University living costs

[Tevion28]

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.

I can't imagine any parent not wanting to help thier dc through uni. Yes I appreciate some can't afford it but from what some people are saying thier parents simply wouldn't.

Mine all worked at uni doing shop, events or bar work. For one it meant staying at uni during holidays and swapping shifts to get home for Christmas. Three years continuous employment and a great reference were really valuable, as well as having his own money to run his car.

It didn't make any difference for DS - all his employer wanted to know, with regards to work experience, was when did he last use a calculator? Having a first and a MA was more important than three years continuous employment - after all there were a thousand applying for nine traineeships and DS got one of them.

@Tevion28 - mine wouldn’t pay a penny, even though they could afford to. I used to work part time from 13 as otherwise I couldn’t afford the bus to school (15 miles away) as they wouldn’t pay that either

@Oblomov21

Mn spectrum of parents never ceases to amaze me. No student working. This is the norm these days?

I did loads of jobs at Uni, bar work, anything, admittedly donkeys years ago. I expect Ds1 to manage one shift at Sainsbury's on a Saturday day. Not exactly a hardship is it?

It has always varied massively depending on where you live, the types of jobs available and the economy at the time. I was a student in the early 90s when it wasn't that easy to find a job but because I lived in a tourist area I did get a temporary (very part-time) job in a gift shop one summer.

Some students don't need to work because they don't have massive outgoings and don't want to go out all the time. Others do want to go out and party, so they need to earn the money to do it.

I also think you are underestimating how difficult it is to get a job at Sainsburys!

My son has enough savings to maintain him for the three years as we will pay his accommodation costs. But if he wants extra eg to go on holiday, he'll have to earn it.

With ref to getting a job, I think it depends on the course. Some students have a 0900-1730 regime with coursework/tasks & essays to be done in the evenings & weekends, it can be very intense. My youngest DSS, is doing architecture and even I’ve had to concede that it leaves very little free time, let alone time to hold down a p/t job with set hours. Admittedly, some courses require less presence, but self-study means exactly that. I think it’s a huge shame, aside from the income, having the experience of a p/t job (work ethic, skills, confidence etc.) is very worthwhile.

I also think you are underestimating how difficult it is to get a job at Sainsburys!

ITA - our local Morrison's has made loads of people redundant, after they lost £260 (might have been £290) million, due to Covid.

@Annietheangst

Grateful for this thread! Our DS is starting uni next month. He won't be working & his maintenance loan doesn't completely cover the accommodation rental. We were planning on giving him £50 a week for food & laundry. He's worked the last year to have funds for his own socialising & clothes. Though we have bought all his 'stuff' Like bedding etc & kitchen things too of course. Maybe we should up it a bit? He's going to keep us posted though as to whether it is enough .I just want to be funding broccoli not beer Anyone else's kids going to Bournemouth?

Honestly it's probably not enough.

We started our first on £70 a week. We hadn't a clue really so took a stab at 70.

We did the big first shop, pots and pans, bedding etc from IKEA.

We then upped it to 80, 90 and eventually in his final year 100.

Luckily we could afford it.

I fully appreciate not everyone can.

Also we funded a second hand bike, so no bus fares. This worked out well - £80 well spent. The bike stayed in the uni town till they finished.

My youngest just graduated and he had £85 per week (term time only) for food , going out and laundry and that was plenty as he doesn’t really drink alcohol. We paid for his bus pass and phone.

Yeah, good luck with getting one shift at Sainsbury's. Apart from anything else so many more people are going for what was traditionally seen as student jobs. Loads of people now need to top up their pensions with part time work and so employers are more likely to train and keep staff who won't bugger off when term starts.

@Annietheangst

Grateful for this thread! Our DS is starting uni next month. He won't be working & his maintenance loan doesn't completely cover the accommodation rental. We were planning on giving him £50 a week for food & laundry. He's worked the last year to have funds for his own socialising & clothes. Though we have bought all his 'stuff' Like bedding etc & kitchen things too of course. Maybe we should up it a bit? He's going to keep us posted though as to whether it is enough .I just want to be funding broccoli not beer Anyone else's kids going to Bournemouth?

