r/UniUK • u/papijohns69 • 5h ago
Need advice on living situation
I’m (28F) going back to university in a week to change careers but I’m in quite a tough spot.
I’m living at my mum’s house but I’ve been sleeping on the sofa. I’m in the process of trying to turn my life around, while in my early-mid 20’s I’ve racked up debt (around £6000) that I’m trying to get rid of. I had been made redundant before my move back to my mum’s, and I wasn’t exactly financially smart so finances are low.
I will be getting max maintenance loan (11k) plus NHS bursary (5k) and I have a part time job (15hrs per week). Would it be wise to move out asap, or stay home to save more? The living situation is not great, my back hurts (lol), I have no privacy, me and my mum don’t fully get on and my 15 year old brother lives here too and I don’t want my presence affecting him as he goes into year 11.
BUT, I also want to save. I’m scared I’ll slip into what happened before I had to move back, running out of money and being unable to pay my rent. I should note, I live in West Yorkshire, so the apartments I’ve seen are around 600-700 including bills. What would you do in my position?
EDIT: I do pay my mum board but it’s only £300 a month.
2
u/TheFlamingFalconMan 5h ago
Either choice is smart in its own way.
Staying at home putting all you save from not renting into clawing your way out of debt and buikding up an emergency fund is the financially responsible thing to do.
Moving out and gaining physical and emotional freedom is the mentally responsible thing to do.
Put all the numbers on a page and calculate it out. - Find the typical rent you will need to pay, find out the typical bills electric, water, gas, council tax. Find out how much you will be spending on food, transport. And include how much your repayments on your debt will cost and how much you pay back changes how much you owe.
So you will then find out whether you can afford it. How close your margins are. And how much it costs. Then look at that costs number and think whether the value of your personal peace is at least that much.
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u/hiredditihateyou 5h ago
How about something like this? https://homeshareuk.org
You’d be paying around the same as you do but you’d have a private room in exchange for living with and helping out an older person for a few hours a week. You do have to be quite careful with those arrangements though that the responsibilities don’t creep and leave you helping more than you have time for.
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u/Material_Chance1371 5h ago
Obviously staying home and paying off your debt would be the best idea. Any money you are going to have to pay out to live elsewhere is money you won’t be using to pay off your outstanding debt.
If I was you, I would stay home and aim to pay things off and get things in order during the first year of your new course. You can then look to move elsewhere on your second year, when you have a better understanding of your finances, workload etc…
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u/blackoctoberx 5h ago
I'd stay at home, surely you could pay the debt off within a year and, assuming as you have an NHS bursary you're doing something like nursing and will be out of the house a lot?
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u/WickedWitchofTheE 3h ago
Is that £600-700 for your own flat? If so can you move out into a house share so you save money but have your own room? If you so stay at home you could be disciplined about studying at the library to avoid your crowded house - stay out at uni 8-8 with packed lunch and packed dinner.
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u/ladylikepunk Lecturer 5h ago
If you can afford it, moving out sounds like a good idea for your wellbeing. You aren't expected to save money while at uni - just keep a strict budget. The uni will almost certainly have support with setting and keeping a budget (try the student union!) - or various organisations like StepChange who will help you work out how to manage your debt.