to think that £500 a month is enough for a child at uni

[FunnysInLaJardin]

we will pay his accommodation and his tuition fees will be paid, so this will just be for food and travel etc

DC lives off £100 a week. Thats for food, transport, socialising, gym, phone, educational needs. At his Uni, Gym is £20 a month.
He affords living costs by working during his summer and easter holidays. He would struggle to work during term time due to lecture and seminar hours.

We pay his accommodation of £900 a month (room in shared house).

Tuition fees are loaned.

No where near enough. Mine had £600 a month and that was years ago

Oh, you are the only person to say this! I have been busy trying to convince people that my son isn't a spoilt brat getting £500 in London!😄

Omg I’m so shocked at how much students are getting these days!
I used to get a big shop done for me before every term of all store cupboard things beans etc, then £30 a week. I used to budget it as £20 food £10 going out. I was always skint, but less skint than most of my mates unless they were just pretending?
My food shop atm is about £30 a week so I’d probs give my kid about £50 a week? If they want new clothes etc they can get a job. Maybe if they did medicine or something where they couldn’t realistically work too then I’d be more generous. I did business studies so had plenty of spare time hahaha but was too lazy to work so was happy being skint!

I am in Scotland, so funding slightly different (no fees...)
Mine get £250 a month, plus what I can afford to help them out with such as new pair of jeans, a supermarket shop a few times a year etc.
They both work part time in term easily doubling that money, then really boost with summer and Christmas jobs.
No cars.
Rent paid for by Student Loan - and that was the budget when they went hunting, not the posh en-suite halls etc.

One about to graduate with a predicted First Class Honours -so it cannot have harmed him that much.

I am amazed how much some of the flatmates get - £3-800 a month, an expensed car, rent paid etc etc. Seems almost a fear of young people having to live life on a budget - whereas I (and one of my lads agrees!) there is benefit to realising how frugally you can live...

I should add: both of mine have also travelled in the summers as well to earn their money - so have done well on summer travel as well. They have taken jobs in Italy, France and Austria.

It sounds about right. My DD is in quite an expensive city too and I think she budgets for £100 a week for food, going out, occasional item of clothing etc Most weeks that is fine, I think.

You can't compare Uni costs of today, with that of 20 years ago...
My tuition fees were paid by the Govt...DS £28,000
My accommodation £40 pw ...............DS £200 a week
My living costs £5,000 bursary a year Ds -none!
My Loan £3500 a year DS 4500.
It's clear thats costs have soared whilst the funding available has remained virtually the same.

My DD is self funding and gives herself a budget of £100/wk and usually doesn’t spend that much. She works all summer to have the funds to do that. Her rent and fees are covered elsewhere.

She is at uni in the SE in a fairly expensive city but doesn’t have any transport costs as she got herself a bike to cycle everywhere (quicker and better for her health!!)

Wow so 20 years ago you got £8,500 a year?!

No wonder so many ppl on here are clueless if that’s the frame of reference.

I think you’ll find there are others on the thread who think 500 is acceptable and are already supporting their child with this amount (and more) to live on.

Personally I think the Op should/could give more if she feels her son would have the standard of living she’d like him to have and she can afford it.

My belief is that there’s no glory in making a child’s uni life hard just for the sake of it, that there are plenty of other ways to teach life lessons without deliberately making something difficult for them.

I think you should be more shocked at how little some students are getting given how much everything costs nowadays. A poster above got nearly as much as students today get 20 years ago.

How would you recommend one spend a going-out budget of £10 per week?!

Likewise (30 years ago):

tuition fees - £0
accommodation £28 a week
full grant £1700
scholarship £1000

I also did bar work in the holidays

It's rent that cripples students. Luckily my daughter in a city where rents are half what would be paid in the University town that I live in. She pays £400 a month plus bills. So, she has to find £6000 a minimum before any food or travel costs.

@StrawberryJellyBelly Yes, the discussion has been all over the place, and I am guilty of that too. It's a slow work day for me today!

My DS says he is in the middle of his group, some get much less, some way more. His flatmates are international students who order Deliveroo nearly daily, so I feel a tiny bit sorry for him as he cooks at home all through the week. But it's good for him to learn. Also, he eats tons as he plays a sport. I am always amazed at how much he eats.

It wasn't me as I didn't mention how much I got. However, I got £100-£110 per week. My accommodation cost £50-£60 including bills so let's say I had £50 for everything else. This was 30 years ago! I managed, but I worked in the holidays as it wouldn't have covered the clothes or going out I wanted.

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/fees-and-finance/financial-support/cambridge-financial-support

Cambridge will GIVE (not lend) every single student £3500 a year if their household income is less than £62500 a year. This compensates somewhat for the ban on jobs. Realistically, when I was at Cambridge, I was so timetabled (I did a STEM degree) that I could only work summer holidays.

I used to get a £4/5 bottle of wine and neck it at pres then walk to the club get there before 12 for free entry and maybe have one in there or bat my eyelids at the lads 🤣
It definitely isn’t my idea of a good time now! Looking at this thread, my parents were really harsh, but also this seemed to be the norm amongst all my peers too regardless of background?

Wow, that’s a lot! 😳
Have seen posters comment that some courses don’t allow time for jobs. I don’t buy that. I did a law degree and held a job throughout uni and worked all my summer holidays to boost the coffers before start of each term. People are much more frugal when they are spending money they’ve earned rather than given! Teaches a very valuable life lesson to feel a bit broke at uni and have to prioritise finances.

Paying all accommodation costs plus £500 a month? That should give him a really nice lifestyle, full time works on minimum wage probably only earn around that!

STEM and health professional courses often have way more hours involved and tbh may well not be able to work in term time but everyone can work in the holidays!

There are plenty of degrees that are more time consuming than a law degree. My DD has no time for jobs except for the summer holidays. I don't think starving is particularly valuable life lesson either.

Noone would normally say a you have a "really nice lifestyle" on a minimum wage.

They shouldn't need to buy clothes, sim only costs like a fiver a month, travel is optional as is entertainment. I would say £300 is enough for £50 a week on food plus £100 a month spare for "fun". If travel is required for his course then that is different or if you want him to come home every fortnight and pay £100 for a train ticket then contribute a bit more

On alcohol? Probably have some drinks at home first, £10 should pay for a cheap bottle of wine plus 2 pints in a student bar