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

Both my children went to uni some years ago when things were cheaper, but they both had part time evening jobs when they were there, and during holidays at home they both worked and saved some of their money for term time. Our agreement was that we wouldn’t ask them to contribute anything during the holidays (even though at the time money was tight at home) provided they saved for the next term.
They both had a great time and had enough money to enjoy the experience.

My dd survived on around £30 a week, not because she needed too but because she’s very tight. She does have a bus pass though so that didn’t include travel. A lot of students get part time jobs to fit around uni. I think £60 is doable.

That was what I had in 2006. I think that’s going to be tight.

My DD is going into Year 2 at uni. This summer and last summer she lived at home and worked. She was able to save over £2k each year. Look out for seasonal work in local attractions or tourist bars - places like Go Ape and Legoland are often on the lookout for seasonal staff.

Very tight for one person for food alone? As a family of 4 that’s what we live on weekly. Unless she’s hitting M and S or Waitrose daily, that’s a sufficient amount.

I had a fiver a week in 1976. It was pretty awful and nowhere near enough, but my parents had just moved and my mum couldn't get a job in the new place, so they were assessed for a grant (no loans in 76) on the previous year's income but were on half that and couldn't afford to give me much and the state covered virtually nothing except the tuition fees. I used to run out at about 3-weekly intervals and have to ring home for a bit extra, but they always said yes. The worst bit was when I went to Germany in spring 1977 for the exchange part of the course. The pound was really weak against the Mark, and I had 4 Marks a day to live on. A Bratwurst was 3 Marks...

I went to uni in 2020 and only spent around £30 on food shopping a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. My dad did take me shopping the night before and stocked me up on cupboard essentials (seasonings, sauces, pot noodles, crisps etc)

Dd gets the minimum loan, we give her 1k a month for rent….that leaves her with about 5k a year to live off. Which I appreciate is more than £60 a week but it’s still not loads.

However my main point is if we had just topped up her loan to the maximum it wouldn’t have been enough. The maintenance loan hasn’t increased but cost of living and rent has rocketed. Students are stuck unless parents can afford to cover the gap. Part time jobs are very hard to come by in many towns/cities these days. A friend’s son applied for 96 retail/waiting jobs before he got one! Jobs in coffee shops are asking for 4 years Barista experience for a minimum wage job. Thanks Labour for stuffing the economy up/increasing NI contributions.

It will be tight, my Dd's halls charged £5 to do a standard laundry load and dry, via a topped up card system, so on top of £200 we sent every month I also sent £20 for laundry and we paid her train fare if she came home. Her full student loan covered her rent and a bit left over for food, clothes etc. Check if her uni does extra grants for low income students, we were both (early) retired by the time DD went and she did get uni grants

This is realistic. Many students struggle and ask for hardship...Take it from someone who works in a university! It all depends where the student is studying...up north is always cheaper than London and the SE. I would advise the students to get a PT job and sign up for as many student discounts as possible (Totum card, Student Beans, Unidays, etc.). 20% is always good!
£60 per week is more than decent.

The other thing I might do is add a can of food or an extra toiletry item to the weekly shop this year to provide a stash for her (or encourage her to do that from any allowance she gets).

It should be fine…
I am guessing she already has all the warm clothes and essentials? If yes then the food shop and social should be covered by that…
uni offers loads in terms of material already so it should be sufficient!
maybe add on your list some basic essential and send when you can to top up?

The other point is you are expected as a parent to ensure you top up her loan amount if she isn't entitled to the maximum due to your income.

Why won't you be doing this?

One of the most ridiculous posts I've ever read on this forum @llizzie. Of course students have different financial circumstances.

In my view it is a parent's duty to prioritise their DC's education. That includes making sure they can attend the best university they are capable of and can make the most of the experience.

That is unlikely to be possible if they don't have enough money to eat properly or are having to work 40 hours a week.

With respect, there is also a big difference in the amount of time available for part time work between someone doing media studies at Southampton Solent and engineering at Imperial.

if she and her housemates buy and cook together, which some friendship groups do, it really drops the cost. She will learn to look for yellow sticker items, figure out when her local supermarket makes reductsions, and freeze leftovers. It can be done - tell her to look at “Jack monroe” and a girl called Jack for some really cheap meal ideas and figure out what basic store cupboard staples she will need

unis also have hatdndhopmfinds and pay existing students a small sum to show potential students round the campus… it might be manageable if she is savvy

Personally, I think that would be a struggle. We budgeted £100 a week, although my daughter is now taking a gap year to do some work. She too, had not worked during 6th form. I would also do a list of what she needs for the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. It all can add up to quite a bit if you don’t have any spares to give.

If you look at it this way - Jobseekers is £72.90 and you have to pay bills out of it. When I was at uni me and my friends were all broke all the time, but that was fine really as we were in the same boat - so socialising wasn't about expensive activities. The money you have saved sounds like it would really help for the textbooks and stuff like that. And collecting some practical items now is very sensible. You said she is good with money, so I think she will be okay OP.

We give our son £60 and he claims it's way too much. He batch cooks and learnt to make cheap meals. It also covers cost of uniform, student scrubs (medical student) . No other materials needed as all can be accessed via the library. Admittedly he's not got much social life but it's possible given some planning and basic cooking skills.

I alternated beans on toast and egg on toast for dinner for the whole of first year.

Then I stocked up on lentils and chickpeas and learnt a few basic recipes. 😂

I remember eating jacket potato and cheese every day because i had no money

its part of the experience

depends where in the country she goes but honestly, it will be tight. The socialising element will be important especially in the first couple of weeks and whilst it’s over 10 years since I graduated uni the cost of living and cost of socialising have skyrocketed.

Tell her to look for a job somewhere like Tesco/Waitrose as not only would she be paid but she should be able to buy food at a discount (might be an initial period to get through first).

Show her how to set up a budget so that she can decide for herself if she can afford to go partying or if she does go how many beers she can have.

Dd graduated last year so was at uni 2021-24. She didn’t quite get the maximum loan but my contribution was more ad hoc than a regular amount, I’d pay one off big expenses such as tickets to the society ball or travel to come home as well as her mobile phone bill and contact lenses. I bought her a big shop at the beginning of term and then sent her random treat things by Amazon, a bottle of vodka or £10 bag of pick and mix. She and her flatmates never cooked together but did have a kitty for regular purchases - toilet paper, bin bags, milk, tea/ coffee and would share a wash to save on laundry expenses. She had a job with an agency so she worked when it suited her rather than set days. I can’t remember her exact budget (tbh I probably didn’t know it as she was in charge) I know her food shop went from under £20 a week to over £20 a week in her 3rd year because she was very indignant about it!
She lives with 2 uni friends now and they’ve pretty much stuck to this same plan and they’re all paying off their student overdrafts.

I think it would be a mistake to eat into those savings and allow them to be frittered away on day to day living. If other students see that she is better off than they are because you are helping her financially, it will certainly not help her to study or live. It is better that all students have more or less the same standard of living for as long as they can. If you help, someone is always there to take it.

She may need that money in the future.

It will not encourage her to budget, and budgeting is a very important lesson in life. The best thing you can do to help is to sit down with her and help work out what is most important.

Getting a job can depends on the course. My son is doing a course with very high contact hours. Starts at 8am everyday and sometimes won’t finish until 6:30pm. He also has a 1-1 on a Saturday afternoon. He will work when he is home for the holidays