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?

My DS has all bills included so like your DD. He gets £300 a month for everything else except his phone and Spotify (we still pay those). He manages fine within it, but he lives very centrally so he can walk everywhere and he doesn’t drink. We also do a big shop and fill his cupboards at the start of the year and bull buy toiletries, cleaning stuff etc so it really is just food he needs to buy. He’s not remotely interested in clothes but we buy him new pants and socks from time to time!

Easier said than done. A lot of employers do not want students because they are likely to want to return home for holidays when they are busier. This plus the numbers of students in a uni town all vying for the same type of work. It is really difficult.

Just had to pay £400 for my son’s student bus ticket for the year.

@Lex345 you are correct. £60 a week will be a tadge tight. It’s doable but not easy. Given she’s £2k savings she can use that for societies, gym membership etc and maybe as an emergency fund.
DD started freshers with a fair bit saved up so could afford to join the societies. She then had £75 a week, which we funded. It’s an expensive city. She got herself a job by Feb in the uni city but did apply to a lot, it wasn’t easy. Plus the shifts could be hit and miss, with no guarantee of hours / income so we didn’t reduce the £75. There happens to be the same shop here so transferred to home town during holidays, with lots of shifts. This helped enormously.

This! Even locals are struggling. Supermarket work is disappearing and some places are swamped by students. They can’t miss lectures.

We started off with £75 a week and it crept up to £100 a week. My son also managed to pick up tutoring work as well. Initially my son was using his savings money as it wasn’t enough so we increased.

We just dropped DD at uni.

We pay the room and her phone. She then gets £80/week to live and socialise on.
December will be the time we reevaluate if that is enough.

She worked during the summer so she has a bit of a nest egg and she got some money from the grandparents "for fun things". That should stretch her for clothing and going out if the money from us is not enough.

We as a familiy decided that she not applies for a maintenance loan, it would be minimum anyway so us paying the rent was already planned. We then looked at our outgoings and with some things not payable anymore (hobbies, an insurance and pocket money) we decided to fund her the first year and see how it goes.
I personally just couldn't justify it to myself to get her take out the loan and have debt when I have the means to pay.

She does have the tuition fee loan though.

She has ASD/ADHD so working while studying won't be possible that easily.

My daughter did it but she was naturally frugal, tee total and veggie. She could usually walk to campus. We did cover phone and contacts. If you dd wants to drink on nights out, she’ll need to supplement it

I had £50 a week in 1998, plus separate contributions from my Mum for books.

University life can be extremely expensive if you are out partying all the time or you can live quite cheaply with a more restricted social life. The old student life I had of living on a shoestring and still affording to go out every night and then travelling for 4 months in the summer no longer really exists for students from "average" backgrounds.
For food alone £60 per week is enough, however it is not enough for the "University Lifestyle".
Between loans and the allowance we give them, our DC's (presently at uni) have just over £120 a week after rent and both also have part-time jobs to top up their income. That brings in about another £500/ £600 a month.
Despite all that they still end up having "pasta" weeks where they have to eat incredibly cheaply.
Both work full time over the summer to try and build up a nest egg but as they still have rent to pay it doesn't really work.

£60 and a part time job and she'll be fine.

If she genuinely can’t manage part-time work she might need to do a gap year and save as much as she can.

Depending on her course, the first year at Uni is likely to be a lower workload than A levels or at least a lower number of hours. My Dd only has 8 hours per week of lectures and seminars, plus personal study.

Medicine, dentistry and veterinary science are different though.

I think it depends what her spending habits are.

If she’ll eat noodle pots form Aldi for lunch, take a flash of coffee out etc it’s cheaper than if they want to buy meal deals everyday etc.

Also if she’ll be happy not buying clothes, cheap toiletries and getting pissed all weekend.

I agree with idea of working term time. A really good job is supermarket that will transfer you between stores or lifeguard at big chain leisure centres that will also employ you across the 2 locations. Lifeguarding pays well too.

I can see how a few hours of work for a few days per week might seem like a ‘juggle’, but unless she’s doing a course which is very lab heavy or lecture heavy with placements etc (I’m thinking pharmacy, teaching etc) she should be able to do a shift per week. It
might be tricky to find the right job - perseverance.

what was it that she found so hard about working with alevels? Surely she had plenty of free time too? I think to suggest she can’t work is molly coddling.

£60 per week isn’t much for a fun life. I’m sure she’d survive, but she’ll have an incentive to get a job.

According to the bank of England inflation calculator £25 in 2017 is worth £33.70 today or, if you switch it around, £25 today was worth £18.54 in 2017.

So comments like this are pretty much irrelevant because you wouldn't get much for £33.70 a week these days. Not being able to afford to go out ever would be pretty isolating for many students, and laundry costs that average at about £5 a week would take 20% of the students weekly allowance only leaving £20 (assuming we are still talking about £25 a week).

Consider deferring for a year maybe. Work next year and save. Get a job in somewhere that transfers students (Greggs, co-op, there are others) or will allow job to be worked in holidays only.

My daughter was in halls with two freezers. They were rammed. So we could not bulk-buy.

She could also not find a job. She applied to almost a hundred places; her applications were good and included her previous retail experience. We then realised that there were around 600-700 applicants for each suitable job. It was crazy.

It depends on the city and the halls. But the suggestions are not always guaranteed to work unfortunately.

OP it’s brilliant that you are planning ahead so well. The key will be savings I think. To reduce the stress esp in the first term. You and your daughter sound great!

I found the bigger issue was that the loan is paid in 3 equal amounts but the first semester of year 1 was very long and the first payment barely covered the student halls . It was eased in term 2 and 3 .
One of my daughters worked 2 days a week .
The other one is home about 13 weeks a year and works at home . So you need to factor in extra costs for you while they’re home .
Remember to also budget in a deposit for the 2nd year house (often paid before Xmas) . Houses can be cheaper than uni accommodation tho.
tbh it is a struggle . Only go if they 100% want to and the course is worthwhile .

I am really grateful for all the tips and perspectives on this.

I have spoken to DD about the option of living at home-the uni in our city is highly thought of in her subject-just for year one, so she can make friends, enjoy going out and settle in without worries-but she is dead set on moving away, which I understand-she wants her independence.

I am making a list from the thread of things to think about.

I think I am going to try what a pp said about giving her a trial run on that budget and get her to feed herself, go the launderette (even though this is a bit of a waste but a useful lesson!), travel etc on that budget.

It will be fine and she has a £2k buffer!

If it isn’t enough she will get a job.

Start stocking up on toiletries now. Buy things on offer each month. Deodorant/shower gel doesn't go out of date.

That way she can take a few bits each time she comes home/you visit.

I think going to uni is a lesson in life skills. If she can’t survive on the money she has she will need to take a job. I used to work three PT jobs during term time (one in the morning, one eves one weekends) and full time in the hols. It isn’t easy, but in life if you need to work - you work! Lectures and studying will not take up 24/7 and working is also a way to meet people and develop a social life.

Mine did - Southampton. He also got bus travel for free, just the first year though.

I assume it different in different areas.

How long ago was that?