All true , at 60 per exam and close to a grand for an IRT where a pass is by no means a surety you really need to budget more , even the hour building , most airfields you visit charge landing fees , so over 100 odd hours this adds up . Keep costs down by paying 3 quid for a pilot mag and using the free landing fees to visit other fields , and I find tesco value food to be a godsend .
But as MikeH says if the course is advertised at 45 grand budget for 50 , perhaps even more.
And do it soon , as poor old Mike H found out when CAA became JAR a lot of people had to study for exams without Bristol or Oxford or other question banks. I woudnt be at all surprised with the advent of EASA if the exams are eventually re written and you may end up in the same situation as Mike