Ok, I've pretty much been living off £3K a year at uni, so when I think I'd get about £12K if I'm funded for a PhD, I think that that's going to be plenty of money.

Yet, I've seen at least two people on here complaining that they simply don't have enough money...

So how much do you guys estimate are the living costs of a PhD student? Does yoru 12K really get stretched, or are some people very loose with their wallets and purses!

3k a year? That's £250 a month. Did you live in a tent on the university campus and pay no rent?

Living off £3000 a year?? That's £250 a month.. That would just cover my rent.. How the hell did you manage that?? I would love to be able to live off £300.

I live comfortably and can generally afford most things I want but occasionally I have to be careful not to overspend.. There are loads of living costs to think about:- household bills, food, travel to and from the lab, books etc..

My career development loan repayments (for my MA) cripples me....god I hope I get PhD funding next year! Luckily I get mt PhD fees paid for me....

£3,000 a year - that isn't much all. After tax I earn about £800 a month and that goes nowhere....

I was priveleged enough to live in areas that were pretty cheap - in Swansea and Bangor I only paid £40-50 a week rent, bills weren't much, plus £20 pw on food.

And to be more precise, it was closer to 3.5K... But still, a far cry from £12K!

When I was working a while ago I was getting £800 a month, and i managed to save £5K over most of a year, which I used to help fund my Masters. I get I'm just used to being thrifty :s

I find it hard to believe that living on £800 a month you could have saved £5,000 a month. You would have to be pretty darned thrifty! Then again..if I didn't have to pay over £200 for my CDL each month maybe I could....but even still....you must be incredibly thrifty....

To be honest, apart from normal living costs it is cheaper for me to do a PhD than when I did my degree. This is because I get all my books from the library whereas in my degree I had to buy a new book for each course.

So, living costs for me at least are the same no matter what I do. My PhD is computer science based and I already have a PC and don't have to pay for lab equiptment, though I guess some people will tell you otherwise.

Im finding 12K is enough for me to live comfortably...probably because im a single man with no expensive habits...a part from booooze.

It depends on what your money is to be spent on. My stipend (12.3k) I keep outside of my research budget. However, my research budget is only £500 per year which is clearly not enough. For this reason, I go to the department and to other potential sponsors for more money. Some may disagree, but my stipend should not form part of my research budget.

I think people with funding are incredibly fortunate.

*green with envy*

I find a live with enough money for a few beers and the odd holiday, but not much more than that. Certainly not as much as my friends.

How about a holiday to Australia, Coastman?

I don't have any research budget. I spend half of my stipend on rent & bills. It's very expensive to live in London.

Hmmm, I don't get paid that much! But still, it makes it cheaper if I've got somewhere to crash once I'm over there

With about 30,000 km of coastline (and I am guessing on that), surely you can write off a trip to Australia as a PhD-related expense, Coastman?