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Original poster

University living costs

280 replies

Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 20:52

Hi posting here for traffic but do any of you have dc going off to university this year and will be subsidising them or leaving them to it.
Have found that my ds will have £179 a month left for first 3 months after he has paid his rent. This is supposed to cover food, travel clothes. Whats your experience of any dc you already have at uni.

OP posts:
ErinAoife · 16/08/2021 00:48

Eldest in university and he gets £ 100 from me and £ 100 from his dad a week but I don’t know how long I will be able to afford it as second child this year is going. I have saved as much as I can but i will be left with not much By the end of the month once they are both back.

PomBearWithoutHerOFRS · 16/08/2021 02:41

It's a very long story, but my DD ended up in a London uni with her rent paid and £300 in cash. This lasted her from September to early December when her finance arrived.
It was lockdown, and she existed on instant noodles, but she made it. She also only took one suitcase, a bag for life, and a backpack with her. It can be done when needs must.

Mydogisagentleman · 16/08/2021 07:23

Our DD had £9 a week left from her maintenance loan after paying rent.
She had worked full time in a supermarket before going to university and we haven’t had to give her any cash.
She also got a job in a pub and will be going back there in September.
Her house share rent is 2/3 of her halls of residence

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 16/08/2021 07:33

I don't think most students work. Both mine were at uni recently and this certainly wasn't the norm I agree

Ds works in the summer holidays but not the rest of the year.

Wheresmrpenguin · 16/08/2021 07:33

Sounds about right. I had £500 left I had to budget last 3 months, so about £160. I had to get a few casual jobs from my 2nd year and asked for money for Christmas and saved it.
I never got any help from my parents either.

milian · 16/08/2021 07:34

Re a PP - I did a maths degree and had Saturday lectures throughout so no guarantee that they can work weekends! I worked in the holidays but during term would have been impossible (and was strongly discouraged by the uni).

PalmsandCharms · 16/08/2021 07:37

Never needed to give my DS a penny. He got full maintenance loan and this was more than enough to live on. He even ran a car.

Wheresmrpenguin · 16/08/2021 07:37

@AhNowTed

I don't think most students work. Both mine were at uni recently and this certainly wasn't the norm.

The ability to hold a part time job really depends on the nature of the course.

If it's a STEM subject for example you're at lectures all day, whereas an English degree there's far more self study time.

Whatever, a student will need £80-£100 a week for food, travel, essentials, entertainment.

Most of my friends worked and had nothing to do with their course, usually supermarkets, bars, cinema. I worked as a photographer in a few bars and 90% of the staff were students.
Happylittlethoughts · 16/08/2021 07:39

Grant won't cover rent. We are paying rent and she can work with what she has on minimum grant. She'll work if she can.

kaleidoscopeheartless · 16/08/2021 07:40

Me and my friends worked summer jobs for extra money for uni and my parents gave me enough a week for food.

PalmsandCharms · 16/08/2021 07:45

@Tevion28

I don't think that will be enough for 3 nights out a week, food and clothes, travel and course materials Shock
Why do they need 3 nights out a week? Did you have enough money for 3 nights out a week whilst bringing them up? I know that as a single parent I didn't. Life is tough and unfortunately by mollycoddling them and funding their life choices you're not preparing them very well for the world.

It is entirely feasible for most students to live off their loan. Major lesson in budgeting.

Antsinyourpanta · 16/08/2021 07:46

A girl that used to babysit for us did a stem subject at a RG uni. It was 40 hours a week plus reading/research. She barely had time for anything else (she babysat during holidays)

Mindthesheep · 16/08/2021 08:07

Given the maintenance loan can be from £4K to £9k depending on the parents finances, it massively varies. My DD couldn’t work - high course hours and health reasons. She only got £4K. Rent alone is £7k so we work, and I changed from PT to FT to pay her rent. She keeps the loan for everything else.

DS starts this year. Fortunately we only have 1 year of both but have double to pay. We will do the same, pay the rent and they pay everything else. Like a lot of parents it’s meant no holidays or luxury items till they are through.

My DD had someone on her course who had 2 siblings at uni so parents couldn’t help and she only got a small loan so had to miss lectures to work.

Howshouldibehave · 16/08/2021 08:10

Wow-£500 a month to live off and 3 nights out a week with taxis-it’s a different world!

