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Higher education

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

Original poster

Ideas thread for what to take/not take to Uni.......

424 replies

MissMarplesBloomers · 17/08/2013 11:37

We have found already that the student forum on the Warwick Uni website has been a valuabel resource.

Also advice from past students on here & other friends so thought I'd share a few "ooh ...good tip" moments that we've already had as the lists are mounting up!!

-Keep stuff to take to a minimum, check the list of stuff provided first or else the kitchens end up with 8/10 sets of everything by the end of first week.

-ditto for groceries, stick to dry/tins so tehy last longer & the shared cupboard in the kitchen/fridge shelf may not be that big!

  • plain white china/crocks can be muddled/lost/appropriated with all the other IKEA stuff in the kitchen, a couple of granny's patterned plates will stand out as yours & can be found cheaply in charity shops. Ditto cutlery. Then no biggy if it doesn't come home at end of term.

-some halls provide linen/bedding but having your own from home helps with the settling in. Eg DD is taking her double duvet & own covers as that is snuggly on a single bed.

-lots of pound coins for laundry & buses.

-Double up the amount of underwear you pack, you'll be too busy the first week to do washing!

Loads more I'm sure, all little things but useful!

Please share your top tips

OP posts:
goinggetstough · 23/08/2013 12:54

TheRed my DC has just graduated and she lived on £50 per week. She found that her food budget was £20 too. She more than survived. She did have a part time job too but she saved that money.

zizza · 23/08/2013 13:08

Goodness - £100 a week - that's luxury ;-)
My poor dd won't have anything like that to spend, but then she rarely shops for things like clothes. We'll also make sure she's stocked up on householdy type items as we can buy them so cheaply in Costco!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 23/08/2013 15:19

We're thinking of advising dd1 to start on £50 a week and see how she gets on. £100 a week seems like a lot.

Original poster
MissMarplesBloomers · 23/08/2013 16:43

Remus Us too, £50 max, but we're going shopping for basic supplies & a few luxuries paid by me just before she goes, so hopefully that'll help pad out the budget for the first few weeks till she gets the feel of things.

She has budgeted down to the last penny so although it might be tight I don't think she'll starve!

OP posts:
MABS · 23/08/2013 16:53

we are thinking £75, It catered accom, you think that ok?

ISingSoprano · 23/08/2013 17:16

Ds will have about £100 per week to live on (he will be self catering so this will have to buy food too). Seems like plenty to me - although I guess the first few weeks will be expensive.

HuglessDouglas · 23/08/2013 17:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 23/08/2013 17:28

How do people perceive the £100 a week being spent? My thinking is that if dd starts off trying on as little as possible (and like Miss Marple we will buy her a first food shop when she starts) then she'll have to learn to budget, rather than expanding her spending to fill the budget, as it were!

snowy91 · 23/08/2013 17:32

£100 is plenty enough especially in halls where there's no bills on top of rent! I spent no where near that but then I don't enjoy clubbing so my 'social' costs were less...1 or 2 drinks in the pub occasionally, a cinema ticket or coffee somewhere occasionally
I think I spent roughly £20-£25 on food a week....a little bit more if I was stocking up on things like meat or lots of my cupboard essentials had run out.
so that leaves £75 - £80 for extras like socializing, alcohol, clothes etc :) :)

Back onto things to take to Uni....do NOT forget clothes hangers!! so many people forget them and then have a mad panic running around the shops trying to find them!

1st aid stuff is fairly essential...plus often having a plaster makes you very popular in halls when freshers with little cooking experience manage to cut themselves!

StabInTheDark · 23/08/2013 17:50

DD probably wouldn't have had anywhere near that amount but she got a scholarship and bursary from the uni. I suppose it just means there'll be some money aside for an extra night out/ odd weekend trip home!

happyinherts · 23/08/2013 19:13

My son's elite sports scholarship has just been deducted from his tuition fee loan. Being that he has to jump through hoops to satisfy sporting requirements of the uni and wont see the benefit of reduction in loan for many years to come, I am seriously underwhelmed.

I had hoped the sports scholarship would have paid for practical kit, competitive kit, sports fees for training and use of gym, but no he won't even see it.

