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Higher education

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

Original poster

Uni money to live on

179 replies

Kattya · 20/08/2017 09:48

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 ??

OP posts:
Trippy4 · 26/08/2017 19:44

My three at university next year will be getting £75 a week for all spending and bills other than rent . It will be tight but it's what we can manage and makes up their SFE loans to the full loan . I have encouraged them to look for work / work in the holidays.

BackforGood · 26/08/2017 19:57

Used to be ds has just graduated. dd starts September. With dd, his loan covered his halls in first year, with about £130 or something left after paying halls. I then had a standing order for initially £30 (in 1st yr) then £35 then £36 per week from first week of term in Sept until end of May (so he still got it at Christmas and Easter even though he was home for around 6 or 7 weeks I guess, between the two. We set him up with a bit of a 'starter' box of food in Sept (so he had washing up liquid, ketchup, spices, various tins, some cartons of juice, and then a few nice things like cake and biscuit) and then he managed fine. My dc have always paid their own mobile phones. We take and fetch at the start of term, traveling other than that is down to them (Megabus was his friend).
To his credit, he worked in every holiday, but he never managed to get a job at University until the 3rd year not sure how hard he tried.
He has managed fine. Yes, he did end up overdrawn, but that was his foreign holiday with his girlfriend, and the fact he bought himself an X-box and spent ridiculous amounts on headphones etc. On a week by week basis he was fine. had enough to treat himself to meals out and takeaways now and then, and had a very busy social life.
We've not worked out the exact details, but dd will get similar amounts (her halls are a lot more expensive, but she has been awarded a bursary so we'll see how it balances).
I got the original amount by asking nieces, nephews, godchildren and other friends dc how much they spent a week on 'necessaries' (food etc) then added a bit on for socialising. If he wanted to do expensive socialising or feed a clothes or other shopping habit, then he had to get a job, same as the rest of the world.

Mummaofboys · 26/08/2017 20:01

Instead if giving her money for food maybe order an online shop to arrive at her residence each week, least then she won't spend all her cash on alcohol and will have something to eat each week.

AldiAisleOfCrap · 26/08/2017 20:10

BackforGood Yes I was referring to the poster above me stating JSA rates. They was point they can't be compared to students.

AldiAisleOfCrap · 26/08/2017 20:10

*my point

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 26/08/2017 20:19

Thanks BackForGood. That's very impressive.

Ds has said he will get a job whilst at uni but it might not be that easy. Plus he plays a lot of sport so won't have much spare time.

wannabestressfree · 26/08/2017 20:51

Wetherspoons let you do as many or as little shifts as you can/ want. Ds1 works full time during hols and three shifts a week during term time.

Nydj · 27/08/2017 17:25

Thank you to everyone who has posted how much they give/will give/ gave their children at uni - it has made me feel a lot more confident in trying to work out what we should be doing.

MollyHuaCha · 27/08/2017 17:32

Yes, I've found this thread really helpful too. I've decided a weekly amount for DS. It's all guesswork really though.

I'm going to give DS less than this amount on the basis that it will be pretty easy to increase it, but unacceptable to decrease once I've started!

Haffdonga · 27/08/2017 18:22

To reassure people about differences in wealth - ds1 made friends and in his second year moved in with a group who genuinely had no idea of each other's family's comparative wealth and it wasn't until they visited each other in the summer hols that they got a clue. DS had made certain assumptions (as we all do) about some of his flatmates family's wealth/ lack of wealth based on their student budgets that were completely wrong. The group included a dd of a famous TV personality and a ds from a very difficult background who didn't have a home to go to in the holidays. The things they did together depended on what they could all afford to do. e.g. camping.

For context, ds got cost of accommodation (covered by loan) plus £50 a week in term time from us, both in his catered hall first year and shared house second year. He also had a holiday job which paid for festivals and holidays. He managed.

Lucysky2017 · 27/08/2017 18:23

If you look at the maximum maintenance loan for those on a low income that is probably the sum the state expects rent plus board to be. So making up to that amount for parents who can afford to is probably reasonable. I pay a bit more because we are a bit better off than most and the boys are just used to a bit more but they are certainly not going to be swamped with cash. I see the initial night field trip one goes on is £50 for a start which is a third of his £150 a week allowance from me never mind what they might spend when there and that's before even the official start of term. The trip is voluntary.

