Money - how much need for weekly living?

[ForgiveMeFather]

Twin DD's leaving for Uni this September - one will be in London.

Their student loans will just above cover accommodation (basic level) and we won't be entitled to any other financial support.

We have budgeted £70 each per week to cover basic living costs (possibly a bit more for DD in London) - will this be enough?

We'll be helping out with transport to and from Uni each term, plus basic clothing, books, bits and bobs for their rooms etc but they will be self-catering so will need to cover food, evenings outs booze with that £70.

Is this a realistic amount?

Would anyone be willing to share how much they needed to contribute to their DC's just so we can see whether we are in the right ball-park?

Anything else we have forgotten?

sarah I think that's certainly true for the fees part of it, but certainly not for the living expenses. You don't pay upfront for the cost of the tuition if you take out a loan.

But the living expenses - I suppose, if you went to your local university - as many people would have done when a lot of institutions were polytechnics and higher ed colleges in the pre 92 era - then it wouldn't cost you any more than if you were carrying on at school - live at home with mum and dad and travel locally.

But more people now travel and live away for higher ed, so the norm is to have higher living expenses. So on Average, the living expenses loan doesn't cover it ( not that the loan arrangement goes back that far, but there was a time when it was the norm to live cheaply and go to a higher ed institution)

But given that only 30% of people will ever pay back their full loan (I think that is the current Treasury projection - was 40% but has been reduced), giving higher maintenance loans would mean that tax payers would be funding the living expenses of more students than not - and why should we do that? I'm happy to pay tuition fees for anyone that will benefit from HE but not the costs of the typical student lifestyle for other peoples children.

So I think the lower maintenance loan is fair, on average. Which is also why I like the maintenance grant and bursary system - those who are in greatest need can apply for extra support to supplement the loan.

My DC's maintenance loans didn't cover accommodation so we decided to pay that as it was a fixed amount leaving them to budget for food, books etc. So far they've done really well at that with no overdrafts etc.

My DS is in Manchester. He has a job there and earns at least £50/week which covers all his spending money for food & going out. He is very proud of how cheaply he can cook for having discovered Aldi and a local World Foods shop.

Yes, I can see your point BeckAndCall, if that low a proportion of people are going to actually pay it all back. I was assuming that DD would be paying all of hers back! But I do feel the messages from politicians about this aren't being entirely honest. No, I don't know why that surprises me...

I think the thing that's worrying DD about getting a job is not being able to find one until she's there, but needing to pay accommodation up front... the thing that's worrying me (apart from the cost) is that she'll worry and be miserable, especially at first

sarah accommodation is paid in blocks and is not all at once (similar to their loans etc). The only thing that is paid up front is a room deposit. My DS paid £150 ( it obviously depends on the university, private rental deposits are usually much more). This is then returned at the end of the academic year assuming no damage has been done to the room.

The only other reason students need additional money prior to their loans and grants being paid is for Freshers Week. How much they spend depends on what they want to do! Also it is the time that they join university clubs etc. Most university websites give an idea of the costs of clubs and societies so it is possible to budget.

SarahWithAFringeOnTop both my DCs have gone through uni with near to zero input financially from anyone. They get the usual student finance grants, loans and uni bursaries. On top of that both have savings we put together (originally for houses/cars/post-uni expenses but circumstances changed) and they both also worked since 16 and put it all away for uni. They both work in the summer holidays solidly. We did have dramatic family changes though which meant we planned ahead and they got the jobs from 16 etc. Even if we hadn't thought ahead this they would survive by cutting back a lot.
It is possible though, don't feel you need to provide accommodation or living costs. I send DD off with basic food supplies each term and try and buy her the odd bits of clothes.
The re-payment schemes are decent and will not leave them in significant debt in the very long term providing uni will lead to a better job.
I hope this reassures you - it is possible, don't panic!

Sorry - now I have posted I realise in part we have contributed by being able to putting those savings together when they were younger, even if those savings weren't intended to be used for uni. We live in a very affulent area so in comparison to her friends it seems a stretch and lots of planning etc.
Even without those savings though the grant, loans and bursary systems would (with a stretch) cover it. Good luck

Bourbon many students don't get the 'usual' loans and grants and bursaries. All are entitled to the the minimum loan but not necessarily the other two. So even with a job and perfect planning it is not always as easy as you describe and the government expect parents to make up the short fall for accommodation and living costs. Of course if your family income is below a certain amount your DCs will be entitled to all the above and you won't need to contribute. The level of university bursaries depends on individual universities.

hmmm, I too was wondering where these "usual" grants and bursaries are - I've just completed the finance application with ds to start in September, and there's no bursary nor grant he is able to get. He'll get the loan to cover his fees, and the 'maintenance' loan which will either just or (depending on which accommodation he is allocated) quite possibly won't cover his rent.
Fortunately we are in a position that we are able to support him, but we wouldn't be if our dc were slightly closer in age, and both at University at the same time.

Some students to get grants and bursaries but most students don't.