Lifeisontheup · 24/08/2013 08:08

My two took out £50 per week, they were in Self catering and we paid their rent. Both managed fine although some weeks they needed more for special events etc but that didn't happen often.
Both had money left over at the end of the year. They get minimum loans.
Not sure where they get their frugal ways from, neither DH nor me were as careful with money as they are.

fussychica · 24/08/2013 11:47

DS has had around £80pw for the last 2 years. This has been for everything - food, clothes, contact lenses, travel and socialising etc. In addition, we pay phone contract and travel to & from home each term (or we take him).

He has managed very well and always has enough left from the last payment of the academic year to carry over.

All different this year as he is going to France on his year abroad and getting paidSmile though I expect there will be a bit of a delay and he'll have to use some of his savings as student finance has been a nightmare as usual

alreadytaken · 24/08/2013 15:36

DC started to fill out the form for exemption for prescription charges and then found the bits that they say it's based on your current situation - so they have to get another form and apply in term time or their rent will not be taken into account. This form will also be needed for any DC who wear glasses if they want a discount on glasses. They also ask for last two pay checks, not sure how that works when you no longer have your holiday job.

Debs75 · 24/08/2013 18:12

I was wondering about prescriptions. DD gets the pill so that will be free but she is now on antid's and has glasses so will have to factor that into her tiny budget. She will only have the bare minimum to live on as I will hopefully be at Uni as well so I can't see us having much spare money

MollyBerry · 24/08/2013 18:42

Debs she can get help with prescriptions and things like glasses. Have a read through this:
www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/HealthCosts/1136.aspx
and this:
www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/nhs-low-income-scheme.aspx

MollyBerry · 24/08/2013 18:48

alreadytaken where is the bit about you having to do a new form about your new situation? I thought once you got your certificate of excemption from paying it was valid for a year/2 years and you didn't have to tell them about changes?

Fairdene · 24/08/2013 22:39

So alreadytaken are you saying that all students, no matter how well off their parents, are exempt from prescription charges provided they fill out this form? Even if they're classed as dependent for SFE and not independent?

alreadytaken · 24/08/2013 23:15

No -any student with over 16k savings, for example, can not claim. After that it's based on income and what they get from grants/loans/parents. They are assessed as having a full loan, whether they take it all or not.

What I'm saying is that the calculation is done at a point in time. It's better to make that point in time one where they are paying rent as they don't do the assessment on an annual average. We thought they'd be able to apply in advance but it doesn't work like that. I dont know how long a certificate is valid for when they get it, I'd assume no longer than the end of the academic year.

alreadytaken · 24/08/2013 23:18

sorry - MollyBerry I meant my DC wouldn't qualify now as they have a full time holiday job and no rent to pay, they may qualify when they start at university.

Fairdene · 24/08/2013 23:29

Benefits such as free prescriptions should surely be for those who really need it, when family circumstances etc are taken into account. Or am I coming at this from an incredibly naïve stance? I'm finding this free prescription discussion bewildering to say the least. It all sounds so grabby, especially if there's no underlying medical condition, in which case I might have some modicum of sympathy. My own view is that not all students are equally poor and that not all should be entitled to benefits.

alreadytaken · 24/08/2013 23:53

how lovely for you, Fairdene, that you have so much money that dental charges, the cost of glasses and prescriptions present no problem for you. For quite a few students that is not the case.

Fairdene · 24/08/2013 23:57

alreadytaken that's ironic, if only you knew. How rude, also.

Original poster
MissMarplesBloomers · 25/08/2013 06:42

Fairdene this isn't a benefit bashing thread...surely any info that can help any one from here is useful even if not applicable to some.?

Already thanks for that I shall get DD onto it when she starts!

OP posts:
Fairdene · 25/08/2013 09:56

Of course it isn't and I'm not a benefit basher in any event, though there's no automatic exemption on the back of the prescription form for students merely because they're students, in the same way that there is for children, so I think there may be more to it than that. Our college nurse prescribes large quantities of medication for those on long term use to save them money. That suggests that there is no automatic exemption.