Uni money to live on

[Kattya]

Just after a few options/advice. DD off to Uni. She's in halls and her maintenance loan doesn't cover all of her rent so we will have to top that up. I'm just wondering how much she will need to live on. She will get a job she's not work shy but I dont want her to be working all the time as she needs to study so was thinking of giving her so much a week for food etc ??

Fair play - I'll re-think the finances and up it a bit (I really don't want to limit him from socialising). I'm sure we can squeeze some more out of the pot somehow (and he will have a bit of a pot to start with like I said).

However, IdaBiscuit, hell will freeze over before DS would join a sports club of any description, so that's one cost I can definitely rule out at least

@stonecircle I will pm university incase belevino see her with her bag of swag

Oh god I hope she gets on with flat mates as she not leaving any friends behind here. She quiet & shy but planing to make a big effort including not doing the resting bitch face and already in FB chat with 3 of them so far.

General question to those who have gone catered can I ask why (just being nosey) also are they limited to set times they can eat?

Sorry my last post was meant for @kath

We paid DS's hall fees and then rent and utilities. He was then given equiv of the min subsistence loan which was about £1,300 per term. He had short terms. I paid his phone and gym. DH sent the odd sub. He finished the three years with £330 in the bank. Not excessive compared to some. Neither did he go without. DH waived return of rental deposits.

IgnoreMeEveryOtherReindeerDoes the main reason my son is in catered halls is that he wanted an en-suite and at his chosen Uni the halls he wanted were all en-suite and catered.

The only catered option he had on his 5 initial choices was his first choice - all other options were self-catered and they were only about £500 less than his catered option (some were actually more if he wanted en-suite), so it made sense to us to go for catered. More of a quirk of fate really. I fully expect him to miss loads of meals (he doesn't have a huge appetite at the best of times) but his lunch option is a flexible meal card which rolls over each day and only gets cleared off once a week (many others cleared daily if money not spent).

My DD is getting the minimum maintenance loan and we're having to top up the payment for her accommodation. She's a hard worker but her course will be full on with no spare time apart from weekends but she'll have to get a job.
We're planning on giving her £300 a month. She's managed to save £1000 and her Grandma has given her £500 for her savings.

We're going to be so skint for the next 3 years and I'm really anxious that I can't do more.

Shyposter - look at it another way. All his rent / bills / food are paid for. You are paying for his phone. You have said you will pay for transport. All you give him will be spent on socialising. Do you spend that much a week on socialising ? If you do, then fair enough, you might think that is the right amount. If you don't, then it is probably more than he needs. If you spend loads more (and therefore that is what he has been used to all his life) then he probably needs more.

A lot of what students "need" will be down to what they have been used to having - especially in the cases where they are not even self catering / paying their transport / paying their phone.

@shyposter it's not just my daughter who wanted own bathroom, she was having kittens when had to include options of halls that was shared bathroom. I wonder if Uni caters make a good profit as I should image many will skip meals. I know DD would she did at school/college

We paid the tuition fees, rent and gave him an allowance, no loans. He starts his MA next month, and the loan is £10k, which would cover fees or halls, but not both, so we are picking up both, but a reduced allowance as bills included. Halls are £8k, but for 50 weeks. He can fund his own PhD....dh would like to retire by 60.

Shyposter - look at it another way. All his rent / bills / food are paid for. You are paying for his phone. You have said you will pay for transport. All you give him will be spent on socialising.

Don't forget -

Snacks and drinks in between meals
Stationery
Books
Photocopying or paper/ink
Toiletries
Loo rolls/tissues/condoms
Laundry costs

And socialising doesn't have to be drinking alcohol, it can mean going to see plays/films/concerts, meeting friends for a coffee, Even subsidised for students it all adds up.

You can reveal too much information about your dcs, where they are going to uni and how much money you are going to give them that they will be easily identifiable in real life.

Too true Bevelino My DCs would be horrified if I gave details of their finances or grades or salaries or whatever online if I was identifiable in real life. Some posters are naive.

We did weekly deposits (done automatically with the bank on MONDAYS) so that it wasn't blown all at once.

Out, same here - I have a standing order once a week. On the other hand my parents gave us money once a term so we could learn budgeting so I suppose both positions could be good, neither right or wrong.

Why would anyone pick catered halls? My older 3 children liked the socialisation of meeting for meals. My twins say that they are looking forward not to have to cook (they cook all meals for themselves at present). It just makes it a bit simpler. They will get 2 meals a day i think on average so will need to sort out the rest. It can give you a focus of where to go and at what time which some people lose at unviersity in a sea of alcohol and lie ins.

