Rent will probably eat most of your money. That’s normal, and it’s why a first-year budget needs to start with housing, not nights out.
This guide gives a realistic month-by-month budget for UK first-years, based on typical 2025 to 2026 costs. It’s UK-focused (Student Finance instalments, halls contracts, term dates), and it changes through the year because your spending changes. Freshers costs more, December hits with travel, exam season shifts you towards food and coffee, summer depends on whether you stay put.
Numbers vary a lot by city (London vs outside London), your rent deal (bills included or not), and how social you want to be. Use this as a starting point, then tweak it after a few weeks of tracking.
Key Takeaways
- Typical monthly total (outside London) for the four main categories is often £900 to £1,200 (rent does most of the damage).
- Typical monthly total (London) is often £1,350 to £1,750, mainly because rent and travel cost more.
- Rent ranges (monthly): outside London £400 to £850, London £850 to £1,300 (halls can be fixed, house shares can swing either way).
- Food (monthly): groceries often £144 to £200, then add takeaways and meals out to land around £150 to £295.
- Travel (monthly): usually £50 to £150, depending on daily commuting and trips home.
- Nights out and social (monthly): a sensible baseline is £50 to £100, higher in Freshers and lower during exams.
- Maintenance support in England is paid in termly instalments, and the maximum Maintenance Loan (2025/26) depends on where you live. Student Finance England lists maximums of £8,668 (living at home), £10,554 (away from home, outside London), and £14,202 (away from home, in London). Many students get less, so plan for a shortfall if your award is below the max.
For wider benchmarks, the NatWest Student Living Index 2025 is useful context, even if your own uni city looks nothing like the average.
Your Baseline Monthly Budget (Before The Month-By-Month Plan)
Think of this baseline as your “boring but safe” month. The month-by-month plan will flex it up and down.
Photo by Karola G
Two Copy-And-Paste Example Baselines
| Category | Living Away Outside London (Typical) | Living In London (Typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | £650 | £1,100 |
| Food | £200 | £240 |
| Travel | £80 | £120 |
| Nights Out And Social | £70 | £80 |
| Buffer (Unexpected Stuff) | £50 | £70 |
| Total Per Month | £1,050 | £1,610 |
That buffer is doing a lot of work. It covers random costs you forget to plan for (flatmate birthday, replacement charger, printing, society fees), without you needing to “borrow” from next month’s rent.
If you want a second safety net, keeping study tech affordable helps. A good tablet can stop you buying last-minute printing or extra stationery, and this guide to affordable tablets for university students is a handy place to start.
Realistic Monthly Costs For Rent, Food, Travel, And Nights Out (2025 To 2026 Numbers)
Use these ranges if you’d rather build your own baseline:
- Rent: outside London £400 to £850, London £850 to £1,300
What moves it: halls vs house share, bills included, room size, and city rents. - Food: groceries £144 to £200, realistic total (including some eating out) £150 to £295
What moves it: how often you cook, how many takeaways creep in, and whether you buy lunches on campus. - Travel: £50 to £150
What moves it: daily buses, Tube travel, train trips home, and whether you walk to campus. - Nights Out And Social: £50 to £100 (more in Freshers if you’re not careful)
What moves it: drink prices, how often you go out, and whether you choose low-cost socials.
Universities often publish local guidance on living costs, which is useful for sanity-checking your numbers, for example the University of Manchester’s cost of living guidance.
How To Pick A Number That Fits You (Fast Checklist)
Run through this once, then choose your numbers:
- Rent contract: is it 39, 42, 44, or 51 weeks, and are bills included?
- Cooking habits: how many nights a week will you cook properly?
- Going home: are you travelling home monthly, or only at Christmas and Easter?
- Daily commute: do you need buses or trains every day, or can you walk?
- Social plan: how many nights out do you actually want, not the ones you feel pressured into?
A simple rule: pick the middle of each range, then add a £50 to £70 buffer. If you undershoot, you’ll feel it fast.
A Month-By-Month Budget For First-Year Uni Students
Below is a realistic month-by-month spend for the four main categories. These are suggested amounts (not perfect truths), built around common UK term patterns and typical student behaviour.