My DC gets £50 a week and I pay his mobile phone and send him up with lots of food/clothes at the start of the year. If they go out, they get the bus or all walk together.

llmk · 16/08/2021 08:16

@Tevion28

Ds reckons he wants at least 3 nights out a week and with that comes taxis

Oh, a little entitled brat then.

Tell him to get a job and pay his money by ticket - train ticket, surpermarket voucher, bus pass etc.

There is no way would would be giving cash.

EatYourVegetables · 16/08/2021 08:16

3 nights out a week!!! Shock

I’d say if that’s his expectation of uni he can get a job to cover that. You could contribute to the budget without that bit!

Dangernouse5 · 16/08/2021 08:18

@Tevion28

Ds reckons he wants at least 3 nights out a week and with that comes taxis
It’s really tough being a uni student- you get used to spending very little money as you really don't have much .

DS may find he can't afford taxis and ends up walking or in bus and going to hall parties rather than costly nights out

Also remind him to plan to set aside some money for deposit and at least first months rent upfront for the “4th unpaid term” July to Sept- if he thinks he may move out of halls into LL rented property with friends for second year. They are 12 month rental agreements that start in July usually.

Malin52 · 16/08/2021 08:18

@Tevion28

Ds reckons he wants at least 3 nights out a week and with that comes taxis
Holy hell! Different world for students now. I don't think I paid for a taxi until I was working full time and even then it wa an extravagance!

My parents couldn't afford to give me anything. I had to work full time a year before going to Uni and saved. I then had two part time jobs working three nights a week and a full Saturday when I was a student and worked full time over holidays. Totally normal for my intake.

RosesAndHellebores · 16/08/2021 08:19

It depends what you can afford. DH paid their rent, I gave them the equivalent of minimum maintenance grant and paid for their phones.

TractorAndHeadphones · 16/08/2021 08:39

@PalmsandCharms yes the needs are excessive but you’re wrong - ‘most’ students cannot live off the loan. Thé amount is based off parental income so if your parents can afford it you get a small amount . they are expected to top up the rest.

SimonJT · 16/08/2021 08:43

@PalmsandCharms Most students can’t even cover their rent with the loan.

I wasn’t allowed to work while at university, I had to seek special permission to continue playing rugby, thankfully that and a small bursary paid enough to get me by.

Nights out at university can be very cheap, so 3 nights out really wouldn’t need to break the bank. Where I was everything was fairly close together so no need for a taxi, but friends elsewhere regularly got a taxi as it was cheaper than bus fares as usually there would be four people sharing the taxi fare. When I visited a friend in Aberystwyth one company had an offer where it was £1 per passenger to go from the town centre to campus.

Parents are supposed to top up the loan, even the full loan isn’t particularly generous.

Limewine · 16/08/2021 08:43

We have twins going this year - they only get minimum maintenance, thank goodness we knew the loan had to be topped up as they’ll need £10k a year between them for at least 3 years. They will be getting their accommodation paid and living off £100 a week from mid Sept to late June and have both got a Monzo Account to help with budgeting. I don’t think it’s likely they’ll get a job during term time - but they will during the summer break. They already have savings to cover tight spots.

violetbunny · 16/08/2021 08:45

I don't think I ever paid for a taxi until after I'd left uni and was working full time! Nor did I have the funds as a student to go out drinking and socialising 3 nights a week. I could barely afford heating!

My parents couldn't afford to fund me at all at uni. I worked in part time jobs throughout the school year (15-20 hours per week) and then worked full time every summer. I got excellent grades too. It was hard but by the time I finished uni I actually had relevant work experience for the industry I wanted to be in, so it made getting a job much easier once I'd graduated.

Stealbee · 16/08/2021 08:45

I don't think 3 nights out is outrageous, but it is if getting taxis etc. Nights out don't have to be expensive, if you coordinate with others so make sure have a full taxi or check out if the uni has a bus as they sometimes do, and pre drink to be honest, go to uni nights where entry is usually cheap and drinks are reasonable. £50 a week if not travelling back and forth between home and uni and spending loads on that. Some people would top up supermarket cards for food money and then the rest was to be spent how they pleased; ie food and rent paid and what they did with the rest was up to them.

BarbaraofSeville · 16/08/2021 08:47

Holy hell! Different world for students now. I don't think I paid for a taxi until I was working full time and even then it wa an extravagance

It definitely is a different world these days. People also get takeaways brought to them by taxi these days. Mindblowing.