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

I'm in Ireland so things are a bit different here. There isn't a student loan system in place. There are also "no fees" but instead an administration expense of €3000 or so each year. There are grants available for those on lower incomes.

I'm just looking into this now as my eldest will hopefully be off to uni in 2027, so a while to go yet. Based on our earnings, he is not expected to qualify for a grant (just missing out) . We will have to pay the admin fee and for everything else. If we get a loan, it's a normal loan from a bank, repayable over the usual terms (3, 4 years or whatever) regardless of when the student finishes, what their earnings are etc etc.

For a 4 year degree course, living away from home, we are looking at a minimum of €50,000 before food etc. Times that by 3 kids and, well, it's just not doable.

So our eldest already knows his options are to go to either of the 3 (4 at a push) unis that he can commute to. Or take a few years off, get a job and apply later /as a mature student. He has decided the local unis have all the options he could want.

How long ago though?

I think you quite right that it will vary by Uni, there’s likely lower level data covering that though I confess I have not looked.

i gues the timing is around that inflation spike. And particularly food, housing and utilities - the bulk of costs for most students. Food inflation - and particularly staples like pasta - was much higher than overall inflation, plus we all know about utility costs.

I suspect that many parents pre Covid and Ukraine might have thought with a DC due to go to Uni in the 2020s that finances might be stretched. What they probably didn’t consider was that interest rates would rise as rapidly as they did, maybe adding several hundred pounds a month to mortgage when coming to a new deal , or to rent, that gas and electric prices would more than double - maybe another £100/ month or more to that previously paid ; that food prices would shoot up - monthly food bill up by maybe a couple of hundred pounds. This perfect storm has I think caught many out. Maybe five to six hundred pounds, maybe more, added to basic monthly outgoings plus money on top to support a DC / DCs at Uni. Suddenly what seemed to not too unreasonable has become a much bigger financial challenge.

Yes we knew and we had been financially supporting her in the other years too. She actually did 4 years as she swapped courses after the first year. She did work when she was home and through the summer. It was just the last year that cost us £6,000. We thought that was a bit steep and a squeeze for us. We have 2 other kids. Luckily neither of them decided to go.

@Mackerelfillets Did you not know about the parental contribution? That’s also a fairly low rent! Minimum loan means maximum contribution from parents. For most students, the loan doesn’t cover halls or student house rent! I would always advise parents to go to open days at universities and any school talks on uni application. Plus read MSE on student loans many years in advance. Parents are expected to contribute and always have been expected to contribute!

Uni loans are a joke. It barely covers the basics. When my daughter got her student finance statement for year 3 it was so low it didnt cover her rent (which was £1615) a quarter (Liverpool) including bills. Her grandma used to send her £100 a month which she used for food. She didnt socialise much is the 3rd year, she lived in the library and didnt go to the pub. We ended up paying the rent. It is generally assumed that parents will bridge the cap between what the loan amount is and what they need to survive. She got a 2:1.

My DD currently has £35 a week for food and laundry. She seems to be managing fine (although is veggie so cheaper). Also doesn't drink much. Re socialising, students don't seem to buy drinks when out, just drink before going out. Also she has some savings from working before uni so if she needs to she has that to dip into for extras.

I do a weekly Asda order, my exact same order in 2022 compared to 2025 is ridiculous
£57-£88
I mean olive oil went from £3.45 to about £8 something
Madness

How many weeks is she actually at uni? £3000 over 52 weeks is £57 but they're only actually away for about 40 weeks which would be about £75 a week. Sorry if I've missed something but I just thought you might be doing your calculations over a full year?

She won’t be able to live off £60 a week if it’s cover all food, toiletries, socialising, travel etc so she will need to find ways to increase it.
accomodation has gotten insane compared to when I went.

I apologise if these things have already been mentioned, I haven’t read through all the messages. Up until recently I worked in the student advice sector and I think this is a very tight budget.
Has she decided on a particular university? If so, it’s worth seeing exactly what they offer regarding Halls accommodation (in room facilities/shared accommodation etc..). Have you looked if there are any private halls on the area? These can be cheaper than university run halls but vary wildly in what they offer. Also, depending on the course she has chosen are there additional expenses? Art courses, for example, will require a lot more out of pocket expense.
She shouldI look to see if the university offer any bursary’s or financial support themselves that she would qualify for. Quite often you can get pockets of funding for £500-1000 which could make all the difference.
Lastly, I would strongly suggest when she gets a summer/weekend job she consider a supermarket or other national chain (Costa/Starbucks/maccies etc …) because often they will suppport students to transfer to a branch near uni which means she would have an instant job to go to.

Totally agree @OhDear111 We were extremely clear with DD about what we would pay for and what extra help we would give her (e.g. big food shop at start of term, paying for a railcard) and what was down to her. It means she can budget effectively, realise that money doesn't grow on trees, and was keen to get a summer job (she'd like a term time job as well, but not been successful in finding one so far).

