University of Oxford

Well, it's hard not to want to experience nearly everything when you're outside of your home country, so as a result, travel costs tripled! Try to watch eating out every day; it really adds up! Going to the grocery store/covered market and picking up breads and cheeses for the week saved a lot of money.

I spent more, but we squeezed in quite a bit of organizaed travel-- saw most of the highlights between Oxford, London,Bath, Windsor, Canterbury, and on to Paris.

I spent less on the telephone bill simply because my cell phone doesn't work overseas. I spent more overall than I do at home because of the exchange rate.

the pound was very strong compared to the swiss franc. oxford is a very expensive city as such. but drinks and entrys to bars etc. are student friendly. i had no telephone access at my corridor so had to get my own mobile. basic but good food (except meat) is more expensive that expected. public transport is rather poor in britain and not nationaly handled. therefore it is hard to get reduced prices (as long as you don't plan far ahead).

Inevitably, things are more expensive in England. Also, there were often times when we tired of the St. Anne's College dining hall, and wished to stretch our wings. Typically, going out is not cheap; but in such an active environment, it's unavoidable. We all just accepted having to spend more money, for the most part, and it became a non-issue after we had been in residence a few weeks.

The conversion rates are terrible, and the prices don't seem (to me, anyway) to reflect that conversion! The Euro works better with the dollar.