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Higher education

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Original poster

DD starting uni, what to do about money/accommodation?

150 replies

whatIforgottoday · 08/04/2017 21:50

DD1 holds a conditional place to Durham for October and has had her maintenance loan confirmed at £5000.

Her accommodation is £7000 a year so DH and I assumed that the £5000 would cover her accommodation and then pay the extra £2000 needed, she would then live off a monthly allowance of £250 from her grandparents.

However DD feels the £250 a month is too little (accommodation is catered too) and wants to keep the maintenance loan for living (i.e. Clothes, going out) DD will probably get a job in the second year but would like to have a break from working in her first year (has worked every Saturday since the age of 14)

Would any of you mind telling us what you do regarding finance/are planning on doing so we can get a better idea?

Thanks

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 08/04/2017 21:55

I'm interested to see this. Dd will get a similar loan and my intention is to make up the difference of accommodation too but she will need to work for living costs. I'll put money on an Asda student card or something and probably give her care packages and more practical Christmas presents etc but she has NOT worked every Saturday since she was 14 and now she is I don't think she's taking my comments about needing to save seriously, thinking I will bail her out.

Emmm no.

I think coveting accommodation especially if catered is fine TBH. I'd like to see what others are doing though.

mygrandchildrenrock · 08/04/2017 22:00

My son is in his first year, his student loan covers his accommodation and not much more. He is in catered halls and we put money on his meal card every month, his meals are heavily subsidised by the University so 3 meals a day costs about £100 a month. We pay his phone contract, buy his clothes, books and toiletries.
He is not a big spender and we buy far less food at home without a 6ft 3in young man to feed!
His sister is due to go in 2 years, now she is a spender!

TheFairyCaravan · 08/04/2017 22:07

DS2 is a student nurse so gets a bursary and a tiny loan. He was in awful halls, due to a mess up, for the first year and is in a house now he's a second year.

Thankfully because the halls were bad his bursary covered his rent, and we paid for all of his food. I have a Tesco delivery pass so used to send him a shop every 10 days or so. He got a job in a pub within 3 weeks of starting and has been really, really good at saving from his wages.

If he needs books, equipment, bus pass for placements etc we pay for that. DS1 has a full time job and sends him some money every now and then.

He moved into a house in August. It's slightly more expensive, but still good value. If he's short we tell him to pipe up, but he's good at managing his money.

When he's not on placement he works extra hours in the pub. He's only home from today until Wednesday so he can go back to work over the Easter break for more money. He knew when he went that he would have to work and didn't have a problem with that, he's worked since he finished his GCSEs. Almost all of his friends at uni work, too.

Original poster
whatIforgottoday · 08/04/2017 22:13

Thank you for the replies, it's helping DH and I understand where to come from financially! DD defintely isn't reluctant to work but I think she'd like a year where she wasn't missing out on so much socially. She works Saturday nights at the moment so quite often misses out on 'pres' or turns up to parties later. That said, I reckon she probably will get a job

It sounds like generally, the maintenance loan is been used to cover accommodation but what I'm getting from DD is that her friends parents are covering the costs of accommodation whilst giving them the loan to live off. However, that's obviously coming from DD...

Thanks again

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 08/04/2017 22:16

My dd will only be 17 when she goes as well so I don't think big nights out will be happening the first ten before her birthday anyway. Which might change things.

There's a massive variance, I know someone I work with paid £900 a month for her dds accommodation in first year, my friend pays for her dds, my dds friend paid for everything herself (despite parents being well off it was a matter of pride for her to do it)

Nojellyintrifle · 08/04/2017 22:19

We pay for accommodation and give dd the maintainence loan to live off.

stonecircle · 08/04/2017 22:19

DS is in his second year at uni. Last year and this we've paid his accommodation costs and he's lived off his maintenance loan. However, he only gets the minimum (about £3,800) and he's only ever been self-catered.

He's certainly never struggled for money and I think we may have been a little over generous. He goes out regularly, plays a lot of sport which costs, has paid a hefty deposit for next year's accommodation etc. So £5k to live off seems a bit ott to me.

ImLadybird · 08/04/2017 22:21

DD in her first year. She gets the full £8,200 student loan. Her accommodation is £5,400 and the rest is for food, spending, clothes, going out, books etc. I don't give her anything. If she needs more she'll get a job but at the moment she's been ok.