DD is off in September, she is 16 and can't havea loan

If everything goes to plan she will have her fees paid, she has a chance of a maintenance grant - but atm we don't know if she will get it

Her hours of study will be 8:30-4:30 2 days a week & 8:30-6:30 3 days plus additional classes 9-5 of Saturdays (optional)

I am very very controlling & DD hasn't really had to 'manage' before this so I will pay her rent, her train fares (we are hoping she will come home some most weekends and her uniform (assuming we can't get any additional grants). I'm going to give her a Tesco gift card marked 'lunch' and another marked 'tea' for at least the first half-term so that she gets the hang of budgeting a bit.....hopefully by half-term she will have got the hang of not spending everything on sandwiches etc at lunch time...... at least I hope so

She will need to eat a tremendous amount while she is away - so I'm assuming £40 on food & £20 on misc

But I feel very nervous

Katymac did you know that some supermarkets do student cards e.g. Sainsburys. The student has one part of the card to use in the store and the parent has the top up part. So you could top it up weekly.

Oh that sounds good - I know it's daft to be so controlling, but she eats 5 times a day - unless she learns to budget she could literally starve by the end of the week

There are only grants and bursaries for students with poor parents.

The rest have to make do with their maintainance loan (meansd tested) and what their parents will give them.

Even jobs are tricky because university accommodation will expect you to leave during the holidays and part time, term only jobs are like hens teeth.

That said, some large campus universities try to employ as many students as they can on part tim term only basis. Warwick and Birmingham have good reputations for this.

We found the grants and bursaries easier to get than expected - but DD is on the 'old' fee system (not 9K). My salary is decent but not particularly high enough to support them fully. DD says a lot of her friends are on bursaries too (and she is at a uni which tends to attract wealthy students and her friendship group is relatively 'middle class')
My point was if you need it, the financial support is there and you should not be put off university because of costs. It is expensive but there is help out there if you need it. While it could be better, the system does seem to be good at recognising who does need to support. I'm not saying I agree with that and that others shouldn't be entitled to it, just that if you do really need it - the help is there.
My older DS managed to get money from a trust fund bursary type thing so that is another route to explore.

As I said, we were very prepared and sought out options, looked at which unis provide bursaries etc in advance as we had a major family difficulty which meant money suddenly became very tight.

I think the access to bursaries come in at around a family income of 40k. But obviously it's a sliding scale so not much would kick in at that level.

Anyone over that won't get help.

I think the worst thing is that the maintainance loan is means tested. The full loan is around 5k (outside London). But many young people won't actually be offered anything like that.

Given accommodation can be around 4-5k, that means parents have to top up.

Apologies, am in a queue for the loos at the theatre and can't link from my phone. The maximum loan is 5500 outside London. It is well worth parents finding out how much their DCs will actually be offered though and then checking the cost of accommodation before committing themselves.

my dd has the max (non means tested) loan of £3,500, which she lives on, food, books, art materials, clothes, fares, etc. I have paid her hall fees of around £6k. On the plus side the child who would only eat named products recently went round the supermarket with me putting value brands in the trolley . My other dc is planning to go to a local uni and live at home - which I have mixed feelings about tbh.

TheWordFactory - you can be earning over 40k and your child can still get a bursary, it depends on the uni though. And as you say, bursaries are on a sliding scale.

Once we know for sure where DD is going & what course she will be on, I start writing to charities/funds to try & get as much help as I possibly can

We lose her child benefit & child tax credits & one of the course options has no funding at all

But it's scary

Does anyone know if this is possible: Can DD take out max maintenance loan, then we pay it back in full if she looks like she will start to have to pay it ? ie. will be earning at least 21K? And would it be interest free at that point? Will phone student finance, but wondered if anyone knows

By the way, not millionaires, but have been putting a bit aside to cover rent.

One thing that costs in London is travel. Ie a bus/tube travel card for the week zones 1-2 is about £30. So if they need to commute to and from uni / work etc that's a large sum from £50-70 a week.

Also not paying fees now if you can afford to is silly. As soon as I started work I earnt over the threshold and had to pay back £160 a month. This was very annoying as by then had baby to find childcare money for/ flat to pay for etc. dh had the same so every month for ages we were paying £320 on student loan. £320 extra a month would have been helpful

Had our parents been able to pay it before we would have been grateful

Oh and they add interest straight away! Even though thy say its 'interest free'

Well I meant before she starts earning (so that our money can sit in an account a bit longer)?

I think £70 sounds plenty. We give our kids a bit more but they easily manage to save, pay for driving lessons, pay for bills and travel home etc. One is teetotal and the others don't drink much which saves them and us a bundle. With a bit of work they manage to pay to go on holidays too. They cook cheaply, walk everywhere and get clothes at Oxfam.

I have a theory that my kids are more respectful of the money just because we give it to them. They want to prove to us that they appreciate it and don't want to waste it.

They have all been stunned about how much some kids blow during freshers weeks - some kids literally get through hundreds off pounds on nothing.