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?

One if my dc is ar university. The tips are great. But the cupboard, freezer and fridge space is very very small! Sharing with 5, means there is almost no storage really. Bulk buying just isn't an option.

Old fashioned DD bought books! How is that a student needed books. These days AI would have sufficed I guess! Plus the laptop of course. Other DD did a fashion related degree - bought quite a lot of materials!

This is just so expensive! What a shame. Both DS are studying in Scotland where there's free bus travel for everyone under 23, if you live here even temporarily, like students. It's great for travel to uni as well as travel to part-time work / socialising (big city so plenty late buses too).

It would be amazing if bus travel was free for all. It would really encourage people to use cars less too!

I work at a university so I know full well that students still work. On the course I teach on right now I tutor 30 students 1 to 1. All except the richest few work.

Anecdote aside this is not that far removed from the latest wider (survey based) data. How the graph has moved though over recent years......

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-student-experience-is-beyond-breaking-point-2/

OP another thing I just thought of - make sure you're not 'double counting' .e.g. it took me a while to realise that my food and bills weren't going to be that same as usual. I was counting all my regular costs, plus what I needed to give DC. But obviously for weeks they were at uni, my food costs were down by more than a quarter, less gas and electric, less petrol used as I would often have to take them places etc. So actually it evened out a lot more than I originally thought!

And as others have said, make sure you look at the term weeks instead of 52 weeks per year. Makes a big difference!

My dd has just started university, just going into her third week. We have to cover her maintenance loan she doesn't get enough to pay for halls food etc. She has found two jobs, so she is hoping she can cover the shortfall herself when she starts work. She says she did a shop yesterday and it cost £30. Before she left we went food shopping & l bought her lots of bulk buys, like toilet rolls, shampoo, etc, fairy liquid and cleaning stuff, that will cover her until she comes home at xmas. Its a very good learning experience, learning how to budget and that money doesn't grow on trees. Dd's rent is £250 a wk, paying extra for her own bathroom. My two other children who have gone before her managed,they all get through it, don't worry.

It's tight but doable.

She needs to get a job surely?

Are weekly clothes an essential?

My son is going next year as it’s just not feasible this year. We can’t afford to give him much and aren’t entitled to any financial support. He’s using this year to save as much as he can and hopefully he’ll be able to transfer his job (Macdonalds) to one near the university. We are hoping student loans will at least cover accommodation.

Getting a job can depends on the course. My son is doing a course with very high contact hours. Starts at 8am everyday and sometimes won’t finish until 6:30pm. He also has a 1-1 on a Saturday afternoon. He will work when he is home for the holidays

I think it would be a mistake to eat into those savings and allow them to be frittered away on day to day living. If other students see that she is better off than they are because you are helping her financially, it will certainly not help her to study or live. It is better that all students have more or less the same standard of living for as long as they can. If you help, someone is always there to take it.

She may need that money in the future.

It will not encourage her to budget, and budgeting is a very important lesson in life. The best thing you can do to help is to sit down with her and help work out what is most important.

Dd graduated last year so was at uni 2021-24. She didn’t quite get the maximum loan but my contribution was more ad hoc than a regular amount, I’d pay one off big expenses such as tickets to the society ball or travel to come home as well as her mobile phone bill and contact lenses. I bought her a big shop at the beginning of term and then sent her random treat things by Amazon, a bottle of vodka or £10 bag of pick and mix. She and her flatmates never cooked together but did have a kitty for regular purchases - toilet paper, bin bags, milk, tea/ coffee and would share a wash to save on laundry expenses. She had a job with an agency so she worked when it suited her rather than set days. I can’t remember her exact budget (tbh I probably didn’t know it as she was in charge) I know her food shop went from under £20 a week to over £20 a week in her 3rd year because she was very indignant about it!
She lives with 2 uni friends now and they’ve pretty much stuck to this same plan and they’re all paying off their student overdrafts.

Tell her to look for a job somewhere like Tesco/Waitrose as not only would she be paid but she should be able to buy food at a discount (might be an initial period to get through first).

Show her how to set up a budget so that she can decide for herself if she can afford to go partying or if she does go how many beers she can have.

depends where in the country she goes but honestly, it will be tight. The socialising element will be important especially in the first couple of weeks and whilst it’s over 10 years since I graduated uni the cost of living and cost of socialising have skyrocketed.

I remember eating jacket potato and cheese every day because i had no money

its part of the experience

I alternated beans on toast and egg on toast for dinner for the whole of first year.

Then I stocked up on lentils and chickpeas and learnt a few basic recipes. 😂

We give our son £60 and he claims it's way too much. He batch cooks and learnt to make cheap meals. It also covers cost of uniform, student scrubs (medical student) . No other materials needed as all can be accessed via the library. Admittedly he's not got much social life but it's possible given some planning and basic cooking skills.

If you look at it this way - Jobseekers is £72.90 and you have to pay bills out of it. When I was at uni me and my friends were all broke all the time, but that was fine really as we were in the same boat - so socialising wasn't about expensive activities. The money you have saved sounds like it would really help for the textbooks and stuff like that. And collecting some practical items now is very sensible. You said she is good with money, so I think she will be okay OP.

Personally, I think that would be a struggle. We budgeted £100 a week, although my daughter is now taking a gap year to do some work. She too, had not worked during 6th form. I would also do a list of what she needs for the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. It all can add up to quite a bit if you don’t have any spares to give.

if she and her housemates buy and cook together, which some friendship groups do, it really drops the cost. She will learn to look for yellow sticker items, figure out when her local supermarket makes reductsions, and freeze leftovers. It can be done - tell her to look at “Jack monroe” and a girl called Jack for some really cheap meal ideas and figure out what basic store cupboard staples she will need

unis also have hatdndhopmfinds and pay existing students a small sum to show potential students round the campus… it might be manageable if she is savvy

One of the most ridiculous posts I've ever read on this forum @llizzie. Of course students have different financial circumstances.

In my view it is a parent's duty to prioritise their DC's education. That includes making sure they can attend the best university they are capable of and can make the most of the experience.

That is unlikely to be possible if they don't have enough money to eat properly or are having to work 40 hours a week.

With respect, there is also a big difference in the amount of time available for part time work between someone doing media studies at Southampton Solent and engineering at Imperial.

The other point is you are expected as a parent to ensure you top up her loan amount if she isn't entitled to the maximum due to your income.

Why won't you be doing this?

It should be fine…
I am guessing she already has all the warm clothes and essentials? If yes then the food shop and social should be covered by that…
uni offers loads in terms of material already so it should be sufficient!
maybe add on your list some basic essential and send when you can to top up?

The other thing I might do is add a can of food or an extra toiletry item to the weekly shop this year to provide a stash for her (or encourage her to do that from any allowance she gets).

This is realistic. Many students struggle and ask for hardship...Take it from someone who works in a university! It all depends where the student is studying...up north is always cheaper than London and the SE. I would advise the students to get a PT job and sign up for as many student discounts as possible (Totum card, Student Beans, Unidays, etc.). 20% is always good!
£60 per week is more than decent.