Is it beneficial owning a car as a student?
If you are about to become a university student, there is a lot to think about, especially regarding money. Being a student can be hard and if you do not have a lot of cash saved up before you move to university it may be even harder. A car can be costly, so as a student it is worth considering if it is going to be beneficial to keep your car or if it is going to cost more than it is worth. Here are a few things to consider when thinking about moving to university with a car.
City Life
If you are moving to a big city such as Manchester or Liverpool, most student halls and houses are close to public transport links, to the university and to town. If you are going to be going to university and into the centre of the town, chances are you will barely use your car for this. Parking at university can be costly, as can central car parking and public transport is available in many forms for easy and cheap access to and from town. To save money it is best to use these links rather than drive.
You can check how far away your halls will be from university and town, usually halls are right next to your university so you don’t have to travel. Driving in a city is also a great way to get caught in traffic jams and sometimes walking can get you to where you want to be twice as fast, for no cost. If you haven’t driven in a city before and you live in a small town or in the countryside, city driving can be overwhelming. If you do plan on keeping your car it is best to practice in and around the city a few times before you go out in rush hour.
Going Home
If you are going to be visiting home often and you are a home bird, this is something to consider when keeping a car. If you live far away, having a car could be beneficial in getting home, especially if you will choose to go home last minute as train fares are usually at their highest then. You may have a job at home, pets or family that you know you will want to visit often, and this is when a car may come in handy, especially to take all that dirty washing home! Consider this before you move out as transport links home can be long if you are moving afar for your course.
Student Living
As a student, it can be hard to juggle university work and a job. With most university courses you will not be able to have a full-time job and therefore your car may not fit into your budget anymore. If you chose to live close to university and public transport links, you will have no problem without your car, especially if you do not plan on visiting home too often. This may be the first time you are managing you own budget, including washing clothes, food and going out with your new flatmates. You may find that your car doesn’t fit into your budget, especially if it is on its last legs. If this is the case, you may get the most money from cancelling your insurance and using the Scrap Car Network website to make some cash on your car. Supermarkets offer cheap home delivery, and there are plenty of taxi firms within cities such as Uber that can be relatively cheap, especially when sharing. Having a car may cost than it is worth.
Placement
With some university courses, you may have to do placement work as well as university. A car can be beneficial then, especially if you are going to be sent far away from university or to many different placements over your course. This is something to consider if you are doing a course such as nursing or law. Nursing is 50% placement based and you are usually assigned a hospital trust, but you can be sent a fair few miles away, making a car essential unless you want to be getting up at 4AM! This is something else to consider when thinking about your car. If you only have a year of placement such as with a law degree, then it may be worth investing in a car for that year. There is no use in paying insurance and road tax for a car that you use once a week or less.
There are many things to consider when driving a car at university, including money and how much usage your car will get. If your car is very old and may break soon, you may not have the income at university to get it fixed. These are all points to consider when deciding to take your car to university.