first of all yes, i think internship is worth it for a) experience in a company/corporate environment, which you cant get on your own, and b) a famous company's

first of all yes, i think internship is worth it for a) experience in a company/corporate environment, which you cant get on your own, and b) a famous company's name on your cv. i was at O2, would never work there, hate corporations, but it helped me massively in getting a job and taught me a lot of things. plus youll earn some money which you can spend in the 3rd year (typical intern pay for programmers is £15-20k) and yeah that was without the bills. i lived in houses close to uni to avoid commuting and the £400 was common if not a bit steep, but i suppose my uni wasnt in central (it was brunel in uxbridge). also i lived in pretty shitty houses, because hey, im only there for a year, but on the upside met lots of cool people. a key to eating cheap is buying in bulk and cooking large amounts of food. say you buy 10 or even 20kg bag of rice (i used to do it on indian holidays for better discounts), that will cost less than £10 and last a few good months. get some canned veg, maybe micne. big tescos in poorer areas are your friend. its hard to calculate but for around £7 (and certainly for £10) you can stir up enough to last you a week. shits not gonna be gourmet but it works. there are other ways too... freeganism, putting stuff through self checkout as onions, etc.