January Spending in the UK

I'm trying to graphically show how my spending patterns are in the UK. Granted, it's the beginning of term and I'm in a new country, so some of the amounts are higher than normal. I.e., I bought a new phone to work in this country so I don't expect to spend that much on phone fees in months to come. And I bought a whack of food and split a taxi with my flatmates so I wouldn't have to go shopping for food for awhile.

I am trying to come up with a budget and appropriate categories for my spending in the UK. They're going to be different categories than I'd have back home since I plan to travel, and won't have regular transportation patterns since I plan to walk as much as I can.

The categories include:
- Phone (basically my mobile phone costs on a pay as you go plan)
- Transportation
- Travelling (not sure how to separate this from transportation)
- Shoes and clothing
- Entertainment
- Gifts (people back home will kill me if I bring nothing back for them)
- Household
- Food
- Miscellaneous
- Eating Out
- Alcohol
- School (i.e., photocopying and printing costs)

£200, Gone Just Like That

Every time I move to a new place I have to spend money to buy things to settle down, and this time was definitely no exception. I had to spend money on plates, a pan, laundry detergent, toilet paper, plastic containers for lunch, etc, etc... Basically anything that wasn't worth carrying in my suitcase from Canada--especially since I'd be travelling alone. I spent £20 on a taxi ride to the university from the airport since I wasn't going to bus it with my bags. I also spent £25 on a pair of boots because, hello, it rains here A LOT (which I was told) and there are puddles and ponds and lakes to contend with on the way to class (which I wasn't told, but should have realized). All in all, I've already spent £200, although a lot of it was for "one-offs" as they say here.

Back in Canada I would tell myself not to go out for coffee with friends and not allow myself to eat out for lunch since I was saving for the UK. Now that I've arrived and I'm letting myself spend the money I budgeted for this experience I feel so happy. It was well worth it to scrimp and save those extra dollars so I could be here, complaining about the cost of food and buying it anyway.

Experience of a Lifetime

When I decided to go on exchange, I knew that I would be coming here by myself. My friends back home are quite happy returning to what they already know. They're in their last year at university and they're quite happy with it. Also, many feel like they can't afford to go on exchange.

Today I asked another exchange student why she came here to study without any of her friends from home. She said that all of them said it would be nice, but they didn't plan for it. When she told her friends that she was going on exchange, they replied "Oh you're so lucky." She commented that it wasn't luck that got her here to study abroad; it took financial planning on her part. I agree as well. The only reason why I was able to make this exchange opportunity a reality is because I planned for it financially. That's why financial goals are so important. It means the difference between the experience of a lifetime or just another term at school.

So Begins the UK Adventure

I've finally arrived in the UK! I've been planning this study abroad/exchange experience for over a year now, ever since October of 2006 when I thought it would be nice. Since then I've been working out a financial plan to make this a reality and I'm so incredibly happy that I did it.

I had guessed a lot of my expenses for this exchange because there were no published figures. I estimated it would cost $10 000 CDN in total to do it, and a friend who did this said she had set aside $10 000 as well so I suppose I'm not too far off.

I budgeted $7000 for tuition and accommodation fees. Turns out the amount is closer to $7500 (oops) but that's alright because I got two awards. One is for $500 CDN and the other is for £500 (about $1000 CDN). That will help me out a lot in paying for this experience.

Living expenses here are quite high. I was told often by my parents that would be the case, but it's still hard. I'm constantly multiplying all the prices I see by two to get the Canadian figure and it's still quite expensive here. The only things that aren't as expensive, so far, are shoes. £20 for a pair of quality shoes is not bad at all. But the last thing I need is to bring home more shoes for myself! And so far I haven't found anything for my mother.

I had not budgeted for a cell phone either but realized it's kind of important. All the other students use it as a social networking tool and when you're an international student, you need to put an extra effort into making friends and meeting new people. Quite a few people have asked me so far if I have a phone and I've said no. Back home, a cell phone was more of a convenience but here I see it as an expense to make sure I stay socially connected. So I'm looking into it. So far the plans are about £20+ ($40 CDN) per month.