GetAHaircutCarl · 27/08/2017 19:32

Same here molly I've told DC to tell us if they don't have enough money and we can negotiate an increase.

But if we start off giving too much I suspect we might not be informed Wink.

sweatylemon · 30/08/2017 22:59

DS starts uni on 16th.
We are paying his rent £650 a month. His student loan is 3.9k a year. We will top this up so he has £130 a week. We will continue to pay for his phone. He is on his own for tuition fee loan.

Etymology23 · 30/08/2017 23:34

I had £30 per week to live on after accommodation but before food in my third year. It was doable but pretty tight. I paid £7.50 pcm for my mobile about washing (halls) was about £10pcm. Then food was usually just under £20 per week so at this point I've got about £6 per week left over. Hair cuts were about £10 every two ish months. So then you're down to £5 per week. Need a new bike inner tube or brake pads or some new socks or pants and suddenly that's your whole week's money gone... it was pretty tight for me - I couldn't work in term time and was doing about 30hrs uni work a week in the hols so was pretty limited in my earning opportunities. It's doable but things like stationery and getting shoes reheeled used to kill my budget surprisingly fast. Or eg a pint at a pub...

Nahameb · 14/09/2017 08:49

BackForGood - my understanding (from internet research!) is that if a student, living in hall, watches any sort of tv programmes, including catch-up/i-player /on-demand etc, on a piece of equipment that is plugged in to a socket or aerial, then that requires a licence of their own, in addition to their parents. Watching catch-up etc on a mobile device (eg phone/tablet) whilst running on a battery does not require their own a licence.
I think. However, even though DS only ever watches on his tablet I am still considering getting him a licence just in case. I really don't want him to fall foul of TV licensing as they will be on his back for evermore!

GrumpyOldBag · 14/09/2017 16:10

Nahameb - I'm also perplexed about the TV licence thing. I did the same research as you & concluded that as DS will only ever watch on his laptop, he doesn't need a separate licence.

But his Uni accommodation is ramming home the message that they all need a separate TV licence. Not sure what to do. It's a lot of money to come out of a small budget.

Nahameb · 14/09/2017 16:46

@grumpyoldbag - here's the link I discovered, along with loads of other very cool advice:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-guide

But even with that, from a website I trust, I'm still edgy about it and I'm pretty sure husband will still want him to have one. I can't do anything until he's moved in as we won't know his room number for sure till then.
Ho hum. Like you say, it is a lot of money, especially when he mainly watches stuff on Netflix which we pay for separately.

Nahameb · 14/09/2017 16:47

Whoops - meant to say TV licences are point 10 on the list - you have to scroll down quite a long way, seeing lots of useful student discounts as you go!

SouthWestmom · 14/09/2017 18:13

We've now agreed- top up on rent. Mobile phone paid. £50 weekly allowance. Books separate.

GrumpyOldBag · 14/09/2017 18:29

Nahemeb - here's the link i found, on the official TV license site.

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1

FastForward2 · 14/09/2017 18:49

Top up to the full maintenance amount and plan a budget.
There are lots of online student budget calculators, eg www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/budget-calculator
We did this and worked out he could afford ensuite. Just. If he blows the budget, next year he will not be getting ensuite!
He knows he can withdraw a certain amount from the bank each week and stay on track, it is up to him to keep to it!

Sparklingbrook · 14/09/2017 21:49

Can I ask a rent/halls question if nobody minds?

The rent is 40 weeks a year. Does that mean DS will have to empty his room and bring everything back every holiday?

We too are doing the budgeting thing at the moment.. I think we might do the food delivery thing too. Are supermarkets generally ok about delivering to halls?

Horsemad · 14/09/2017 23:08

They don't usually have to empty their room for holidays but I'd check to be absolutely sure because some universities do ask them to vacate at Easter (the rooms are used for Conferences)

Horsemad · 14/09/2017 23:10

Oh and food deliveries are quite normal; the students often organise a joint shop for the whole 'flat'. Smile

Sparklingbrook · 14/09/2017 23:11

Yes a few people I have spoken to say no but I know sometimes they use them for stuff.

The thought of the pile I am looking at right now going back and forth is just Shock He will probably bring all his clothes and shoes home.