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Original poster

Is £100 a wee living allowance about right?

76 replies

Dancesaideveryone · 29/08/2023 21:38

DS off to university. He's paying his halls from savings and part-time job. I'm planning (hoping) to give him £100 per week for all living costs.

Is £100 enough? Too much? It's to cover everything like food, clothes, going out, any contracts (mobile) etc.

Any comments are helpful.

OP posts:
toomuchlaundry · 29/08/2023 23:57

DS is refusing any top up from us (at the moment!). He has worked in holidays and gets minimum loan. Wants to be independent but we have said we will review at end of this term, because although he has done a budget I think it will be more expensive than he thinks especially if he wants to go out once in a while. Think the laundry might be the first thing that goes if he needs to make savings!

caringcarer · 30/08/2023 00:06

He should manage on £100 per week but do what poster up thread did give him £70 on a Monday and £30 on a Friday. That way he'll eat during the week as well as party at the weekend.

UsingChangeofName · 30/08/2023 00:32

It's more than twice what my dc has from us for weekly living expenses.
However I suspect your set up is unusual for him to be paying his accommodation out of savings.
So, by giving him such a big amount, he will presumably not need to use so much of his savings.

But, doesn't he have a maintenance loan ?

capresesalad · 30/08/2023 00:38

@LollipopChaos I recently finished a 5 year degree. Bought 0 textbooks, have never photocopied anything and have maybe spent £20 on printing over 5 years. Uni has lots of expenses but those aren't really things that need to be factored in.

alpenguin · 30/08/2023 01:09

£100 a week for spending after rent and bills? That’s more than a lot of working people have. He’s very lucky.

Motheranddaughter · 30/08/2023 01:32

Mine get 1100 a month
Rent is £600 so £125 a week
We continue to pay mobile phone,contact lenses

egowise · 30/08/2023 01:45

alpenguin · 30/08/2023 01:09

£100 a week for spending after rent and bills? That’s more than a lot of working people have. He’s very lucky.

This.

toomuchlaundry · 30/08/2023 07:19

@Motheranddaughter are you saying you give your DC £1,100 a month?

QuillBill · 30/08/2023 08:01

I think it's a good amount, presumably he won't have any travel expenses if he's in halls so he needs money for food, toiletries, entertainment, his phone and any course expenses.

At the beginning they need some money for joining any clubs/activities that they are interested in.

RedHelenB · 30/08/2023 08:27

See what you need to nake up his loan to the maximum and divide it by 3 to give the termly amount you need to pay.

Ciri · 30/08/2023 08:36

RedHelenB · 30/08/2023 08:27

See what you need to nake up his loan to the maximum and divide it by 3 to give the termly amount you need to pay.

This is broadly right but bear in mind that rent can differ dramatically. Cheap northern university here and rent is £178 a week for an en suite room on campus and £159 a week for a shared bathroom. Second and third years are more expensive since there are also bills to pay plus more travel and most contracts for private houses are not just 40 weeks long.

hopsalong · 30/08/2023 08:47

One small point.

Your DC will need to buy books and materials. I'm a university lecturer and, yes, a lot of books are available online but, no, that isn't a substitute for owning them.

I've had some students who've tried to get away with buying as little as possible, but makes studying much harder. Also quite depressing to finish your degree and have nothing physical as a remnant of it.

But books can be very very cheap. Buy on Abebooks or Amazon secondhand and be willing to wait for them to come.

determinedtomakethiswork · 30/08/2023 08:57

If he's in Manchester, one thing you can do is buy a term time bus pass I think. My friend's daughter had one of those and found it really useful. He will have a fantastic time there!

Motheranddaughter · 30/08/2023 10:42

Yes £1100.
But covers rent which is around £600 a month

abigailsnan · 30/08/2023 10:54

Dancesaideveryone · 29/08/2023 21:43

Fuck. Not had a book list yet.

It just feels never ending all the costs.

Show quote history

Ops here in Liverpool there is a massive Banardo's second hand book shop which caters for the books students may need have a look in the area where he is going to you will save mega £s for sure.

EarringsandLipstick · 30/08/2023 11:18

hopsalong · 30/08/2023 08:47

One small point.

Your DC will need to buy books and materials. I'm a university lecturer and, yes, a lot of books are available online but, no, that isn't a substitute for owning them.

I've had some students who've tried to get away with buying as little as possible, but makes studying much harder. Also quite depressing to finish your degree and have nothing physical as a remnant of it.