OddBoots · 08/04/2017 22:21

DS is going to Sheffield (exam results permitting) and I think if he chose catered accommodation it would be about the same cost. We have agreed with him that he would get the non-means tested part of the loan and we will make it up to the maximum loan which I think is about £8.5k per year. This will be all he will be getting from us, he will have to live within that or get a job this summer or while at Uni to top it up.

PUGaLUGS · 08/04/2017 22:22

DS1 in his second year.

Has minimum maintenance loan of 3700.

First year accommodation was around £5000 non catered. We had the maintenance loan paid into our account and paid the money plus top up when the invoices came in. We then gave him £60 a week to live on. We stocked him up with basics like loo roll, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste and non perishables to last a good while.

This year he is in a rented house with 6 others. Rent is £72 a week PLUS bills. He has the maintenance loan paid to him and we just put the extra in his account needed to make up the shortfall - this is is for a year so had to pay quite a bit of rent before any maintenance loan came between 1st July 2016 and mid Sept 2016. We now give him £65 a week and every so often he will let us know how much is needed for bills.

Whenever we see him we take home cooked meals for his freezer and top ups of toiletries and non perishables. Also take him shopping for any clothes he might need.

LIZS · 08/04/2017 22:22

Likewise nojelly. Also we pay for his phone contract. £250 pm should be ample for extras though, if food is covered.

RufusTheRenegadeReindeer · 08/04/2017 22:24

We are hoping to cover accommodation and living costs for ds1 without the maintenance loan

He will try to get a job but we will have to see how it goes

If we struggle then ds1 will get the loan for the following year

His accommodation is about 5.5k

titchy · 08/04/2017 22:25

She wants the entire £5000 to spend on clothes and going out?!!!! And you're considering that?! Do you spend that much on yourself?

Students are supposed to be poor... £65 a week beer and Primark money sounds plenty to me... if she wants more she earns more.

FWIW we will top loan up to the maximum amount of £8500 a year for them to spend however they see fit. But that'll be it.

FuckyNell · 08/04/2017 22:26

Maintenance loan pays some of rent we top up about £300 a term. She works and I buy bits and bobs plus ocado deliveries.

RufusTheRenegadeReindeer · 08/04/2017 22:26

We were planning to pay for the accommodation and £50 per a week to live supplemented with food parcels!!

The university is a 45 min drive away max so it may be commutable if ds1 decides that he wants to domthat

FlyingSquid · 08/04/2017 22:27

£250 a month on top of accommodation and food??

Crikey. I want to be a student.

RJnomore1 · 08/04/2017 22:29

Likewise here rufus, there is an option to stay home and travel but I think she needs to get out in the real world TBH.

Original poster
whatIforgottoday · 08/04/2017 22:32

I agree that DD's perspective is a bit skewed but she is an 18 year old girl who is a bit of a spender! The full £5000 to live off again, I agree is too much yet, I feel seeing as this is her loan (which she is repaying) that she should be able to use some of it for 'frivolous' spending rather than DH and I making her use it to cover accommodation.

OP posts:
BlueChairs · 08/04/2017 22:33

I got £3k a year in maintenance. My parents payed my accommodation +£100 a month and I got a part time job. I also had a £1800 overdraft and have never been in trouble for money but have been pretty stressed/ skint for the majority of my studies. £250 isn't enough - she will need a part time job

FlyingSquid · 08/04/2017 22:35

Why isn't £250 a month enough if all accommodation and food is covered?

RufusTheRenegadeReindeer · 08/04/2017 22:36

RJ

I agree, i think its best if he stays in halls for the first year and makes friends...hopefully

And then if he has a partner or friends in the other two years he may shack up with them, or live alone or come home...i want my baby back and he hasnt gone yet

Daisymay2 · 08/04/2017 22:39

Ds2 is a third year. It depends what they mean by catered. He had 19 meals a week for his fully catered. They had brunch on Sat and Sunday and a meal card for lunches on campus during the week The ladies on the till told them to buy fruit if they did not spend the daily allowance. For him £200 month was ample and he was an to afford gym membership and kayaking with trips. Northern University. In others fully catered could be 12 or 14 meals a week so quite a bit needed for lunches.

OddBoots · 08/04/2017 22:43

The loan is a maintenance loan, it is there for living expenses including food and accommodation. £250 a month is a lot for extras as it is.

RJnomore1 · 08/04/2017 22:51

Oh I do hope she makes some friends rufus.

RufusTheRenegadeReindeer · 08/04/2017 22:54

RJ

Oh god so do i, he really does stuggle with making friends