To think £60 a week to live on will be a struggle for DD at uni?

So she has a whole year before she goes to uni.

In that case she needs to get some part time work now- supermarkets, cafes, local pubs, babysitting, dog walking, pet sitting, etc.

I also question how your own contribution would only bring up her weekly money to £60, taking out her accommodation costs.

Have you not had a prediction of how much you are supposed to contribute?

She have £60 a week plus the allowance from you plus savings. If you take a larder of stables with her when she goes that will help.

Just a small cafe or bar shift, not too much would make a difference too.

If that £50 includes your contribution, that sounds odd, simply because her loan is based on parental income. So if her loan is very low, the premise is you top it up.
How much top up are you providing?

It may be unpopular, but i feel quite strongly about parents not getting another job to pay for their kids to go to uni. There's no reason at all that your daughter cant get a job now, and during, uni. I genuinely think it does them no favours to see their parents working themselves silly whilst they don't even have a job. Please let her find her way a little.

Has she done her A levels already and is having a gap year?
I don't understand the time line here.

If she's in Year 13 she won't have an offer or a hall already.

What year is she in?

2k should last a few months to give her time to settle in and find a part time job. You can spend about £500 on essentials and then give her an extra £60-£100 a week so she budgets. An idea is to register with a support agency as that's a flexible way to work. My daughter has support workers and they are all university students. They don't do any personal care.

You really don't need to focus on that as much as her earning money.

She won't need appliances other than perhaps a kettle as there are rules about which electrical appliances are allowed in rooms (fire risk.)

I'm a bit confused with the time scale here- can you elaborate?

Students doing their A levels (yr13) apply from now onwards and get offers usually between now and Xmas- sometimes later.

Has she go a place already and applied for a hall?

Or has she completed Year 13 and is having a gap year?

I agree it's definitely doable, mainly need to shop sensibly and prioritise.

When I was a student 2011-2012 I needed to save for a car for work placements the following year so I was on £10 a week, £15 or so if you included the bus pass I got at the start of the year so roughly £60/month, £70-75 if nights out as well.

For nights out:
Cheapest vodka was 8:50 then tbf but I mixed with basic/own brand squash and tap water at house parties and pre drinking sessions, so super cheap mixer. Bottle would last 3 nights out. Ideally clubs with free entry and no drinks out as perfected how much needed to pre drink to stay buzzed the whole night haha. Night bus back and a short walk at the end of the night. If in a big group then taxis are an option.

Food:
Basic/own brand pasta and rice, tinned tomatoes, cheapest mince you could get, wonky veg, started bulking out with onions which I hadn't liked, basic sandwiches - a toastie maker can make these feel more a proper meal. My parents would do a starter shop at the start of the year and would get toiletries and stuff like olive oil then. I didn't eat out except the rare McDonalds and even then no drinks, just double cheeseburger and chips, no extras. Avoid frequent post night out takeaways. Non branded toiletries, etc. I still use mainly non branded toiletries even now.

Clothes:
Shouldn't be a big factor surely? I rarely buy new clothes even now but use charity shops or supermarket leggings, etc. I would recommend couple of multi packs of cheap knickers so can go a while without using the hall's washing machines/dryers as they are pricey, can even hand wash in their sink. I wore jeans that didn't need washing frequently so think my best was a month between wash loads 🫣 also can ask for clothes and makeup for Christmas/birthday.

It's doable if you need to, it can be so much tighter than £60/week even with today's prices, and still have a social life. First year tends to be more nights out but you can do it on a budget, house parties more so from then on.

The only time I would say not enough is if art/design students and need to pay for your own materials.

I lost a bit of weight as ate smaller portions but maintained a healthy BMI and needed to lose a bit anyway.

DD has around £250/month to live on, but she is in a cheap city abroad. She finds it a bit tight and still has to dip into savings. So £60 a week in the UK would feel incredibly tight.

It must be hard for a strapping lad of 18-21 to live on £50 a week, when it will also have to include laundry stuff, personal toiletries, socialising, books, travel etc?

I think, sadly, some students live on just pasta and end up very unhealthy.

My oldest was in a group with the people who were in the same student halls as hm on WhatsApp. They arranged for everyone to take certain items so they didnt end up with 6 potato mashers etc. So before you rush into buying stuff I would wait and see what she really needs.

