Cheapest way to get to TCD. Commute or find accommodation?

Biscuits. · 13-04-2011 11:38PM #1

Okay, I don't have a lot of experience here and the information online isn't great. I live in Drogheda and my parents say it'll cost too much to stay on campus/whatever and they're not willing to pay it, unless I can convince them otherwise of course.

I don't like the idea of travelling in every morning on a bus (train is too expensive), I don't want to be going back to my own room every night either, it'll be the same as school with longer rides and I'm guessing there'll be tourists on these buses. The idea of still living with my parents doesn't sound so liberating. I want to be in Dublin as well, because it's way better than my little town, having new people around me. It won't feel like a new exciting life, it'll just feel like I'm merely going to college for lectures. Plus, from what I've seen my course might have fridays off, that would be amazing to be off for a whole day in Dublin city (yes, my naivety, it's endearing isn't it :F).

So, is there a cheaper, more efficient way to get to college so I can fully experience the college experience? You guys know about this stuffs. Thanks if you help out

, I'm Aideen btw, I'm hoping to be accepted into Computing and Business (you might not see me if this project maths thing doesn't work out for me), also, if there's anyone who's read this far and just for the sake of asking, will this course be completely dominated by males?

oppenheimer1 · 13-04-2011 11:49PM

Unfortunately, your parents are right. Even with the drop in rents over the past few years you'll still find commuting is significantly cheaper. I doubt you'll find accommodation for less than €350 per month unless you're willing to share a room with someone. And at the lower end of the scale the quality is awful. Its not just accommodation costs too, you also have to add in living expenses, which even for the most frugal can easily be another €100 pw.

If I were you I'd try to convince my parents to let me live away for first year only, then promise to commute for the rest of the course. That way you'll have settled into college nicely, made new friends and hopefully in the subsequent years you'll be able to crash on their couches when you decide to stay in the city for a night out or whatever.

Other than that you'll really have to make an effort to get to know people, thats if of course you want to be part of the social scene in TCD. When I was an undergrad there were a few in my class that commuted. Some of them made an effort to be social, but the was one who just disappeared home after class and never integrated with the rest of us. Its sad to say he was almost invisible, which wasn't right either.

Fo Real · 14-04-2011 12:03AM

Drogheda to Trinity isn't actually that bad of a commute using the train. You'll get off at Pearse station which is literally behind the college and is basically Trinity's private train station. The journey takes about 40mins. Many students have much longer commnutes from further out. Even within Dublin, it can take some students an hour to get into college with traffic.

But I suppose your biggest gripe is that you'll miss out on socialising with your classmates. There is actually more to college than just studying books, which some basement dwelling nerds just never realise. It's about living away from home and becoming independent; learning to budget wisely and how to cook and wash clothes; forming a new family with your housemates. From this point of view, I'd encourage you to find accomodation. But if you must commute for first year, just know that it's not the end of the world. Drogheda isn't actually that far and the trains are frequent enough.

Sir Ophiuchus · 14-04-2011 12:17AM

Is it expensive? Yes. Is it worth it from a collegial and friend-making perspective? Yes. Is it worth it financially? ...harder to justify.

Maybe if you can get work over the summer you can offer to put your earnings toward rent, and see if your parents will help with the rest?

Seannew1 · 14-04-2011 12:21AM

Fo Real wrote: »

Drogheda to Trinity isn't actually that bad of a commute using the train. You'll get off at Pearse station which is literally behind the college and is basically Trinity's private train station. The journey takes about 40mins.

Jaysus I wish!!! I commuted this year and the normal commuter train from Drogheda to Pearse is about an hour and and 5 mins! Unless you mean the express into connolly which is 40 mins on a good day(rarely).

Anyway,both have pro's and con's.Living in Dublin is pretty expensive,ie rent,surving,going out,etc but its a great experience! Otherwise,you could always give the commuting a go for one year,you can always kip on the sofa for the nights out!

tabouli · 14-04-2011 02:18AM

I commuted from Dundalk last year, by bus too so it was 50 euro per week for me, train would have been about 75 a week as far as I know. It was exhausting and difficult to make friends but your parents are right I'm afraid. It is far more expensive to live in Dublin, especially when you factor in food and utilities on top of rent.

