Accounting with 33% more)

In my situation again I would have joined the workforce and earned some experience, which in many situations is more important for careers than qualifications.

aequinoctium

Stepherunie wrote: »

Oh and if you do live off campus - bring a bike if you can - a bus ticket is 18e a week - even if you're a fair weathered cyclist you'll save yourself a smal fortune in bus fares.

i just got a rain jacket and trousers and kept a dry pair of socks in my locker. cycling was the best!

jimi_t

johnnyflav wrote: »

Going back again, I'd take a much more critical approach to why you're going to college and how seriously you'll take it... you have to ask yourself is your degree going to be worth the best part of €150k

In my situation again I would have joined the workforce and earned some experience, which in many situations is more important for careers than qualifications.

Believe it or not, some people do degrees for more than economic advancement. I really really wish that vocational subjects were kept to the ITs tbh, the overall environment in UCD isn't terribly 'academic'.

bassman22

jimi_t wrote: »

Believe it or not, some people do degrees for more than economic advancement.

I know, it's a shocker isn't it!

Stabshauptmann

bassman22 wrote: »

I don't dispute that you can survive on less than €20 a week for social life... but surviving isn't living. I don't think you can have a good social life for less than €20. I'm not just talking about drink here, non-alcoholic activities add up pretty fast too

Well, a good social life is what ever makes you happy. There are lots of things you wont be able to do on a budget, but whatever you do like doing, theres probably a way of saving money.

princess-sprkle

sort of living experience related.

Does/did anyone live in cabinteely? is it handy for ucd and stuff?

lizzyvera

There's a Lidl on the 46A route, in Dean's Grange, and I do my weekly shop there for about €30 and I eat a lot!
DON'T GO TO TESCO! It seems cheap but it's not, and tesco value is just crap quality compared to what you can get cheaply in Lidl or Aldi.

Breezer

princess-sprkle wrote: »

sort of living experience related.

Does/did anyone live in cabinteely? is it handy for ucd and stuff?

145, 84 and 46c stop there and if you're cycling or driving the N11 runs right by Cabinteely with cycle track all the way into UCD. I don't live there but I'd estimate about 20 mins away. It'd be a bit of a walk though.

That's the village mind you, if you're right up the back of The Park or something it could be more awkward without a bike/car.