If you want more background benchmarks on where student money tends to go, Save the Student’s breakdown of student living costs in the UK is a good reference point.
September And October: Freshers, Set-Up Costs, And Avoiding A Money Crash
September and October are the “how did I spend that much?” months. You’ve got first big food shops, small household basics, and social plans flying at you daily.
Set one rule early: cap nights out, and pick your nights in advance. Pre-drinks, free campus events, and society taster sessions can keep Freshers fun without setting fire to your budget. Also remember your Maintenance Loan arrives in instalments, so it has to last.
Suggested Budget (Outside London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | £650 | £230 | £100 | £120 |
| October | £650 | £210 | £80 | £100 |
Suggested Budget (London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | £1,100 | £270 | £140 | £140 |
| October | £1,100 | £250 | £120 | £120 |
Common one-offs: bedding, kitchen bits, a £20 to £40 society binge, and a couple of “oops” taxis.
November And December: Quiet Weeks, Then A Pricey Holiday Month
November is often calmer. The novelty wears off, the weather’s grim, and coursework starts to bite. If you’ve overspent, this is your best month to reset.
December is different. Travel home can be expensive, and it’s easy to spend more on food and social stuff. Booking train tickets early usually beats buying them in panic mode. Keep an eye on travel advice and discounts, and plan routes using official sources like National Rail (especially if you’re trying to avoid last-minute price spikes).
Suggested Budget (Outside London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | £650 | £190 | £70 | £60 |
| December | £650 | £220 | £140 | £50 |
Suggested Budget (London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | £1,100 | £230 | £110 | £70 |
| December | £1,100 | £260 | £190 | £60 |
Common one-offs: gifts, end-of-term meals, extra travel (home plus seeing friends in other cities).
January To March: Winter Reality Check, Longer Term, And Saving Without Missing Out
January is a reset month. If you do nothing else, stop “accident spending” by putting rent aside first and lowering nights out for a few weeks. Batch cooking helps here because you’re tired, it’s cold, and takeaways look tempting.
February is steady for most people.
March can creep up if you start doing weekends away, society trips, or more train travel as spring arrives.
To keep food in the £150 to £250 zone: meal plan 3 to 4 dinners, buy own-brand basics, and limit takeaways to a set number.
Suggested Budget (Outside London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | £650 | £190 | £80 | £50 |
| February | £650 | £200 | £80 | £70 |
| March | £650 | £210 | £90 | £80 |
Suggested Budget (London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | £1,100 | £230 | £120 | £60 |
| February | £1,100 | £240 | £120 | £80 |
| March | £1,100 | £250 | £130 | £90 |
Common one-offs: day trips, society event tickets, replacing winter bits (gloves, coat repairs), and the odd “I need this” purchase.
April To June: Exam Season Budgets (Higher Food, Lower Nights Out)
Exam season changes your spending in a sneaky way. Nights out often drop, but food can rise because you buy more snacks, more meal deals, and more coffee. Travel can rise too if you’re commuting to the library daily.
Also, many halls contracts still charge rent even if you go home for Easter. That’s why April can feel annoying.
If you want a local example of how unis frame costs, the University of Oxford’s overview of living costs shows how quickly small daily spending adds up.
Suggested Budget (Outside London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | £650 | £220 | £90 | £50 |
| May | £650 | £240 | £100 | £40 |
| June | £650 | £220 | £90 | £60 |
Suggested Budget (London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | £1,100 | £260 | £130 | £50 |
| May | £1,100 | £280 | £140 | £40 |
| June | £1,100 | £260 | £130 | £70 |
Common one-offs: printing, extra caffeine, last-minute stationery, and occasional “treat” meals after deadlines.
July And August: Summer Housing, Going Home, Or Staying For Work
Summer budgets depend on your housing situation. There are three common set-ups:
1) You’re paying summer rent (12-month contract)
Your budget looks similar to spring, but travel and nights out can rise if you’re enjoying the quieter city.
