Page 3 | Is £100 a wee living allowance about right?

Dancesaideveryone · 2023-08-29T20:38:08+00:00

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.

FarEast · 30/08/2023 15:38

£100 a week on top of his rent? Good lord, you know he’ll drink most of it! It’s about twice too much.

Unmute · 30/08/2023 15:47

I've agreed to give ds £250pm. His loan covers his accommodation and one-off costs (climbing gym membership, textbooks, monitor and keyboard etc) so that's purely for living expenses. I've actually budgeted for £300pm (but not told ds) just in case £250 isn't enough.

£100pw sounds like too much to me, but if you can afford it I'm sure it'll all get spent!

Paq · 30/08/2023 15:50

It sounds a lot tbh. I'd start off lower and then up it if needed.

I had a little bit more money than others at uni and it was a magnet for spongers. Nightmare until I wised up.

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 15:51

Just seen it is Manchester. Ds has 3 friends currently in Manchester living on a lot less.

Original poster

Dancesaideveryone · 30/08/2023 16:00

Thank you for all the comments. Such a mixed response!

I'm going to stick to the £100 as I've budgeted for that and he's a good lad so will no doubt save some if he can for a rainy day if it's too generous.

I am going to do the £70 Monday and £30 Friday payments though, brilliant suggestion.

OP posts:

toomuchlaundry · 30/08/2023 16:20

@Motheranddaughter do they not get a loan?

UsingChangeofName · 30/08/2023 17:08

I am going to do the £70 Monday and £30 Friday payments though, brilliant suggestion.

Has no-one told you the sports socials nights are Wednesdays ?

R4ID · 30/08/2023 17:10

Dancesaideveryone · 30/08/2023 16:00

Thank you for all the comments. Such a mixed response!

I'm going to stick to the £100 as I've budgeted for that and he's a good lad so will no doubt save some if he can for a rainy day if it's too generous.

I am going to do the £70 Monday and £30 Friday payments though, brilliant suggestion.

Just to add most students nights are on Mondays and Thursdays except sports related usually Wednesdays

MeinKraft · 30/08/2023 17:12

YerAWizardHarry · 29/08/2023 21:58

Can tell some on this thread haven’t been to university recently… I finished a 4 year degree last summer and didn’t buy a single book nor did I print or photocopy anything.

textbooks will be available digitally or in the library for free

It's almost as though the site isn't geared towards 21 year olds

mrsm43s · 30/08/2023 17:15

This calculator https://www.savethestudent.org/parentcontribution/ shows the minimum amount of top-up that parents should be giving.

How it is paid (termly/monthly/weekly/twice weekly) is up for discussion between parent and student. Personally, I think termly, in the first year at least, is likely to be setting them up for failure. Weekly (or even twice weekly as discussed above) is a pretty sensible starting point!

£100/week is probably about average for spending money after accommodation, and is tight, but doable.

CALCULATOR: How much money should your parents be giving you?

Find out with Save the Student and see how you compare to other students!

https://www.savethestudent.org/parentcontribution

EarringsandLipstick · 30/08/2023 17:57

@user73

That's a good point. I'm in Ireland, size-wise you'll never be too far from areas where there's work, though almost all locations will be smaller than UK ones & I never hear of work in some capacity being an issue

That said, when I was at university very few of us worked during the term (of course we did in summers).

I work at a university and almost all students work, some far too much.

EarringsandLipstick · 30/08/2023 18:00

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.

It's not 'sad'!

It's an option. Yes, print still has its place. I still like to print relevant information myself.

But the advantage of online material is you've huge access to collections, and can do lots of useful things with them, like bookmarking, highlighting & copying relevant parts, creating your own online library, generating citations for assignments easily.

And of course, zero cost & immediate availability, accessible anytime.

There are huge advantages to online materials.

user73 · 30/08/2023 18:03

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.

Then his rent must be high.

max maintenance loan is £9978 outside of London. Take off accommodation of around £7000 (which would be £175 a week for a 40 week contract securing accommodation over the holidays). Terms are 30 weeks so that is £99.27 a week spending money

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 18:12

His rent is fairly average. He is in Leeds. His friends in Manchester pay more than he does but his friend in Sheffield (which is one of the cheapest uni cities in the country ) considerably less.

last year he paid £7,037. This year it’s gone up to £7,599

user73 · 30/08/2023 20:46

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 18:12

His rent is fairly average. He is in Leeds. His friends in Manchester pay more than he does but his friend in Sheffield (which is one of the cheapest uni cities in the country ) considerably less.

last year he paid £7,037. This year it’s gone up to £7,599

So that’s £80 a week then. Not that far off the £100 proposed by the OP and last year he would have had £98 a week subdue his rent was lower - which is almost exactly what the OP is proposing.

