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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

How much does a student need to live on per week?

88 replies

Greenshadow · 16/06/2011 19:07

DS1 is starting university in September.
The loan nowhere near even covers the cost of the student accommodation so we are going to need to help him out.

He will need to pay for all food, but no travel as this is included in his accommodation package. Otherwise only books, stationary, toiletries etc.

The idea is that he will pay for his social life from potential earnings.

We thought maybe £30 a week living expenses would be about right, but I really have no idea...

How much does everyone else pay there DC?

OP posts:
cat64 · 17/06/2011 20:57

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Riveninside · 17/06/2011 20:59

I feel very guilty we have nothing saved and no means of helping any kf mine :(

JobCarHouseNoBaby · 17/06/2011 21:06

cat64 - I disagree. I have been helping my brother look for jobs this past few months. There are plenty of jobs, not always the jobs that one might WANT to do, but there are jobs nonetheless.

I have worked in Asda, the Post Office, an Estate Agents, GAP, various pubs, bars and clubs, and the factory I mentioned in my previous post was a vegetable factory. I chopped onions and carrots for 6hrs a day.

There are lots of jobs out there just not as cushty as in 2003. People (not just students) have got to take whats on offer and build it up from there. I didn't land feet first after graduating into my good job, I work on minimum wage for almost a year before slowly working my way to where I am.

If the OP wants her child to have a carefree university then that is fine. But all I'm suggesting is that it might be worthwhile considering teaching them how to handle their money, and be there for them if it doesn't work out.

If you DO want to give kids cash to go to uni, I would highly reccommend sending money via Asda/Tesco gift cards to ensure it gets spent where you want it. Alternatively give them a £500 credit card off which you only pay the food/essentials and they are liable for the rest.

Goblinchild · 17/06/2011 21:07

There is no guilt involved if you didn't have the opportunity or finances.
I cut a few corners that weren't essential, none of mine have ever been on a commercial plane for a holiday abroad...and we have no designer labels, fancy phones or other bits and bobs others have.
But if you are already living on the edge, what is there to cut?
How can you save?

cat64 · 17/06/2011 21:08

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Riveninside · 17/06/2011 21:08

I failed that way too. They have never been on holiday. Ho de hum. Ds is depressed he cant find a job.mit doesnt help he is 18 till end of august and many employers want 18 plus

Goblinchild · 17/06/2011 21:09

Oh, and cat64? My DD walks around 50 miles a week for personal reasons, so she gets through boots at a fair rate. Plus her course is modular and book-heavy so she's spent more than £200 on essential books this year.

Goblinchild · 17/06/2011 21:11

Jobs?
Depends where you are in the country, which is why DD is coming home for the summer.

ajandjjmum · 17/06/2011 21:15

A couple of weeks before DS went off to uni last year, he spent a day in the city he would be studying in, taking his CV into smaller shops etc. to try and get a job. He got about 12 hours a week at a small supermarket, but only because he got in early before everyone was job hunting.

Might be worth some of your DC trying this?

Self-catering, he has lived of his earnings of around £60 per week, quite happily.

mumblechum1 · 17/06/2011 21:19

I'm thinking I'll give ds in cash what he costs me to keep now. So I pay £450 per month for food for all three of us, I'll give him £150 pmonth. I spend about £15 a week in petrol ferrying him round so will give him that, plus the £100 per month pocket money and £40 per month or so subs. Round that up to £400 a month and that seems fair to me, as it'll make me no worse off than I am now but when he's at home I won't be giving him that much as I'll be back to feeding him.

ajandjjmum · 17/06/2011 21:21

Funnily enough, DS keeps saying that we must notice the difference in our food bills now he's not around for, ooohhh at least 6 months of the year. TBH we haven't noticed!

crystalglasses · 17/06/2011 21:23

I've always thought it's shocking that with all the controverey about the fees hike to £9000, nowhere is there a mention that the student loan doesn't cover living costs.

cat64 · 17/06/2011 21:32

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Riveninside · 17/06/2011 21:38

Right now the ctc and child benefit keep ds as dh earns so little. When that stops theres nothing to give ds. We live near the university so he is applying early and has not landed a job despite trying very hard.

mumblechum1 · 17/06/2011 21:40

Oh bum cat64 so much for my cunning plan

webwiz · 17/06/2011 21:46

DD1 takes part in a lot of Psychology experiments as a way of earning extra cash. She uses it as going out money.

harbingerofdoom · 17/06/2011 22:35

I think that my estimate of £7300 is too low.

To think that in 2003 JCHnoB budgetet for £7500.

Riveninside · 18/06/2011 09:38

They just have to manage harbinger. After rent ds will have roughly £1000 or so a year to live on. The personal loan is less if you get the grant i doscovered last week.

Rent is going to be £5400 a year

He will get a loan of £3829 and a grant of £2906. Total £6735

So after rent he will have £1335 a year to live on. Thats just over £25 a week over 52 weeks if he fails to get work.
If he manages to find a job in the summer then its over 42 weeks so £30 a week to live on.

We are applying for the bursey of £1000 available to low i come families.

Its scary and i feel a bit in despair to be honest.

webwiz · 18/06/2011 10:05

£7500 a year Shock there is no way DD1 has needed anywhere near that. She has just finished her second year and doesn't look particularly malnourished. She has needed about £3,500 after rent and household bills. On top of that she has summer earnings of about £500 (plus all those psychology experiments from above!) that she uses to fund her clubbing.

TheBride · 18/06/2011 10:15

There are often agencies in big towns who specialise in factory work- it tends to be as and when, and is terribly paid, but they transport you.

I spent many a happy week loading strawberry scented soap onto the soap wrapping machine - still cant go in the Body Shop now!

mumblechum1 · 18/06/2011 11:09

Riven, is there no way your ds can get into Bristol and stay at home (not ideal, I know, but given those figures...)

jimswifein1964 · 18/06/2011 11:19

Going back a long while, but when I was at uni, I had strict budget of £1 per meal ie £21 per week! My half of the rent was £28pw, plus a fiver for the meter. We had no phone, no travel costs apart from when going back home for a visit. My Dad gave me £100 a month, and this combined with a grsnt of £2800pa covered all my rent/books/food etc for the full 12 months. So £4000 pa.

Riveninside · 18/06/2011 13:16

Rather insanely mumble, he doesnt want too. I have told him we want him to stay here and save that £5 k rent. Bloody dh keeps going on about 'the student experinece' of living in halls. Ffs. Its not worth five and a hlf grand and poverty.
I am a leetle cross about this but dh, who was a rich student and lived on campus, is being an arse. Ds wpild do better to live at home, catch the bus to lectures and forgo 'the student experience' and have less debt.
Grrrrr

mumblechum1 · 18/06/2011 13:34

I agree with you in the circs, Riven. I think it will do my ds good to live away from home because, being an only now, he does live a rather princely lifestyle, but if "the student experience" meant getting into debt it would be a no-no

goinggetstough · 18/06/2011 14:30

Riven is it possible to compromise and live in Halls for the first year and then move back home for future years. I think if possible it is good to live in halls for the first year( if financially possible of course) as they get to meet more people, know what is going on eg clubs etc and they can miss out at home - this is what the student experience means to me and not just the ability to get drunk etc.
I hope you get the bursary. If you do then assuming a job living at home would give him £55 per week for 42 weeks and that is slightly more than my DD has had this year. She has been fine. I am presuming that the accommodation is catered? Still a difficult decision.