What does it cost to support DC at uni?

[Cooroo]

Forgive long rambling panicky post!

DD has offers from all her choices and will hopefully be studying Psychology at Sheffield in September, grades permitting.

Her loan for living will be £3731. I've just checked rent in Sheffield's main accommodation and last year that started at £4100. Shocked to realise loan doesn't even cover rent. We are just over the threshold for any grant.

I reckon I can let her have £100 a month. She'll have to do some sort of job - but the lecturer we spoke to said it was important they get involved in extra things (esp if she wants to do MA later)which wouldn't leave much time for paid employment.

There is about £1500 I saved for her but that won't go far over 3 years. When I did my degree I got a grant and it was all so easy. What do people do now? How does the government think a family on £42000 has £3000+ to spare? We don't have holidays abroad and I rarely bother to buy clothes but I only just get by. Absolutely give up concerts/theatre would maybe save £100 a year. Scared!

How have others coped? Is there something I don't know?

No comment on the rest, but if her father is currently paying maintenance (soon to stop), can you ask him to continue to pay some of it directly to DD for expenses at Uni?

Haha her DF hasn't paid me a penny. He feeds her when she's there (roughly alt weekends) and gives her birthday and Christmas presents. He didn't work when we were together although he has a job now. He and wife have 3 kids between them so I've never pursued him.

Anyway what you wonderful women have shown me is that I didn't realise the loan was means tested so didn't provide any evidence of income. (Household, I understand that). So we'll go back online and try and sort that. Then it will cover rent with some to spare! Huge relief, thanks all!!

we have a sainsburys meal card for ds which I put a bit on each time I go shopping, his dgm has one for him too. They can't spend it on alcohol so you know that they are at least eating reasonably.

That's good news about the loan. It's also worth enquiring about any bursuries the university may have. Some places automatically give them out if you qualify for a grant, with others you have to apply

Lots of universities have bursaries funded by ex-graduates. At £15 a month its cheap for me and I know it's helping the next lot of students. If all the people who got a free education back in the day did it then it would help many more.

Other ways to save money are free meals, chaplaincy centres often have meet and greet meals. My gd discovered a Mosque in Edinburgh that had a community restaurant attached and did excellent cheap curries which helped train local kids and funded charity work. She also discovered Sikh temples feed people for free. When she stayed in self-catering halls she discovered most students couldn't cook so she did the cooking everyone else bought food and washed up.

Also looking into ways to earn more money Eg I learnt touch typing and shorthand before uni and got some relatively well paid temp part time office jobs both in term time at university and at home on holidays. Being a temp also meant good flexibility, if I had too much uni work or exams I could just say I wasn't available to work without the pressure of a permanent job.