£400 to live on at uni?

[DreamsOfDownUnder]

Sorry posting for traffic.

I'm a single parent to a 9mo, going to uni soon and I've crunched some figures with SF, tax credits (UC) and some wages. I will have about £400 per month to 'live on'. This is after rent, food and bills. Even down to Netflix and nappies.

I have a baby so slightly different situation to a 'typical' student.

Would £400 be enough? How much disposable income do your student children have? Or if you are student, do you think this is enough for treats & emergencies etc?

@MyDcAreMarvel

@chickhonhoneybabe got you, I did try to decode!

Haha! 😂 sorry it was predictive text having a moment! 😂

@chickhonhoneybabe

I honestly can't wait - I'm looking forward to it and as a bonus I'm actually better off!

Hi @DreamsOfDownUnder, congratulations on your uni place. It is great you will be better off too -- a nice story amongst all the UC nightmares some students seem to have had.

I would think £320 a month for "everything else" should feel comfortable enough. Some other students will have more but plenty would have less too, and although you're having to support you and DC with that too (I assume clothes, haircuts, days out, toys etc) it's still a reasonable amount to have left after rent, bills, food etc.

I'm going to be in a similar position soon as a single parent (mature) student, and I was wondering about the childcare: are you going to be claiming the childcare grant through student finance, or will you get it through Universal Credit? (Do you know if there's a difference between them if we can do both?)

Also, do you know if the childcare grant covers term time only or the whole year round? I'm worried it's only term time because none of the nurseries around offer term time only places.

OP it is plenty! As long as you aren’t buying coffee, food etc in university each day!
Me and dp were 1st and 2nd year students when we had ds. We also had two cars to run. It worked out! Good luck!

@BurpingFrog Hi, thanks!

So, you can't claim childcare element of UC and use the childcare grant.

I will be using the childcare grant as it's more and you don't need to work (I will be but meh..).

They have changed the way the childcare grant is paid, you used to get it paid into your account 3 times a year, it is now paid into a online portal type account and your provider can request payments. What they do is give you 85% of your costs up to the value of £169.31 per week, multiply by 52. This much is in your childcare account, but it nils out what's left at the end of the academic year. So it's technically counted over 52 weeks worth in £ but nils out after your course has finished. What I'm going to do is pay the whole invoice each month with the CCG rather than topping it up with my money then I am going to save up the 'top up' amount I would pay in order to 'save' for the summer.

For example;

My top up should be £245. I will save that £245 for the 9 months of the course as I won't be paying it and then I will have 3 months of childcare saved up, but will still need to pay the top up of £245 each month.

I would be paying £245 top up for 12 months does this make sense?

So my childcare is £980. Childcare grant is £8800 over 9 months that is £980pm. Full invoice covered, but if divide it by 12 its £735 so a £245 top up. I will use it to cover full invoices in the academic year so it doesn't nil out. I will then save what I would have needed to top up from my non childcare funds which is £245 over 9 months equalling £2205, so £735pm for 3 months childcare in the summer, so will still need to top this up by £245 as normal, put 'paying' it instead of 'saving' it.

I hope I'm making sense!

@SnowyAlpsandPeaks don't like coffee anyway 😂

That's good to hear!

Hi @DreamsOfDownUnder thank you! Thanks too for the breakdown of your top-up amount etc which does make sense. The details of how the grant is paid is also helpful! Am I right your childcare fees come to about a grand in total? That's the same as mine (I think I worked out the grant will cover about 70% of the full cost.)

I am relieved that they pay the max £169.31 for the whole 52 weeks rather than just term time.

It sounds like the childcare grant is better than UC childcare element, although I have a dilemma because in my case I think my UC may be totally wiped out by my student finance (I get £550 made up of my entitlement plus one child; no housing element), which would then mean I'm not entitled to the government 2yr old 15 hrs free childcare as I'll not be on UC, so would have a higher top-up. So perhaps I should go for UC childcare element after all if I do continue working too anyway.