Original poster

Dancesaideveryone · 30/08/2023 20:51

UsingChangeofName · 30/08/2023 17:08

I am going to do the £70 Monday and £30 Friday payments though, brilliant suggestion.

Has no-one told you the sports socials nights are Wednesdays ?

I'm learning something new everyday

OP posts:

Champagneforeveryone · 30/08/2023 21:02

DS gets the basic maintenance loan and we give £500 a semester, but he's always been good at budgeting. On top of that we pay mobile contract, car insurance (he works in the holidays and needs his car) and give a £100 Sainsbury's basket every 2-3 months to fill as he needs. He has no travel expenses related to uni, only for leisure activities, apart from train travel home which he normally books well in advance. We also supply a big shop at the start of each semester, all household bits he needed initially and big ticket clothes items like a new pair of DM's. His Christmas stocking now consists of pants, socks, shower gel etc which he was insanely pleased about last year!

This year he's moving from halls to a flat in London so has bills as well which could be an added complication.

I think we've struck the right balance between him being able to have fun, but not having an easy ride. A couple of his uni friends seem to be living very carefree lives thanks to generous parents, and I do wonder how they will get on out in the real world.

Motheranddaughter · 30/08/2023 21:07

No they don’t have loans

MrsJBaptiste · 30/08/2023 21:19

DS is in Liverpool and we give £100 a week although transfer it as £400 every four weeks. We wanted him to learn how to budget, which he has, and so this has worked really well.

He gets the minimum loan and his three student loan payments pay for each term's accommodation. From talking to our friends, we all give the same per month which covers everything - food shops, gym, nights out, transport, etc.

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 21:35

So that’s £80 a week then. Not that far off the £100 proposed by the OP and last year he would have had £98 a week subdue his rent was lower - which is almost exactly what the OP is proposing.

no, it was £68.50 per week last year spread over the number of weeks he was there (including freshers & reading/enrichment weeks as he had things he had to attend during reading weeks) or £46 per week spread over the entire 52 week year).

Original poster

Dancesaideveryone · 30/08/2023 22:23

MrsJBaptiste · 30/08/2023 21:19

DS is in Liverpool and we give £100 a week although transfer it as £400 every four weeks. We wanted him to learn how to budget, which he has, and so this has worked really well.

He gets the minimum loan and his three student loan payments pay for each term's accommodation. From talking to our friends, we all give the same per month which covers everything - food shops, gym, nights out, transport, etc.

Same situation as us more or less then.

I did think about a monthly amount but weekly is how we'll start

OP posts:

Seagullchippy · 30/08/2023 22:28

I remember my grant at university, after rent for halls, coming to 4/5 of the Jobseeker's Allowance (whatever it was called then) at the time. So in today's terms that would be about £65 or £70 a week? I didn't have bills to pay out of that, so it's much more than a single parent or unemployed person gets, and I was able to do part time jobs on top, so it was fine.

Dropthedonkey · 30/08/2023 22:30

I think I must have gone on more nights out as a student (or bought more textbooks!) as that seems a small amount to me. If you were in a catered hall, it would be different.

user73 · 31/08/2023 05:01

Comefromaway · 30/08/2023 21:35

So that’s £80 a week then. Not that far off the £100 proposed by the OP and last year he would have had £98 a week subdue his rent was lower - which is almost exactly what the OP is proposing.

no, it was £68.50 per week last year spread over the number of weeks he was there (including freshers & reading/enrichment weeks as he had things he had to attend during reading weeks) or £46 per week spread over the entire 52 week year).

But the overall amount you gave him was practically the same as the op is suggesting. You’re just averaging it over a greater number of weeks because he stayed longer through choice (although most universities still have 30 weeks or less including reading weeks)

I know it seems like I’m labouring the point but it’s really important that parents understand how much they will need to contribute each year so that they can plan. They are expected to top up to the value of the full maintenance loan. For many this is completely unexpected since it is poorly publicised. Many students would be far better off having a gap year after a levels to work and save the funds for university.

Comefromaway · 31/08/2023 09:10

Remember exam weeks too which are often not included in the 30 weeks. Plus registration/induction week. Some exams are online but several of my son's were in person exams. Accommodation contracts are often 41/42 weeks too.

This year he HAS to be in physical attendance for 35 weeks. Last year he was also there a week earlier for Freshers.