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?

Cost of laundrettes varies enormously. Ours was VERY cheap and must have been subsidised.

In many cases it is the cost of drying clothes as the tumble dryers only run for a short time and many halls won't allow the students to use airers in their rooms.

Yeah that will be tight. It's survivable but she wouldn't have any social life.

I think she needs a job.

Can she work over the summer? That way she not only gets some savings built up, she also gets some work experience that will make her more employable

So did I but that was 20 years ago! Times have changed!

Another option is for her to defer for a year and work and save up a decent savings cushion. It also helps with maturity and life experience

Agree with a previous poster who suggested getting a job in a chain now and then transferring. It doesn't need to be anything onerous - she could try a cinema chain for example.

Jobs can be very variable. My DS went to uni in London and did manage to get a job over the summer and at weekends but in uni cities that have a big uni and a small city if you know what I mean there are thousands chasing a few part time jobs.

friends of his did online tutoring to earn money.

i wouldn’t try to get her to live at home in year 1 to save money. Halls in year 1 are usually the cheapest year - private student rents when you have to pay bills etc are more expensive.

might incentivise her to get a job/save money.

It's doable if she sticks to cheap foods and eating at home (uni accommodation). Clothes could be Christmas and birthday presents. Course materials aren't always needed depending in the course. I didn't buy anything, I just used the library and the laptop I already had. If she is in a friend group with others on a low budget they will find fun on the cheap. There may not be a need for much travel money if the uni is central. A low budget will make her more motivated for work too which will stand her in good stead for when she finishes uni.

I was/am in a similar position with my dds (2 of whom have now graduated). They worked all summer and in holidays to save so they had enough money. This included the summer after A levels. My arrangement with my ex H was that he would provide them with a regular allowance but he decided not to do that. They do get some money from him, from me and from their grandmother but it's ad hoc.

I can't give them enough to live on but instead pay for their phones, buy them clothing and fund regular grocery deliveries.

That’ll be a struggle but it’s a good life lesson to have.

What does socialising look like to her? That’s where there is huge potential for the budget to become undone!

If money is going to be really tight and you don’t have the resources to fund the extra like lots of parents don’t -‘ I won’t be able to) then defer a year and she works hard in that year.

I would encourage her to apply to uni closer to home and live out for the first year with the understanding she commutes in following years. What does she want to study ? Does she NEED a degree or are there other ways to get there.

She needs to work really and unless doing a lecture heavy course she will be able to fit it in. She definitely needs to work the summer before she goes to give her a buffer. All Ds friends worked throughout their course. Ds did too and it helped so much. We could pay for essentials and he topped up for fun stuff.

It is not enough op

My 18yo DS gets £85 a week to cover food and petrol. He makes some money buying from China and selling on Vinted. He has his CTFund for bigger purchases although I think that's mostly spent

Lots of students either have a pt job and/or work in the long summer break before and during the course. Check rentals for beyond first year, they can be more expensive than halls once you factor in bills and travel. She could also take a gap year to work and increase savings.

For the trial run she doesnt actually need to go to the laundrette - she just needs to find out how much it is and you remove that much from her budget (put it in her saving fund).

She needs a job at Christmas and in the summer if she wants to socialise much at uni. Some jobs pay more than others - coaching younger students can be lucrative but she would probably need to do some free to get parental references or at least at low cost. Royal Mail was a traditional Christmas job https://careers.royalmailgroup.com/gb/en/temporary-jobs The NHS has bank jobs sometimes https://www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk/joining-nhsp and the personal care ones can be lucrative, especially at Christmas. However it takes so long to get through the admin she probably applies now for next summer! (an exaggeration but it would possibly be 6 months). There are jobs working at events (like summer festivals that can give some social life) but also business conferences. Girls who waitress sometimes get good tips. At Uni some students help with admissions. If she gets really broke she checks the psychology department as they may pay small sums for participating in experiments.

How many decades ago? You can’t say anyone will survive on that and make it work in 2025!

The only students I knew who didn’t work at med school were people with wealthy parents. It was hard to work around extended term times and placements all over the place and full-time medical school but there’s no choice if you don’t have a trust fund and learning how to balance responsibilities and work hard is an essential life skill anyway.

A holiday job at the very least is essential.

It’s really not enough, in my opinion. Are you able to give her a monthly sum on top?

USED TO, not I am.

Even if this was last year, price of food has increased dramatically abd what possible before isn’t now.

There is a fantastic parent group on facebook called w.i.w.i.k.a.u. (what i wish I knew about University) that has so many helpful posts about budgeting, costs at different unis across the country and how parents and student is manage with budgetting etc.

My two are currently at uni

Ds has £75 per week to live on after his rent is paid. He finds that adequate for all his essentials. He managed the first half term without a job then started to get sporadic work during holiday periods.

I think Dd has more left over as her rent is cheaper plus her uni gives £500 bursary per year. She does however run a car as well. She was unable to find a job during her first year but worked all over the summer.

both mine fund all their own travel, mobile phone, insurances etc. their grandparents bung them the odd £20 every now & then.

Could you split the savings account, so she has an amount to learn the harsh lesson of how quickly it is possible to burn through several hundred pounds. Then the main amount safe as a buffer?

Makes sense anyway as she can have an account with a card and a separate account for savings.

It's not that much. Depending on her course and how many hours she does maybe she can get a job. I don't think students have extra money for clothes.

This includes a contribution from me-I would really struggle to increase this, without getting a 2nd job-which I may have to do anyway as DS2 will be probably following suit in 2 years, so there will be a one year overlap of contributing. I also have DS1 who is older but still financially dependant on me (ND and is getting there!)

A lot of food for thought here, thank you. I will have a chat with DD about work-a gap year has been floated as an idea but she isn't keen.