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?

@CornedBeef451 Why cannot DD look for cheaper accommodation? The rent the op is looking at isn’t the lowest! Choose a uni with lower prices and money goes further. No one ever suggests this but it’s the easiest solution. The money is there but it’s being spent on higher priced halls. There’s no need for this.

Work is getting more and more difficult to get. We live rurally. Very little work here for teens and no buses either. City people have all the options. In small towns, it’s who you know!

@OhDear111DD is hoping to go to Cardiff which is one of the most affordable cities for students. She will apply for the cheapest halls, which are slightly more than the minimum maintenance loan, but there is no guarantee she will get one of those.

There are threads on here about students ending up in private halls at £10k and parents struggling to find the rest so we’re preparing to have to cover a mid range one and hoping we don’t have to!

I joined a FB group recommended on this thread and one student got their 10th preference for accommodation at Cardiff so it sounds like it depends on luck as to how much you end up paying.

A shift or two in a pub every week while at uni will both be good for her - will keep her from spending money that evening while still being social - and will earn a bit of cash. The shifts I used to do we would get a meal as well from the kitchen.

We did a big shop when we dropped dd off, and she’s now shopping for £25 a week. She’s vegetarian and doesn’t drink much, so that does help. We’re happy to give more, but she’s been meal planning and batch cooking and seems to enjoy the challenge 🤷‍♀️

@CornedBeef451 One student isn’t the majority though - but good luck! Often overpaying for en suite rooms in halls (dc don’t have them at home) leads to low weekly money after rent. A lot of university owned halls will be in excess of £9,000 in many cities: they are not all private. Location and cost of housing locally is a big issue. With careful planning dc can have enough money if they don’t over spend on halls with frills.

Mine is the same- doesn’t eat meat and is eating really well for around £25 a week. Washing is £3.50 a load and as they don’t drink her £50 is enough for some treats. They’ve worked in the summer and saved a chunk of money but hasn’t used it yet!

The idea that the standard student cooks all their veggie meals and doesn’t drink or socialise isn’t portraying the norm though. On another thread (the £40 a week one) a student eats noodles. Fun life that must be.

By the way, some people pay £40 a week to feed a dog.

Snacks! Are these really necessary? Or a marketing-person, generated essential indulgence, to keep up your energy levels?!. I started snacking during Covid. In addition to the usual cup of coffee, at home, I had a chocolate biscuit !

Totally agree. In my view some parents are out of order expecting their ‘D’C to live on less than prisoners get spent on their food.

No. No. No. DC’s ambitions should not be limited by tightwad parents.

I would be absolutely fuming with myself if my DC felt they had to go to Canterbury rather than Cambridge to save money.

@BeachLife2 I agree if parents refuse to pay up and have the money. If they genuinely don’t many young people will not look at London (for example) but would look at Nottingham, Sheffield or Birmingham. Totally depends on course though. The best courses are not all in expensive cities. Degree only counts for so much!

You will find Cambridge offers great value in the colleges! However for many that’s not the choice and who on earth compares Canterbury with Cambridge? If dc want a RG or RG plus University, there are differing price points for accommodation within every single university. Choosing en suite anywhere costs more. I’m suggesting going for the best option (or near best option) for study but not going for top price accommodation. Oxbridge is about the best value!

However it’s very clear many parents don’t look at cheaper accommodation, dc picks the higher priced room and then there’s anguish about food and living costs! Makes no sense.

My point further up was that even if you choose the cheapest option you might not get it as there is a shortage of cheaper accommodation. We would probably all like the halls that cost £5k, and DD is happy to share a bathroom, but unfortunately that isn’t guaranteed.

Some parents don’t have the money to give their DC’s a higher amount.

That is not the DC’s problem though. Uni costs are eminently foreseeable when parents choose to have children and they have 18 years to save.

So Uni places should only be taken up by students who have parents with jobs paying enough for them to save money?
One in 10 people in the UK have no cash savings and another 21% have less than £1,000 in savings.
I thought education should be available for all?

There are quite generous maintenance loans available to the students you’re describing.

I’m talking about the parents who have plenty of money for all inclusive in Turkey but not for their DC’s uni costs.

Things may alter in the future but many of ds's peers have parents who never even considered university as a possibility. Ds was unusual amongst his peers at college in having parents who went to university themselves. Some of these families struggle to pay essential bills.

How on earth are families like this supposed to save for uni costs?

There are quite generous maintenance loans available to the students you’re describing.

My daughter is on a full maintenance loan plus £500 per year bursary. It is adequate, not generous. She deliberately chose a very cheap university city. A student in basic accommodation in a cheapish city on full loan will have between £60-90 per week to live on. If dd had gone to Brighton she would have been OK in Year 1 but had nothing left over when she had to go into private house share in Years 2 & 3.

@ComefromawayIt’s a big issue with expanding the university sector. 50 years ago it was pretty obvious but even then parents were means tested for grants and awards. DH’s parents didn’t pay what they were supposed to. I think the issue is that the parental contribution is getting bigger and it’s catching people out who haven’t saved. However they must have known dc was reasonably bright! I think many parents put their heads in the sand and are then surprised that they do have to pay and they haven’t paid any attention to the finances. No idea who they think will pay!

I think maintenance support should be higher. However, the amounts you’re describing are still higher than some people think students who don’t get the full loan should be expected to live on.

I agree, but there should be something in place whereby the state can force these individuals to pay what they should be.

However they must have known dc was reasonably bright!

Not necessarily. I know a lot of young people, my own son included whose parents didn't think their children would go to university, In my son's case (he is autistic & his school years were difficult) he discovered a talent in his teens and the Btec course he did at college which at the time was purely to keep him in education for an extra 2 years whilst we figured out what he was going to do, led to university (or rather music conservatoire).

Several of his friends at college studying various subjects had struggled academically at school but one by one diagnoses of dyslexia, autism, adhd etc and support being put in place led them to realise they were capable after all.

Oddly enough it is my highly academic daughter who we always assumed would go to uni, then didn't but has now gone as a mature student.

I read the first couple dozen responses. I’m amused at those who think £60/week is unreasonably tight! It’s more than what my DD and her four housemates have budgeted! While she has access to more herself due to a bursary and her summer job, she is limiting herself to £50/week to cover all food, all societies, personal items, socialising expenses, plus two return train trips home. Her loan covers her rent and bills (I am a low earner). I do pay for her phone, but that’s it. She’s at Durham, not a cheap city, but she’s worked it out. She’s frugal but not ridiculously so (though she did have her calculator out when comparing ketchup prices)! Learning to live within your means is essential.

@Comefromaway Well I can see Sen dc are perhaps different but others really do have some big clues!

I am not sure how you can get blood out of a stone. Some parents have other dc costing them money and find it difficult to reduce expenditure - eg no holiday. DH’s parents just spent money on themselves. It was in the 70s. - new car, new caravan and a colour tv. All big ticket items back then. Didn’t make for good family relationships.

Many more students will live at home. Hopefully that won’t compromise university but for some it will. Students in one parent families with the parent earning next to nothing can get £2000 bursaries from some universities if their grades are high enough. It’s the JAM parents where the bigger issue lies.

My own dh's parents didn't give him what he should have had (back in the early 90's) and the only was he managed was to move in with me. This was despite the fact that his older sister (who was in her 30's & working full time) lived at home entirely rent free and his parents were earning a decent wage.