2) You move out and go home (rent drops to £0)
Rent disappears, but food might not, depending on your home set-up. Travel can rise if you’re commuting to a job.
3) You stay in the uni city for work
Rent stays, and food becomes more predictable if you’re in a routine. Nights out can creep up because “it’s summer”.
Suggested Budget (Outside London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July (Staying And Paying Rent) | £650 | £200 | £80 | £90 |
| August (Staying And Paying Rent) | £650 | £200 | £80 | £90 |
Suggested Budget (London)
| Month | Rent | Food | Travel | Nights Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July (Staying And Paying Rent) | £1,100 | £240 | £120 | £100 |
| August (Staying And Paying Rent) | £1,100 | £240 | £120 | £100 |
If you go home and rent drops to £0, build a mini plan anyway (food, travel, and social still happen). A lot of students burn summer earnings by accident, then panic in September. Keeping a basic budget stops that.
For another example of uni guidance on typical student spending, the University of Southampton’s page on student living costs is worth a look.
Make Your Budget Work In Real Life (Simple Systems That Stick)
You don’t need an app that charts your spending in seven colours. You need a system that stops you spending rent money by mistake.
Two habits do most of the heavy lifting: ring-fencing rent, and setting weekly limits for everything else.
The ‘Rent First’ Method: Stop Accidentally Spending Next Month’s Money
When your loan or wages land:
Step 1: Move rent (and bills if needed) into a separate account or pot the same day.
Step 2: Split what’s left into weekly spending.
Mini example (outside London baseline, excluding rent):
Food £200 + travel £80 + social £70 + buffer £50 = £400 per month, which is roughly £100 per week.
If you blow Week 1, you don’t “make it up” with vibes. You adjust Week 2.
Cut Costs Without Feeling Miserable (Food, Travel, And Nights Out)
Food: Swap two takeaways for two cheap meals you actually like (pasta bake, chilli, loaded jacket potatoes). Cooking with flatmates can cut costs and make it less boring.
Travel: Check student passes, walk short trips, and aim for off-peak trains where possible. Booking early is often the simplest saving.
Nights out: Pick one main night, set a cash limit, and say yes to free events. The goal isn’t no fun, it’s fewer costly “accidental” nights.
Frequently Asked Questions About A Month-By-Month Budget For First-Year Uni Students
How Much Money Do First-Year Uni Students Need Per Month In The UK?
A realistic starting point is £900 to £1,200 per month outside London, and £1,350 to £1,750 per month in London, just for rent, food, travel, and social. Some sources cite a national average around £1,100 per month, but your rent and city matter more than any average.
What Is A Realistic Food Budget For A Student Per Month?
Groceries often sit around £144 to £200 per month, but most students spend more once you add snacks, meal deals, and the odd takeaway. A realistic total is £150 to £295.
Two quick tips: plan 3 to 4 dinners per week, and set a takeaway limit (like 2 per month).
How Much Should I Budget For Transport Each Month?
For most first-years, £50 to £150 per month is realistic. It goes up if you commute daily, live far from campus, travel across a big city, or go home often. Student discounts help, but early booking usually helps more for trains.
How Much Do Students Spend On Nights Out, And How Do I Not Overspend?
A sensible baseline is £50 to £100 per month, with Freshers often higher. To avoid overspending, set a monthly limit, withdraw cash for nights out, and plan one main night instead of saying yes to everything. Free campus events can keep your social life full without draining you.
What If My Maintenance Loan Does Not Cover My Costs?
That’s common. In England, the maximum Maintenance Loan for 2025/26 is £8,668 (living at home), £10,554 (away outside London), and £14,202 (away in London), and many students receive less.
Options include part-time work, bursaries, cheaper housing next year, cutting one category (often nights out or travel), and speaking to student support early if you’re struggling.
Conclusion
A month-by-month student budget works because uni life isn’t the same every month. Freshers and December are pricier, exams shift spending towards food and travel, and summer depends on where you live and work.
Start with the baseline for your city, then track spending for 2 to 4 weeks and adjust. Budgeting is about control, not missing out, and once rent is safe, the rest feels far less stressful.