Is it that they don't have the money to pay for your accommodation? Or do you think they just don't want you to move away? If it's the former there's not much you can do... that's the reason I and most people I know would commute long distances. My advice would be to see about paying for it yourself. Try to pick up a part time job and apply for any other funding you can, grants/scholarships etc.

For your other question, no, Business and Computing isn't dominated by males. Not sure of the exact ratio but it's not bad

Pet · 14-04-2011 02:55AM

Rent isn't that expensive. It's 2011, and rent has come down a lot. Mine's 300e a month, and I live in a fairly decent place, no shared room, same distance from college as Rathmines (but on the northside...). You're going to be spending almost that much on transport, anyway, and unless you're making and bringing in lunch every day, you'll only be eating breakfast at home, and the odd dinner.

I'd say you'd be better off moving in, if you can afford it at all. Even if only for the first term. If you can, live in Halls - but that's quite expensive.

Whatever you do, make sure you make an effort with societies and stuff in your first term; once you do that, you'll be fine.

amacachi · 14-04-2011 03:31AM

If you can avoid commuting then do so. Serious.

Groinshot · 14-04-2011 09:42AM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Its not just accommodation costs too, you also have to add in living expenses, which even for the most frugal can easily be another €100 pw.

What kind of frugal person spends a hundred quid a week???on a bad week, I'd spend 70, on a normal week 50. And I stay here on weekends...

boblong · 14-04-2011 09:58AM

I'm going into my third year of commuting - and I'm actually pretty nearby to OP. I'm pretty glad that I'm spending less money and have the ability to save for the future but I still regret not living nearby. It's quite a large lump taken out of your day and can be quite tiring for some reason. I'm not looking forward to 3rd year projects on top of that commute

Honestly OP I'd move out if I had the means - you don't want the feeling of "missing out" hanging over you.

aas · 14-04-2011 10:15AM

Asking them to let you do it for just one year is pretty reasonable, college is about far more than lectures. Try and get Hall too but really the important thing is being able to stick around after lectures and go out at night. For subsequent years you should look into working every summer and doing LC grinds during the year because you wont want to move back home.

goingnowhere · 14-04-2011 12:15PM

I know plenty who have commuter further

Last train is 23:20

Ideally you should try to plan to rent in 4th year as you really need the time and stress saving of living close by. You have to trade off the time saving against actually having to handle living on your own, food, shopping, washing etc so its not as clear cut as you might think

You could do scholarship exams in second year and if you do well enough free room on campus...

On campus is expensive and cheaper can be had elsewhere but at least on campus you get free internet, security and no commuting at all

Snow joke · 14-04-2011 04:25PM

Quit your whining, i know a girl who commuted from clara every day for college and she was doing engineering.

Consider yourself lucky that you can stay with your parents (not ideal for getting some action, you'll just have to be very quiet) but at least you dont have to worry about annoying flatmates, bills and worse cooking your own dinner.

Suck it up for first year, and if you are still in college for second year then sit down and talk to your parents about it.

Fo Real · 14-04-2011 04:41PM

Look, the fact remains that commuting from Drogheda isn't that bad. You get dropped off right outside the college ffs. Think of the poor saps commuting from the south of the country, from places like Carlow. They get dropped off at Heuston station on the other side of the city. The late train back to Drogheda even allows for the odd eveing in the pub with your classmates.

amacachi · 14-04-2011 04:52PM

Fo Real wrote: »

Look, the fact remains that commuting from Drogheda isn't that bad. You get dropped off right outside the college ffs. Think of the poor saps commuting from the south of the country, from places like Carlow. They get dropped off at Heuston station on the other side of the city. The late train back to Drogheda even allows for the odd eveing in the pub with your classmates.

It's a couple of hours a day spent travelling, and it means having to plan ahead for a night out, finding somewhere to stay, clothes etc.

Doug Cartel · 14-04-2011 05:00PM

I try not to go off on old man rants too often, but FFS what is it with kids these days staying at home until they're starting to get grey hairs?

Biscuits. · 14-04-2011 05:47PM

It's not the end of the world if I commute, I'd prefer if I didn't have to so of course I'll want to get to the bottom of this.

Tbh, I don't want to miss out on anything so the job plan sounds like the best plan. 300-350 euro a month....yeesh, at least with a job I'd be able to pay it and as someone said with the help of my parents. It's also 50 euro a week on the bus and 30 euro a day on the train (if you get an adult's ticket).