But books can be very very cheap. Buy on Abebooks or Amazon secondhand and be willing to wait for them to come.

I need to disagree with this.

I also work in a university (Ireland). It should be a choice regarding buying books & is course-dependent of course.

The Library will provide multiple copies of textbooks as well as secondary literature. Many books can be made available as e-books.

The challenge is textbooks - they are very hard (due to publisher's licences) to get electronically, by libraries & so these may need to be purchased.

But there is really no need to spend a significant amount on print books any more.

The wide availability of e-resources has been a game changer for third level education & providing research content more widely & easily.

EarringsandLipstick · 30/08/2023 11:19

Surely most 3rd level students work? I would expect that to fund socialising & clothes, with your £100 covering food, travel, essential day to day costs.

user73 · 30/08/2023 11:35

EarringsandLipstick · 30/08/2023 11:19

Surely most 3rd level students work? I would expect that to fund socialising & clothes, with your £100 covering food, travel, essential day to day costs.

This is rather location dependent. If you are living in London then yes there might be work opportunities. If you are at a university in a smaller location then they are unlikely to have an extra 18,000 term time jobs close to campus.

I suspect most students work during the holidays though. Mine certainly does

UsingChangeofName · 30/08/2023 13:54

Your DC will need to buy books and materials.

I disagree with this too.
I have 2 graduates and 1 still at University, all doing different courses, all at different universities.
None of them have needed to buy books for their courses.

If you are at a university in a smaller location then they are unlikely to have an extra 18,000 term time jobs close to campus.

Again, none of mine have been in big cities, and all have managed to get jobs in their University towns. The one currently at University is juggling 4 jobs during the holiday, but has also always worked during term time and is often being asked if she can do a shift at different places.

Motheranddaughter · 30/08/2023 14:05

Mine will only work in the summer holidays

LollipopChaos · 30/08/2023 15:00

Very sad to hear students not buying books! I think it's far easier to read off paper than a screen. I love feeling the paper and highlighting and writing all over the pages.

And to someone who commented I am obviously not a uni student, yes I am and I have bought the main text books which sit proudly on the shelf.

R4ID · 30/08/2023 15:15

It depends on what his outgoings will be?

Does he need to travel to Uni and to socialise, if so how much is a travel pass?

How much is the phone contract?

Does he have any other contracts or subscriptions, if so how much are they?

How often does he want to go out and what will be the cost of a typical day/night out?

Where does he shop for clothes and how often does he need new clothes/shoes?

I’d say £40 a week for food and toiletries is average for one person. Does he have any dietary requirements that need to help factored in? Does he need to buy cleaning products, light bulbs etc or is this all included the the rent? Does he need to use a launderette if so what’s the cost?

Typical example of doing things cheap and assuming no cleaning costs and no travel.

Food/Toiletries £40
Laundry £5
1 night out with cheap drinks and cheap meal £30
Phone, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify = £40 a month so £10 per week
1 new item of clothing/shoes or set of underwear per month = £40 a month so £10 per week

Total
£95

Doesn’t leave much!!!

UsingChangeofName · 30/08/2023 15:21

LollipopChaos · 30/08/2023 15:00

Very sad to hear students not buying books! I think it's far easier to read off paper than a screen. I love feeling the paper and highlighting and writing all over the pages.

And to someone who commented I am obviously not a uni student, yes I am and I have bought the main text books which sit proudly on the shelf.

But we are talking about what a student needs, not what individuals prefer.

My student prefers to work with a fancy takeaway coffee by her side, but I don't need to factor that into her spending, when it is something that she thinks is nice to have. Obviously up to any student if they choose to spend their money on books because that is what they prefer. (I would, too Smile )

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 15:25

That's a LOT!

My ds gets minimum loan and I make it up to the maximum amount.

What this means is that if he divides it by the number of weeks in each term he gets £68 per week or if he divides it over the whole year it is £45 per week.

That covers everything, phone, travel, clothes, food, everything.

He does work as well to pay for things like socialising.

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 15:29

LollipopChaos · 30/08/2023 15:00

Very sad to hear students not buying books! I think it's far easier to read off paper than a screen. I love feeling the paper and highlighting and writing all over the pages.

And to someone who commented I am obviously not a uni student, yes I am and I have bought the main text books which sit proudly on the shelf.

You see my son (and most of his friends) much prefer reading online as it's pretty much all they have ever known. Ds's school didn't even use textbooks. Plus you can always get them from the library.