Are you going to be studying in an expensive city? Hope you're somewhere where your £320 or so "spare" will go as far as possible :)

Sorry while I was typing my message I somehow hadn't seen your second one sent at 00.20

Your system of paying sounds really sensible. I'll definitely copy if I go with the childcare grant!

Sorry not a student but me, dp and ds live off £500 a month. With that money we have to pay for bills and food too. I’d say that £400 spending money is more than enough for luxuries?

@BurpingFrog my pleasure!

It would be about 70% for £1000. It's a max of 85% but the limit works out £735pm over the year. But you could pay the whole invoice like I said above

Erm It's £980 on top of the 15hrs because I'm sending her 8-6 M-F, me time, work, study and lectures! Weekends will be for us

I deliberately chose a budget of £980 because of the CCG. It was just even better when I realised that she had 15hrs from 2 which meant I could send her full time on the same budget once that kicks in

Not really, I'm staying where I am.living wise and will commute to a relatively local university

No housing element? Do you have a mortgage?

@Angharad07 I have probably asked a silly question but as my little girl gets older I'd just like to treat a bit more often and wondered if my budget would allow for that, I don't know how much she is going to cost as a toddler

It depends on what you’d like to do with her. There are still loads of free events and free entry to things while she’s a toddler. I think when she’s older and has more expensive hobbies you’ll notice the difference more but it’s still doable on your budget (obviously a bit tight but you’ll get used to it).

No housing element? Do you have a mortgage? Sadly not a homeowner! Staying with family while studying unless we find somewhere affordable to rent in the meantime.

as my little girl gets older I'd just like to treat a bit more often and wondered if my budget would allow for that, I don't know how much she is going to cost as a toddler You are obviously a lovely mum wanting to give her the best experiences. But really, don't worry! Treats for her don't need to be pricey -- while she might like theatre trips, she will equally love going with you to free museums (they also often offer free craft and trail activities), on lovely walks, feeding the ducks, probably endless role-play games and spending many hours in playparks! Annual membership to payable museums/wildlife centres etc you know you would like to keep returning to are also a cost-effective idea.

@Angharad07 aha, when I have a pricey 'want to do everything' child I hope to be finished and working .. ultimate plan being emigrating!

@BurpingFrog Thank you, I'm sure you are too!

Maybe you could try finding somewhere to rent if possible? You would then get housing element so SF shouldn't cancel UC out and in turn you'd be entiteld to the 15hrs meaning less top up. Even if you might be topping up a bit for rent you'd have your own space.

If I moved in with family I would gain about £190-£290 in rent as I'll get £660 from UC and this would be cancelled out if move in with my mum (depending on if I decide to move to a nicer property). The upper price is in my budget so I'll go with that. £290 back from renting and £150 from bills but I couldn't live rent free at my mums that would be mean... so if I gave her £200 then I'm gaining £240 - my own space is worth WAY more than that..

I'm confused. So after rent, food and bill, you have £400? What will you need this for if you've already paid for everything? It sounds like it will be plenty?

£400 is plenty, you'll be fine - good luck!

OP - also a lone parent and a student. I’m still on TC though.

Have you checked if your Uni offers any bursaries or grants too? My Uni pays me £2000 a year towards the rest of my childcare fees (I have 3DC and my course is 9-5 Mon-Fri) and £3000 a year Potential Bursary (as I’m a lone parent, mature student and did an Access course). Worth looking into.

I had a fair bit of extra expense when I started Uni. I didn’t have a laptop, my very old one had given up the ghost just as I finished my Access course. There’s also text books (although I know that varies by course, mine cost £300 and that was second hand ones!)

£400 is loads for non-necessities.
I have a 2 year old and I'm at home during the day so I have to entertain her all day every day. I dont spend even close to £400 a month, even including clothing which I buy from quite expensive brands.

When I was a student I calculated my remaining funds (from my student loan) after accommodation and transport to uni to be something like £5 a week, to pay for food, books and other necessities. I didn't have a child to consider. I lived off my overdraft and worked solidly each summer to pay it off so I started each year at £0 overdraft. You should be fine as long as you aren't silly with your spending.