Lawliet · 14-04-2011 06:18PM

Biscuits. wrote: »

It's also 50 euro a week on the bus and 30 euro a day on the train (if you get an adult's ticket).

What about getting a student travel card? Also if you buy monthly commuter tickets it would work out cheaper

oppenheimer1 · 14-04-2011 07:32PM

Groinshot wrote: »

What kind of frugal person spends a hundred quid a week???on a bad week, I'd spend 70, on a normal week 50. And I stay here on weekends...

Food, drink, entertainment, gas, electricity, internet, food, clothes, stationary, transport and the odd haircut it easily adds up to €100pw on average. Yes some weeks will be cheap when the bills are not coming in but it balances out that some weeks will be very expensive.

To be honest, you mustn't be eating very well if you spend a good bit less than €10 a day on food.

oppenheimer1 · 14-04-2011 07:34PM

Biscuits. wrote: »

It's not the end of the world if I commute, I'd prefer if I didn't have to so of course I'll want to get to the bottom of this.

Tbh, I don't want to miss out on anything so the job plan sounds like the best plan. 300-350 euro a month....yeesh, at least with a job I'd be able to pay it and as someone said with the help of my parents. It's also 50 euro a week on the bus and 30 euro a day on the train (if you get an adult's ticket).

Surely there is a student commuter rail ticket, or even a standard commuter rail ticket. No way could it cost €150 a week to commute by rail... If that was the case it would make sense to live in Dublin!

Lawliet · 14-04-2011 07:52PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

To be honest, you mustn't be eating very well if you spend a good bit less than €10 a day on food.

Unless you're eating out everyday there's no way you should be spending that much.

brownacid · 14-04-2011 08:53PM

I'm final year now in a veryh demanding course and I can honestly say this is the only year that I feel bad that i didn live up. I commute from drogheda every day and have done so since first, I simply couldnt afford to live up, I wouldnt believe the hype about not making friends if you dont live up, I have plenty of friends. The last train is handy for going for one or two and if I decide to go out I have a host of pople that I can crash with! The only reason I go home these days is to sleep, I;m in every day at 9 and leave on teh 20 past 10 train home. Have a snooze and back in for 9 the next day.

So again the only year that I would say for you to try lve up is fourth year, thats if you can get your parents to pay for at least one year.

Having said that I dont believe in parents having to support you through college seeing as you are an adult and are going there by choice, why should they have to pay for it. I work part time and have done so since i started college and get by fine, if i really wanted to i could have saved up and lived in town for the year.

Get a job save and then live up, otherwise suck it up and stop expecting your parents to dish out the guts of 5 grand plus living expenses so that you can get laid.

oppenheimer1 · 14-04-2011 09:16PM

Lawliet wrote: »

Unless you're eating out everyday there's no way you should be spending that much.

A decent wholesome dinner with meat and two veg costs the guts of a fiver. Add in on top of that a decent breakfast, a proper packed lunch and an evening snack and you shouldn't have much change out of a tenner.

If its costing much less chances are it isn't a balanced diet.

Lawliet · 14-04-2011 11:07PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

A decent wholesome dinner with meat and two veg costs the guts of a fiver. Add in on top of that a decent breakfast, a proper packed lunch and an evening snack and you shouldn't have much change out of a tenner.

If its costing much less chances are it isn't a balanced diet.

That's ridiculous, it does not cost €70 a week to have a balanced diet. If it does you're shopping at the wrong places.

Seannew1 · 14-04-2011 11:55PM

Biscuits. wrote: »

. It's also 50 euro a week on the bus and 30 euro a day on the train (if you get an adult's ticket).

Its only 15 for a day on the train and you'll be entitled to a student discount so a weekly will only cost you 45,matthews is about the same

oppenheimer1 · 15-04-2011 12:26AM

Lawliet wrote: »

That's ridiculous, it does not cost €70 a week to have a balanced diet. If it does you're shopping at the wrong places.

Well I've shown you how the cost breaks down so please point out where I've got it wrong. Even if you're only spending €40-50 a week on food that only leaves €60 to pay the utilities for the apartment, transport costs, stationary and printing (which can be significant) phone and entertainment. €30 won't get you very far on a night out. Clothes also have to be bought on an ongoing basis, or at least money has to be put aside for that. Then you have to make provision for when things go wrong... say the laptop needs to be replaced or you get sick and need to see a doctor or someone has an accident and ends up in A&E.

