Cost of living

Dear reader,

As you decide on a UK MBA, I am sure one of your prime concerns is the overall investment you have to make. Indeed the cost of living is a very important factor and also one which varies widely depending on the lifestyle you prefer.

The major cost is the rent. In a private accomodation with 2 people sharing the cost, rent per head should be £300 if you take an apartment close to city centre. If the flat is in the outskirts the rent may be £50 less but it would get compensated by the cost of travelling. Add to that bills (electricity, gas) of another £50 per month. You would pay the bills once every quarter.

The other costs would include internet (£15 per month from virgin with phone-2mbps, £15 per month from O2 without phone-8mbps). Virgin deal which includes phone and internet is not available at all parts of Glasgow. So if its not available in your postcode then the option is to go for a BT Landline and an O2 broadband. The installation charge for the BT Landline is £125 if the flat did not have a previous BT Landline connection(so check before signing a tenancy agreement). The monthly charge is £11.50 which offers free calls to landline numbers starting with 01 and 02 after 6PM everyday and on weekends. Any other calls are charged extra. The telephone bills need to be paid once every quarter.

As a student you would get a council tax waiver which otherwise is payble by any tenant to the council house. Once you complete your registration in the uni, collect the council tax waiver letter from the university registry and submit the same at the council tax office in George Square. If you extend your stay in Glasgow after graduation you would however have to pay council tax since you would not get the waiver anymore. It can be anything between £80-£200 per month depending on the location of your flat and tax band.

You might need a cell phone. There are two options - pay as you go and contract. If you have a phone then you can take a pay as you go for as little as £10 per month. A contract can cost you anything between £25 to £75 per month which gives you the option to choose any phone you want. The best deal is perhaps the Apple iPhone from O2 at £35 per month if you have the cash.

The other important expense to budget for is booze money! This is very important since it is highly unlikely that in Scotland you would not want to drink whisky. The MBA course is intense so you need to party hard on weekends to de-stress. And parties cost money. So depending on whats your poison and how much you drink budget for the expense. The most common party whiskies are Bells, Famous Grouse, White & Mackey and Grants the cost of which vary between £10 to £16 for a 70cl bottle. If you can afford it then there is a whole range of single malts which are just heavenly (more on that later). The most common beer is Carling, Grolsch, Carlsberg, Tennets, Guiness and Stella Artois.

The other cost is that of food which should amount to approx £100 per head per month if you are cooking and depending on your food habits. There are a lot of restaurants and small eateries but the cost of eating out can be quite high. The non-veg options are definitely more than veg options. The most common snack is fish and chips, chips and cheese and burgers. If you are from India remember chips in UK is the french fries you get in India. What you know as chips in India is called crisps here.

Well I will end this post here. Please feel free to ask questions and along with the other contributors on this blog I will try to answer all your queries.