To think £60 a week to live on will be a struggle for DD at uni?

[Lex345]

Just that, essentially. DD is looking at moving into halls next September and when we looked at the cost of halls, based on her budget, this is how much she will have left to cover course materials, food, clothes, travel, socialising etc.

All bills would be covered, but I think this will be a very, very tight budget even just on food. She is planning on moving away from our home area and will be looking for a job as well, but I know that isn't a guarantee, especially not immediately in a new city.

AIBU to think this will be really hard to live on, or am I being completely ridiculous and DD will be absolutely fine, £60/week is plenty?

It might not be ideal, but it would be doable, if all her rent and bills and already paid.

She may be able to find occasional work on campus - our flat volunteered to be a show flat for open days for example, and we earned £80 each for each open day. There were 6 scattered through the year.

Obviously ideally she will get a job while she's at uni, but I do understand why that's often not ideal, and it does take away from social aspects.

She needs to save up some money before she goes, and make sure she goes with a really good stash of long-dated foods, like pasta, rice, tins.

Students don't often eat like kings. They live on pasta, instant noodles and the like. But it's character building, and cheap.

Her options really are: work, or make do.

Unfortunately she may have to come to the realisation that her costs are too much and she needs to rethink her plans.

When I went to university I quickly realised that I couldn't afford to live away from home and I would need a job. Sometimes a reality check is the most important thing. As it was, I still couldn't afford to go straight to university and so took a year out, got a job, and saved as much as I could.

Does she get the full loan? If not, you are expected to top up to that level of funding. This never seems to be explained to parents.

I think it's also helpful to pump prime the first few weeks. So if you or she have any cash, make sure there's enough locked away somehow to pay ongoing things like rent till the next student loan comes in, then accept she'll probably overspend initially. She'll want to be able to go out and get to know people in the first weeks and it's nice if she isn't turning down absolutely everything because she can't afford it. A few weeks in she'll have friends and it'll be easier to knuckle down to day to day scrimping. So if you're able to contribute anything, I'd give her some going out and having fun money for the first month, so she doesn't end up blowing all her savings and then running into trouble.

It was laundry my DC found expensive.

Agreed. That's always been the way though. Not particularly nice and I do feel sorry for boys as in my experience they need a lot more food than I ever did in the 90s as students. I happily lived off taramasalata and crisps..

My son has just started uni. I've suggested he roasts a chicken each week and lives off that so at least he gets decent protein and they are pretty cheap.

Does he have his own fridge if not good luck with no other students eating some of that chicken during the week?

I expect those free food apps are an amazing resource for students

This is totally possible- if she wants it to work, it will. If she’s a little bit takes money for granted as she thinks she can just fall back on you, it won’t.

as pp’s have said- if she’s a little can get a job now, even just a Saturday shift at a chain retailer/ supermarket, there’s a high chance they would relocate her to near Uni. So she can start saving now and will have some income when she’s there.

You could start buying the odd thing for her (towels, a pan/ bedding) here and there to build up beforehand so you’re not buying everything at once.

re clothes- no she won’t be able to just go clothes shopping when she’s there fancies, it’s a luxury/ treat really. Being a student is when you start appreciating new socks, pyjamas, hoodies etc for birthdays and Christmas!

I think it’s going to be tight. My Dd and her boyfriend spent 50 per week on food at university - this is combined not each - last year, but as food inflation is still very high I doubt they will manage that this year. The following helped them stick to a budget:
online order
meal planning
bought whatever was on special offer that week and planned around it
cooking from scratch
bulking up meals with beans and lentils
frozen veg as lasts longer

It depends how long ago that was. Times change even in a year, prices go up considerably.

Op, if she lives on bread 🍞 and noodles 🍜 only, and walks and only buses journeys half the time it's possible!

DC survives on £100 per week after rent is paid.
Food is £50, £5 for the uni gym, £5 for the laundry. £10 for transport, £10 for incidentals and £20 for socialising / societies. Its expensive- summer balls, soc balls and socials are often £40 a ticket. Thats without replacing clothes or shoes and travel home.

It’s crazy how much this differs.

DC1 is £580 ish I think and DC2 and 3 are £330 each. (Bath and 2 x Manchester)

This month was very expensive for bus travel 😂🫣

A chicken isn't going to last a 'strapping lad' a week. 3 meals max.

I think it would easily cover food, you can send her with enough toiletries and cleaning products which tend to be expensive to last her through the term.

If she wants to socialise she will have to work. My DS is in his first year and other than freshers he hasn’t really been out clubbing. They might play pool or darts nursing a couple of soft drinks or they have game nights and stuff.

I wish the OP would be a little more forthcoming about the parental contribution side of it. I'm wondering if she doesn't want to say how much / little they can afford- no one is going to jump on her!

We gave one DC £200 a month living expenses and all their loan went on accommodation. That was close to 20 years ago.
They also had holiday jobs but not term time jobs owing to the nature of their degree.

Term time is only 30 weeks a year which leaves 22 weeks of holiday time to work. DC worked in a large supermarket where they'd started in the 6th form at weekends.

Bikes? Mine cycled everywhere at uni across the city.

Oh just to add, I always pick DS up when he wants to visit home, it’s a 3hr round trip bit costs me less than £20 in electric charge rather than £90 on the train.

Back in the 1990s when I was at university my Mum used to keep a box under my bed at home and every week put in one or two food items, like a tin of tomatoes, tuna, sweetcorn, pears, bag of pasta or rice, box of weetabix, carton of apple juice etc.

She barely noticed the extra weekly cost to her budget and it really helped me with mine. And it also meant I ate vaguely healthily!

I just thought this might help. 🙂

I think that’s plenty to LIVE on, she may just want to get a job to bump up her social spends.

Why don’t you try it now whilst she’s at home. Give her a shelf on the fridge so she can learn what/how to cook etc

This. I worked for Next as a student and got a uniform allowance and staff discount which really helped with clothes and furniture costs

I think having a decent kitchen is key. I have two kids, and three years in halls between them so far. In none of them was there a decent space or large enough fridge or freezer setup to allow batch cooking and storage. Maybe newer blocks are better designed.

I was in same boat in London and must got a part time job. I had a studio based course so had to be in every day all day so worked Friday night and Saturday to top up.

It would be tight and it wouldn't allow for much socialising. I didn't drink myself as a student, but a lot of socialising took place in pubs and nightclubs. As time went by, I found my tribe of non-drinkers but even the occasional trip to the cinema and a Pizza Hut before/after (our preferred night out) would have blown a big hole in that £60. I don't know how my classmates found the money to go to the pub every week - I'm assuming they had wealthier parents than I had. Or maybe they just went to a lot of student parties in student houses and flats and bought cheap booze from the supermarket?

A job would be great because (1) it would allow your DD to earn money and (2) it would mean less time for spending money and socialising. But (depending on the job and the hours required), it might also eat into her study time. If she could find a job next summer (before she starts university), that would be ideal. It would allow her to build up a nest egg, although she'd have to budget carefully and not blow it all during the first few weeks of term.

Pps have also made a good point about the higher cost of accommodation in subsequent years, when they move out of halls.

She commented on that at 11.04. Here’s what she said.

Our contribution- £3000 (just over "parental contribution") maintenance loan= £8285
Accomodation=£8165