Sites like this were useful in helping us to confirm that the financial help we would offer made DD similar to many other students in terms of what she could afford to do (whilst highlighting that some students are really quite seriously well off!).

We do, of course, occasionally buy her the odd extra thing, and sometimes stumble across items we hadn't considered (e.g. she's just had her eyes tested and her prescription has changed a lot so she needed new glasses ) so you just manage those decisions as you go along (we paid for DD's glasses as we considered them an essential and didn't want her to skimp).

@redskydelight@Lex345
We did a zero based budget exercise. We thought of every single thing dc needed and decided what we would cover and what was down to dc. As you say, some parents pay for a lot and others don’t so work out what you expect £60 to cover. Our DDs liked clothes so who is buying the winter coat? The cost of going out is now quite a lot of money. If dc intend to go out, then look at realistic costs. Don’t expect a gregarious child to suddenly become a room hermit. It won’t happen. My DDs also went to see mates at nearish universities on the train. It all adds up.

Most of all carefully review hall costs. I bet this is the biggest saving.

I havnt been to Uni but when my friend's daughter went we stocked her up on essentials and a few treats. Toilet rolls, toothpaste, soap, deodorant,shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, washing liquid, fabric conditioner, first aid kit, moisturiser, hand cream, washing up liquid, tea towels. Slow cooker, toaster, small frying pan, saucepan etc., vouchers for local supermarket. Plus tins of food, quick food like pot noodles, oats so simple, soup, tea bags, coffee, creamer, drinking chocolate, instant noodles etc etc car was rammed. Students cookery book. Plus money in an account she could get if really needed, which her mom topped up a bit each month. A plastic box with lid she could keep under her bed to keep food in as cupboard space was very limited. Oh and a warm fleecy blanket for cold nights.
She should be ok with planning, and can cook a basic meal with not a lot of money. Practice at home before she goes is good. Also check what's provided like crockery and cutlery.

This. 😂

I used to feed our family of four on £65 a week pre 2020! Our shopping now is poorer quality and double the price

I used to just work as much as possible during Easter/christmas/summer (lucky enough to find a pub that liked me as a Christmas temp and would have me back whenever I came home from uni) and save up to tide me over the next term. This worked really well for me as it didn’t interfere with my uni work

My DS is currently at Nottingham. Dropped him off with a big supermarket shopping (including toiletries, detergent, etc) and he is now on £60 a week from us. He does fine. He goes to Lidl and eats ok, has learned to cook. He still manages to go out with his chums. Your DD will be fine. Don't fret.

I think it's definitely worth having a conversation about budgets and expectations whilst looking at options.

The travel costs are a good example. I didn't need to ever get a bus anywhere at uni, socialising, shopping, getting to lectures etc. could all be done on foot. So if you're on a tight budget, choosing somewhere where you're not going to need to get buses/trams/trains regularly is valuable.

Lol in the last 3 years food prices went up, used to doesnt mean anything

OP - I think one thing to bear in mind when you are reading this thread is what I will call "the small print". Lots of people saying their DC manage on £x amount a week, but then slipping in that they buy them a big food shop every term/few weeks, pay for their bus pass, phone or gym membership, cover travel home, have bought them a bike or a laptop or course materials.

I think you need to be clear whether the money that DD has is literally covering everything (in which case she will absolutely struggle on £60 a week if she wants to do more than survive) or whether you are providing lots of items in kind, so her money doesn't have to cover so much.

It can't compare because that was before Brexit and COVID exploded the prices of everything! Things in Iceland frozen food shop were often a £1 a box back then, now is £4.50 a box or three for a tenner.

I suppose it depends how frugal they are. My daughter is in first year currently, she has £75 a week. First week she spent it all on fresher's, this week she has £25 left. She meal plans (she loves to cook) l, hand washes what she can, she loves vinted and charity shops for clothes (whilst somehow looking far too stylish!) she is looking for a weekend job but it's dog eat dog at the moment. But last year she got a seasonal job beforehand and saved enough for her £75 a week she has now. She doesn't drink very often and even when she does it's not much. She joined societies within her interest that were on the cheaper scale and didn't require buying tons of kit. To start her off I bought uni essentials over the 18 months before and did the first food shop for essentials and some of the more expensive stuff that will last such as oil, butter etc.

What no-one ever tells you when you're looking at Uni, is that, as parents you will have to provide financial support alongside the student loan, as it's never enough! (unless they're lucky enough to get a decent job, and thats dependent on their course!) Oh, and the loan gets less each year, so by year 3 when their rent is at it's highest, their loan amount is at it's smallest! Crazy! good luck!

Yeah, but when was that? Most things have increased in price recently

She walked into every local cafe and shop too. Her friends tried as well. V few got lucky. The idea that students can walk into jobs easily is not the case in every city. And she had retail experience since she was 16 and was desperate to find a job.