Bernard Mallee (21), right, from Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, is an MA student studying journalism at Dublin City University. His total spend was £237.70, of which £65 was spent on alcohol.

`I get a grant, paid in three instalments of £560 and I have a student loan of £2,000. Mayo County Council pay for most of my fees. The fees are £3,500 and they pay £3,064 of that.

"I have started a placement for my course for the summer which pays £220 a week, so that will be a big help. And apart from that my parents pay my rent, which is £300 a month. There are four lads in the house I share, in Clonskeagh, which is on the other side of the city.

"I share with three professionals - we are all friends from home. I could be in college until about 8.30 every night. So, I get lunch and a dinner in college."

Every week-day in the period monitored, Bernard had both meals in college, for between £2.50 and £2.95 each. The only days he bought the makings of a meal were on Saturday, when he spent £4.95 on groceries and on Sunday when he spent £4.70 on a Chinese take-away.

Apart from his meals he spent £1.95 on chocolate, £2.95 on Coke, £8.50 on cups of coffee and £7.25 on newspapers. During the week he gets a newspaper on campus at a student rate.

Socialising cost Bernard £74, including the bus fare home on the Nitelink bus on Friday night, £3, and a trip to the cinema, to see Save The Last Dance on Wednesday night. His most expensive night out was Thursday, when he went for a late dinner with friends to Belgo, a Belgian restaurant in the city centre. He was also out on the previous Saturday, in Brogan's pub on Dame Street, where he spent £25, and the following Friday when he spent £10 in the Morrison Hotel bar, also in the city.

"I didn't realise until the end of the week how easy it is to spend between £25 and £30 a night on going out. It is definitely more expensive to go out in Dublin than it is in Galway. I did my BA in Galway and a pint of Guinness there is nearer to £2 whereas in Dublin it's about £3."

Incidental expenses included a CD (£9.99) bought on Tuesday, stationery (£5.50) bought on Thursday and a Citizone weekly bus-pass (£10) which he bought on Sunday. "I go home about once a month. The bus fare is £12 return."

Asked about occasional expenses, such as buying equipment or clothes, he says he buys clothes when he needs them, and that when he does need equipment, such as a mini-disc, "that can put a spanner in the works" but that he manages.