My DS gets £50 a week for the same things and managed to save. Not a big drinker and he doesn’t buy clothes but does travel to see his GF regularly. He also only has the express type shops locally so food is more expensive. I guess it depends which city they’re in too. Mine is in a cheaper city

I’d doubt it - transport alone is typically about £20 a week for a bus pass etc

Are you able to contribute at all @Lex345 ?

Parents usually do and the loan is based on parental income.
Are you aware of this?

The other issue is that halls are usually only for first years.
After that she will move out into a shared house and they start looking well before then end of the first year.
Nothing there will be paid for so it will come out of her loan.

So as well as Year 1, you and her need to be thinking of Year 2 onwards.
They tend to look for Year 2 accommodation as early as April in their 2nd year and sometimes they have to pay from July/ August not the Sept/October of the next term.

She needs to work and, like some parents, you may also need to think if you need to increase your income to help support her.

Echoing all the other people, she needs to get a job. As a pp said, you need to helps her realise she doesnt have to just have £60 a week. She can do something about it, starting now.
Even a few hours work each week would help. All the kids around us are earning £12.50 per hour at her age. Many get tips too. She could very easily double her £60 in 1 shift.
My eldest started working full time as soon as his a levels were finished. He did two seasonal jobs where be lived in. The pay wasn't huge, but his living expenses were paid. He worked during the holidays at uni. With no contributions from me, he came out of uni having saved 10k, which he used towards a house deposit. Esentially, he saw an opportunity when his student loans arrived and took it.
Teach your daughter she is not limited and she might just surprise you.

I don't know if things have changed but someone I worked with years ago did a second job waiting at various events (including in Tower Bridge) and she would come in the next day with a packed lunch from the venue.

It is worth asking at any interview if there are any perks such as free / discounted food or staff discount.

It will be tight but do-able. My son worked full time in the holidays, earned 5k in year 1 and then second year he got an internship and earned 3k. That meant he didn’t need to work in term time. It wasn’t easy to get a job in his uni town.

Assume she's in Year 13? If she could find a job, even if it's just 1 day a week or a couple of evenings, for the rest of this year, and offer to cover extra hours on term breaks etc, she could start to put money away. And look in advance for a 'better' job next summer, one with a big chain might even help her transfer to the uni location (tesco, mcdonalds, etc)

Just to add - if I’m reading correctly you have a year (assuming no gap year)? My eldest worked as many hours as he could during his gap year, but started working PT from 16. To start with he saved initially to travel a bit but then it all went for uni savings. Middle one is doing the same.

She has to start working and saving as much as she can now, it’s a good way for her to learn how to juggle as that’s exactly what she’ll do at uni. If she can’t do that now she won’t survive then. Even if she doesn’t work, to begin with (jobs are a lot harder to find now), at uni she will have to learn how to manage her time for school work and life admin. She really is old enough to be doing that now.

Also I’d start buying basics if you see them on sale (middle aisle of Lidl, sainburys Home etc). She’ll need things like a couple pots, potato peeler, basic crockery, towel, tea towels etc. An airfryer is a god send. Having to buy that all in one lump sum is a massive expense.

I have 4 dc and with DH and I we have a food/toiletries/cleaning budget of £80/90 a week including nappies and wipes and it’s tough with the prices of food nowadays. It used to be a relatively generous budget. For just her food it would be ok if she’s able to throw meals together and use left overs.
I don’t think a student could live on £60 a week for everything. Of course she could have noodles for every lunch, cheap cereal for breakfast and toast for dinner but that is miserable. And she needs some social life. Nothing is cheap anymore. My eldest took me out on a student night a few months ago with him and his friends and 20 years ago student night could have been a night out for £15 including travel. I had one double vodka and cranberry juice for £9, I was shocked and felt terribly old 🤣

AIBU to think this will be really hard to live on, or am I being completely ridiculous and DD will be absolutely fine, £60/week is plenty?

the best favour you can ever do for your DD is to highlight to her that it doesn't have to just be £60/week if she doesn't want it to be.

Need is the mother of invention, she now has the challenge of thinking about supplementing that £60 with additional income, by doing bar work, retail any other options available to her.

By limiting her thinking to "you've only got £60" youre doing her a disservice. It's time to plant that thought then leave her to it. She'll have to survive, she has no other option.

Have you checked a Parental Contribution Calculator?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/university-living-costs-calculator/
Her loan is based on what you earn, so it actually expects parents to contribute even though they (annoyingly) don't tell you.

She should definitely get a job/paid internship every summer - it's the best way to get employed straight out of uni.