Mine has had £50 a week for food/drink this year as well and it’s been fine.

I’m sure he would be thrilled if we gave him £100 or more a week like some people on this thread are giving-he would be able to have takeaway coffees every day, get taxis, buy nice clothes and drink cocktails….but…I don’t do those things very often, so I’m not really sure me working myself into the bone so that he can, is giving off the right idea!

Meanwhile over in Money Matters people are spending £80 a week for food, toiletries, cleaning materials etc for a family of four plus pets.

I had two jobs whilst I was at uni. My parents are selfish and the moment I got a part time job at school all funding apart from a roof over my head and food stopped. I had to buy all clothes, toiletries, shoes, bus fares etc. I remember a particularly freezing winter with leaky shoes and no proper coat. My mu was always pushing me to get a job from the moment I turned 16 so that they could smoke 60 a day each. My dad also drank heavily (he was a functioning alcoholic) to the student finance his wages seemed decent however they also don’t check if there is another student in the home. Every claim is treated as singular, most of my class had a job of some sort. I worked in a call centre and a bar and studied when I had 10 minutes.

I think a lot of traditional saturday or "weekend" jobs have now just been incorporated into a 7 day week. Ie when I first started work (late 1990s) I did saturday and sunday and got paid time and a half for sunday.
Now most staff in retail and hospitality will be expected to work a mixture of shifts over weekdays or weekends, all being seen as equal days. There will likely be very few vacancies for weekends only.

@Tevion28

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

😂😂😂😂😂😂 Yep me too!

[quote justasking111]@TractorAndHeadphones well all mine did bar, farm work, two are on six figure salaries third still at university. It's about work ethic . Two employers said to us they're a credit to your parenting. Well no they're a credit to their own efforts[/quote]
So did I - and I will probably make that amount in a few more years :)

My point - as long as DC are doing something worthwhile and working hard I don’t see any issue in supporting them financially if I can.
I don’t think not having a paid job means that they won’t be work ready.
And I don’t think they need to be ‘schooled’ by earning their own money.

Especially as they already help with shopping/budgeting at home and make practical, sensible choices. Which is more than I can say for a lot of 30 year old adults.

Ds was saying 3 nights a week on the basis of him getting a job not at my expense

Sounds about right to me. I had to hold down a part-time job throughout 4 years of uni, going up to full-time hours during the holidays. Also had to work weekends while on full-time teaching placements.

Are you on the WIWIKAU (what I wish I knew about university) Facebook group? This was asked recently and there were loads of posts from £15 a week to live on to £150.

I had a PT job through my undergrad, a FT job through my PGDip, two PT jobs through my MSc and I work FT and I am doing my PhD. My parents think mt education is a joke and have contributed 0. DS1 has had 3 PT jobs, two were through his ALevels, has a FT job in his gap year (earning more than me because he isn't paying tax yet, jammy git). If he doesn't get a job in university I am up the shit creek. He will have to or he can't go, basically.

There is a calculator here which gives some idea of what your “parental contribution” should be. www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loan-parental-contribution-tool/

It comes out with some big figures but obviously the higher your household income is, the lower his student loan will be, and the more you’ll be expected to contribute. For example, if your household income is 50k, the student is doing a 3 year course, and you have no other children then you’d be expected to contribute £3360 a year, or £280 a month.

If student wants more money than this or their parents can’t afford to contribute then they will need to get a job to subsidise their income. Most students are not “rolling in it” and it’s reasonable to expect them to be able to budget and cut their cloth accordingly. In fact, I’d say it’s a useful lesson for the future. Personally, I couldn’t afford 3 nights out per week plus taxis as a student, and there were plenty of others in the same boat.