Chapter 20: Monthly Living Cost
Just after Chinese New Year, I received good news about my blog. It has been linked with the International page of Brunel University website. Therefore, I would like to recommend future potential students, who are looking for (hopefully useful) tips about life and adventure in Brunel, to browse and check the special ‘recommended posts’ section that I’ve created on the right hand side menu of my blog. Plus, if there are some questions, don’t hesitate to leave comments. I will endeavour to answer them.
One question that always pop-up inside the mind of potential students is the living cost. Just a week ago, a friend of mine sent an email regarding this issue, so I thought it might be good if I share a little bit of my point of view in this blog post. Nevertheless, this issue might be subjective, because each person has different life style.
The main aspect that should be carefully considered regarding the living cost is the accommodation. Basically, there are three options that we can choose for accommodation in Brunel: standard hall on campus (typically the Clifton Hall); en-suite hall on campus (typically the Isambard Complex); and living off campus. Each of these options has their own advantages and disadvantages. Further details about accommodation can be accessed on the Accomodation page of Brunel University website
Living on campus gives the advantages in easier access to most facilities; time and money saving for travelling to campus; free internet access; weekly bed-linen exchange; daily cleaning services for kitchen and communal area; and also (not free) self laundry services. The monthly fee per month for the standard hall is appx. GBP 350 and for the en-suite hall is appx. GBP 430 (and this fee might be increase for 2011/2012 enrolment). The major differences between the standard hall and the en-suite hall are the indoor bathroom and the larger kitchen area for en-suite hall. This fee is a little bit expensive comparing to off-campus accommodation fee. Another disadvantage for living on campus is that we cannot choose specific room that we want (it is randomly chosen for us by the accommodation office); therefore, if our luck is not good enough, we might lives with annoying students (luckily, this case doesn’t happen to me, as my flatmates are nice and friendly).
On the other hand, living off campus is slightly cheaper, but it also depends on the situation. I asked some friends who live off-campus, the monthly fee is appx. GBP 175-300, although I’m unsure about the facilities they get from the accommodation owner. In my opinion, it’s more recommended to live on campus.
The other aspects that should be thought about are food & drink and transportation. Most students regularly cook and this can save money up to appx. GBP 100 per month. There is a weekly market on campus every Tuesday, where students can buy fruits and vegetables. Other food such as meat, rice, and bread can be bought in supermarkets like Tesco or Iceland. For the transportation, just remember to top-up our Oyster card before travelling either by bus, by tube, or by train. If needed, the 16-25 railway card can be purchased for GBP 26. Combining it with the Oyster card can give us an extra discount.
In general, the living cost is a very subjective manner and depends on each person life style. From my experience so far, I have to spend at least appx. GBP 500-600 per month for my living cost (including the accommodation fee).
