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

My son is going next year as it’s just not feasible this year. We can’t afford to give him much and aren’t entitled to any financial support. He’s using this year to save as much as he can and hopefully he’ll be able to transfer his job (Macdonalds) to one near the university. We are hoping student loans will at least cover accommodation.

It's tight but doable.

She needs to get a job surely?

Are weekly clothes an essential?

My dd has just started university, just going into her third week. We have to cover her maintenance loan she doesn't get enough to pay for halls food etc. She has found two jobs, so she is hoping she can cover the shortfall herself when she starts work. She says she did a shop yesterday and it cost £30. Before she left we went food shopping & l bought her lots of bulk buys, like toilet rolls, shampoo, etc, fairy liquid and cleaning stuff, that will cover her until she comes home at xmas. Its a very good learning experience, learning how to budget and that money doesn't grow on trees. Dd's rent is £250 a wk, paying extra for her own bathroom. My two other children who have gone before her managed,they all get through it, don't worry.

OP another thing I just thought of - make sure you're not 'double counting' .e.g. it took me a while to realise that my food and bills weren't going to be that same as usual. I was counting all my regular costs, plus what I needed to give DC. But obviously for weeks they were at uni, my food costs were down by more than a quarter, less gas and electric, less petrol used as I would often have to take them places etc. So actually it evened out a lot more than I originally thought!

And as others have said, make sure you look at the term weeks instead of 52 weeks per year. Makes a big difference!

I work at a university so I know full well that students still work. On the course I teach on right now I tutor 30 students 1 to 1. All except the richest few work.

Anecdote aside this is not that far removed from the latest wider (survey based) data. How the graph has moved though over recent years......

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-student-experience-is-beyond-breaking-point-2/

It would be amazing if bus travel was free for all. It would really encourage people to use cars less too!

This is just so expensive! What a shame. Both DS are studying in Scotland where there's free bus travel for everyone under 23, if you live here even temporarily, like students. It's great for travel to uni as well as travel to part-time work / socialising (big city so plenty late buses too).

Old fashioned DD bought books! How is that a student needed books. These days AI would have sufficed I guess! Plus the laptop of course. Other DD did a fashion related degree - bought quite a lot of materials!

One if my dc is ar university. The tips are great. But the cupboard, freezer and fridge space is very very small! Sharing with 5, means there is almost no storage really. Bulk buying just isn't an option.

I work at a university so I know full well that students still work. On the course I teach on right now I tutor 30 students 1 to 1. All except the richest few work. Most in bars and restaurants, many also do things like tutoring and shop work. There are jobs, and to pretend it is impossible for uni students to get part time work is a nonsense. I have taught for the last 20 years at unis across the country and there has never been a place or time where part time work was impossible to come by. As I say, if you need to work, you work.

UCAS has information on this. https://www.ucas.com/money-and-student-life/money/managing-money/how-much-does-uni-or-college-cost

This was what I got from my parents to cover non rent living expenses when I was at uni. It was 1997. It wasn’t enough even back then.

English :) DD's course is pretty good at telling them about materials available online or through the library, but they can't get away without buying anything.

She will need to get a job.

And how many years ago was that?

What uni degrees require course materials these days apart from art degrees?

DD did a STEM degree. All she needed was a decent laptop and access to the Internet. For her post grad degree she splashed out on a tablet.

What uni degrees require course materials these days apart from art degrees?

DD did a STEM degree. All she needed was a decent laptop and access to the Internet. For her post grad degree she splashed out on a tablet.

Just food for thought here but she will not be at uni for 52 weeks! My son is now in his third year of uni and was just home for almost 4 months of summer. If you look at the student accommodation most do 41/42ish week tenancies and that doesn’t include Christmas break where she will likely be home.

If your DD has a job now, it's worth considering if she could defer uni a year and work full-time in her current job to save more. I did this and it was really helpful as I built up a tidy sum. I was also able to transfer my job to my uni town too, which was great.

I had boring household gifts for Christmas and my birthday...

• big box of laundry powder from my uncle (my housemates were so jealous of this particular gift!!)
• annual bus pass from my grandparents
• TV licence for my birthday
• Textbooks as gifts or contributions towards buying 2nd hand copies.

Honestly, I didn't socialise much as none of us could really afford it.

Watch out for trip costs. My degree had a compulsory overseas trip in the 3rd year as part of the assessment. Worth finding this out early especially if you also need to purchase a passport!

My son has just started university. His accommodation in halls is £8500 a year ( this is catered but doesn’t cover food/ drinks for the whole day or weekends) We are paying the extra £3k and also giving him £30 a week for extra food, laundry etc.
He has worked the past year and saved up his socialising money.

Tinned pilchards. That's what I survived on at Uni - very nutritious and cheap.

I worked on campus throughout my university degree. I managed to get 3 shifts a week at the student bar, picked up other random bar work at various balls and then did shifts at the half term playscheme during reading week. Plus if I was short, I could always pick up extra shifts at the bar. I used to get bought quite a few drinks at the student bar, which I used to take as bottles of alcopops at the end of the night. Plus I could take leftover food, if I was in the bar kitchen rather than the bar. It was win, win, I was getting paid rather than spending money and I saw my mates and I made new ones behind the bar too!

My sister worked in the kitchens of one of the catered halls and used to get given food during shifts and often could take stuff home. I think she spent most of her time washing up but it gave her money and free food.

I would investigate campus working and how/when to apply when you visit. I did this before I went and so did my sister as the window to apply was often tiny, but it meant you got shifts around your timetable and it was understanding employers.

Missing lectures is absolutely a big deal. They are paying £££££ for these lectures and it will impact the final result. For thiose with SEN and/ or NDs missing lectures is not an option. These students are already coping with plenty.

The students on the full loans or with rich parents are going to have a very unfair advantage if those in the middle on minimum loans with parents unable to top up are expected to miss lectures just to stay there.

No way she’d cover course materials, food, clothes, travel, socialising etc. with 60

would personally estimate that as 100 min!

Dd has just started. It would probably be ok if they don't do sport, go clubbing, eat in cafes. If they want to do these things, i'd estimate £100 pw. You can save quite a bit in a gap year if you can get work.