Yes, clubs can cost a fair bit. I don't want people on here to think all children will have £150 spending money a week. I am just reasonably well off and that will just keep the children at a similar living standard to now or in fact probably a bit less and it will incentivise them to get a job

Good for you...meanwhile, in the real world you are making others who are not so well off feel bad, not me but others. As my DS said when he read this thread, he feels sorry for your children because you've obviously thrown money at them and he wonders how much time you've had over the years to spend time with them.

we've decided to take the tuition fee loans option for DD who will be a mature student when she starts in September. She's worked all her adult life so knows what her outgoings are and budgets well. We are planning to give her £900 a month to cover her living costs, commute etc. She will get a job if her course allows to cover extras, but at the moment it's a case of see how it goes.

I think £50 is plenty for food then her job can pay for clubs etc

ShyPoster have a look at the maximum loan amounts then deduct his accomadation costs. The amount left is the minimum you should top up by.

Students can be self sufficient. they can work, get loans, apply for bursaries and grants.

Scary - but I am sure you have posted recently that your son gets education paid for until he is 24 by your DHs employers? I know from your posts that your DH is retired from the forces, but he seems to have a new job with similar benefits - I have definitely read recently about having costs covered until he was 24. I remember thinking lucky you!

So are you really paying for everything? Maybe tells us exactly how much your DHs employers pay towards uni costs?

user, I work at home. I see the boys all the time. You can pick smart in terms of career and earn a lot and still be around children. Nor is it a competition. People can hardly see their children and have no money too. It does not always co-relate and some children don't get on with their parents and others do. I don't think it really is affected by money. We are just in that very narrow group of 8% whose mother (or father) can afford school fees. That doesn't mean we are better or happier or anything. It is just as it is. University gives you a chance to meet people of all backgrounds which is the lovely thing about it.

To help those thinking my £150 a week is the norm (it isn't),....someone linked on another trhead to this Gov recent report on who takes out the student loans - just about everyone hsa the loans for fees and board:-
"The latest data are for 2014/15 when estimated maintenance loan take up was 89%. Estimated fee loan take up was 93% for students in England ".

If anyone thinks £150 a week is huge do be aware there are plenty of richer children at university who have more. Student don't flash the cash and people just mix in and are sensitive to others who have more or less than they do.....
(Deliveroo shift tonight for my son by the way.....)

have a look at the maximum loan amounts then deduct his accomadation costs. The amount left is the minimum you should top up by.

Exactly that. Maximum maintenance loan outside London is £8430 for 17/18. All fairly clear cut at this point.

However as others have pointed out costs do vary thereafter.

DS1 is at the better value end. Accommodation for 17/18 just over £4k. That would leave around £4200 to top up, so in his situation, works out to bang on £150 per week for everything else including food. Does he need that much? Does he spend that much? Honestly don't know. With well paid vacation employment he's probably not going to struggle financially and if he is building on his savings for life post Uni all well and good.

Had he gone to his insurance choice, and assuming in hall, he'd be looking at just over 7K accommodation cost (catered, not en-suite but with meals paid for whether he turns up and eats them or not). So suddenly, using the maximum loan as a guide again, around £1300 tops up that, or around £42 per week. For completeness the self catered option would still be just over £5k, so if topped up providing around £100 per week.

Uni choice does have a massive impact, and I fear more Unis, certainly at the higher tariff end, seem to lean more towards more expensive accommodation.

user I hope you told your DS to stop making ridiculous assumptions.

Lots of wealthy people get to spend lots of time with their DC.

The fact is that students these days do not have a shared experience when it comes to finance.

Some will have to max out on loans and work, others will receive generous help from family.
And there will be many permutations in between.

It does no student any good to worry about what someone has or hasn't got.

Threads like this show that parents should probably just give what they can.

User, your entire post reeks of jealousy quite frankly. I work from home, earn a decent wage but only work school hours term-time only. I can afford £150pw. I'm sure I don't see my children any less than you have seen yours. I'm sorry you haven't got the great job I have. I also hope you told your DS not to make assumptions

more Unis, certainly at the higher tariff end, seem to lean more towards more expensive accommodation

just to qualify that statement : two very obvious exceptions within that group

boys that's true but then Oxbridge also strongly advises against any term time work.

Universities with very expensive accommodation include the London ones, plus Exeter, Bristol etc.

Halls of residence are a fipoing licence to print money.