When total costs of all expenditure are averaged across the whole year, running a basic life costs about €800 per month, which not coincidently is roughly the same amount the unemployed get on the dole.

Lawliet · 15-04-2011 08:23PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Well I've shown you how the cost breaks down so please point out where I've got it wrong.

Where you've got it wrong is that people tend to buy things in bulk; you can get bags of fruit and veg, and other stable foods that will last a couple of weeks very cheaply so the actual cost of these foods per day is pretty small. For instance eating a couple of carrots and potatoes, a bowl of cereal with milk, four slices of buttered bread, a glass of orange juice, an apple and banana costs roughly €2 a day (if you shop around and buy store brand). Plenty of supermarkets and butchers run deals on meat, so that really shouldn't be costing €8 euro a day. You just need to be clever about it.

ApeXaviour · 15-04-2011 08:55PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

To be honest, you mustn't be eating very well if you spend a good bit less than €10 a day on food.

I'd have to agree with this. It'd be difficult at least, unless you were tiny.

Lawliet wrote: »

That's ridiculous, it does not cost €70 a week to have a balanced diet. If it does you're shopping at the wrong places.

I don't know about that. I go for healthy bargains (own brands, bulk where possible etc.) and I easily spend a minimum of €70 a week in the supermarket (dunnes/tesco). Sure you can get by very cheaply with noodles, pasta, potatoes etc... but that's not a fun or healthy way to go (in my poorer days I've done it and suffered). Protein is expensive, and I try to eat a lot of that.

Eating 2500 calories per day of things like (frozen) fish, meat (in bulk then freeze), the cheaper brands of cheeses, sauces, spices, frozen berries, eggs/bacon for breakfast, and fresh vegetables such as spinach/broccoli/asparagus... it gets pricey.

gearoidof · 15-04-2011 09:08PM

holy sheet!

Your costs are very expensive, oppenheimer!

Stationery and printing You can get free printing on college if you know the right people. (as in, there are a good few courses which get free printing, ask if they'll print stuff off for you). Stationery, steal pens off companies at careers events, buy paper in bulk at reads. (I think it's around €5 for 5 A4 pads, yeah?)
Food Try porridge for breakfast. You can get a kilo at Lidl for €1, which should last you a week or 2.
Transport costs, call me naive, but if you live in town what the hell do you need transport for?
Entertainment, €30 gets me 6 cans at the off licence, a drink or 2 at the pub, entry into the nightclub and a good ole zaytoon afterwards.
Also, haircuts, clothes, laptops etc are costs which you need to pay even if you live at home.

Groinshot · 16-04-2011 10:12AM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Food, drink, entertainment, gas, electricity, internet, food, clothes, stationary, transport and the odd haircut it easily adds up to €100pw on average. Yes some weeks will be cheap when the bills are not coming in but it balances out that some weeks will be very expensive.

To be honest, you mustn't be eating very well if you spend a good bit less than €10 a day on food.

I eat very well actually. Porridge for breakfast, I bring in a packed lunch every day(sandwiches, pasta & some sort of sweet thing) and two or three bananas /apples for snacks. Big communal dinners that cost 15 euro to cook and will feed five are big in our house too, we keep pasta noodles potatoes etc constantly in stock so our expenses are veg and meat. It's not that damn difficult. I spend around 7-7.50 a day or so, Which gives me about 20 quid a week for doing other things

Groinshot · 16-04-2011 10:19AM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

When total costs of all expenditure are averaged across the whole year, running a basic life costs about €800 per month, which not coincidently is roughly the same amount the unemployed get on the dole.

And, as someone else said those other costs come into it at home- I'm sure your parents would help you out if you ended up in A&E (which cost me all of 25 euro last year- the taxi back from james's at 4 in the morning because I was on crutches, the rest was free!)

Realistically, rent is 450, bills are 40 a month food is about 200-210, misc expenses are about 20-30 quid a month? am I missing anything here? IMO worst case scenario, 730 a month to live in dublin? bear in mind most peoples rent is less than 450 anyway. I live in halls and pay 450 a month including bills.

Also, Apex, last year i lived on a rowing diet, which was priobably closer to 4000 calories, high in protein and carbs, and I managed just fine with about 70 a week.

Cheapest way to get to TCD. Commute or find accommodation?

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