How to work out living costs

[purplegreen99]

Can anyone recommend a website that can give me a rough breakdown of typical student living costs? I know rents will depend on the uni but I'm thinking more of other costs like food, books, entertainment, etc. I'm trying to work out how far the maintenance loan will go & how much extra we need to budget for, but I'm finding it hard enough to estimate food costs never mind how much students are likely to spend on other things.

(For reference the above was £30pw during term time only, nothing for the holidays because I worked then.)

It is a question that gets asked a lot in the Summer months, and, as others have said, is really a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

For us, ds's loan was about £100 (for the yea) more than his accommodation, and, as it came in at the beginning of each term as the bill was due, it made sense to use that to pay for accommodation. We then gave him £35pw for everything else he needed, and there was an expectation he'd continue to work if he wanted to spend a lot on socialising / holidays / travel to meet his girlfriend, etc.

dd's accommodation is quite a lot more expensive and so we have had to top that up, but she gets the same £35 pw and manages easily on that (she's better with money than ds). She runs a car (insurance, all costs, fuel etc) as well, and works some shifts as a lifeguard in holidays but hasn't managed to find any work at University yet, but isn't that bothered as she easily manages with the £35 pw.

On the MN threads, there is HUGE variation though.

Depends on the course tbh - I probably spent £200 a year on books ( used the library and kindle) but my law and medicine friends could spend that on one book ( can’t be second hand as new amended editions come out each year). Food I probs spent £200 a month but I’m a foodie. Toiletries, paper, probably £40.
All together I think I spent about £6-7k a year not including rent ... but I was a spender and had petrol as well.

I would correct the London figure. DS shared a three bed ex-council flat near Great Ormond St, ten minutes walk to University, with three others and paid £185pw. He then had roughly £75pw which was a bit more than he needed.

There is a student London that can be cheap or free. Our observation is that more happens on campus, ie the Friday night disco, or societies. And he seemed more interested in going to Camden pubs to watch people in Korea play computer games (future Olympia sport?), happen upon free tickets to Comicon, or join a big gang from his course in China Town, than clubbing. Plus transport and small shops are open later so no need for taxis and takeaways, which, with alcohol, can quickly eat into student budgets. Overseas students seemed to be either super rich, or very frugal, which helped. He obviously mixed with the latter.

We gave DD, who is elsewhere, the same but she struggled in her first term. A couple of big nights out at freshers, then well over £300 for sport subscriptions and kit. She lived on the contents of the freezer in her last week - a batch cook of chili con carne. (Midway through I relented and ordered her a takeaway.) The second term has been a lot easier, and she has money left over. Inevitably and usefully students seem to sort themselves out socially by how much they have to spend. If you can blow £100 on a night out clubbing then you will make friends who do the same. DDs big night out is on a Wednesday following a match and this is where she has made her friends. They train several times a week and their budgets stretch to the occassional Spoons, but by and large they don't spend much.

The amount some spend is astonishing, and seems made up of student loans, overdraft, and parental top ups. I would not be surprised to hear that there are some payday loans in the mix. These will be the kids who stand out in the first term, who seem to be having the most fun. But roll on a uyear or so and I think DC may thank you for not having the funds to keep up with them.

Oh, and note some Universities have long first and second terms (circa 14 weeks if freshers is included) and short third ones, a lot more than Oxbridge's 8 weeks, and make sure your DC can shop, cook and budget before they start.

This has all been very enlightening - thank you. I'm going to go through some of this info with dd as I really want her to have a realistic idea of what her life is going to cost, rather than me giving her a budget of £x per week. But I need to have an idea of how much to budget for in terms of topping up, so I'm going to work out whether paying for her accommodation would be affordable (as at least I can work out average accommodation costs from uni websites) & then her loan/earnings could pay for everything else.

Part of the learning curve is to look at what money they have and work out what they can afford. When we started last year the temptation was to look at what she would like to have in terms of accommodation/ spending money instead of starting from what she actually had. It meant changing tack to a cheaper accommodation and working out how much work she needed to do over the summer - which is what happens in real life.

Our DS is in second year, not London. His maintenance loan has been roughly the same as his rent so far, and we've given him £400 a month but this is too much. He's saving some of it. I think 300 would be comfortable. I was really hard up as a student so I am too soft on him Has been self catering both years and walking distance so no transport costs. Socialising is mainly just the student bar with occasional clubbing.

Most first years are in halls. The price of halls varies among universities but also within the uni itself there will be a range. Usually the cheapest involves larger numbers sharing bathroom and kitchen and the most expensive will be luxury en-suite. When the time comes to apply for halls they are usually asked to supply preferences. What my DC and their friends have found is that the cheaper halls are the most in demand and fill up first and sometimes they find they are offered much more expensive ones.
For both of my DC the first year halls rent, in different unis, amounted to around £6000 self catered.
DS2 gets £200 a month on top of his rent and manages very well on it, but as others have said a lot depends on their hobbies, sports and expected lifestyle. Some would spend that on phone contract and night life alone.

Mine gets €100 a week so about £80 to cover food, transport, phone and entertainment. Books, fees, bills and accomodation are separate.

On a good week he spends about half that amount but he budgets and spends the excess as he sees fit. No other money comes his way apart from birthday or Christmas.

Last term he got into trouble and started selling old video games etc. to get some extra cash. We offered no help. He’s got to learn to live within his means as his (very demanding) coursework would suffer if he got a PT job.

Max student loan for families with low household income of below £25,000 outside of London is £8000 an odd. See what amount of loan your DD is entitled to based on your Household income and maybe consider topping it up to the max £8000 if you are high earners and are in a position to do so.
The government has an expectation that better off families those with a household income of above £25,000 will make a contribution towards student income whether that be on the rent or £20, £50 here and there or whether your DC has some savings of their own they are able to use or can top their budget by working over summer, holiday periods or work part time term time or a combination of all of the above.
If they can cook and budget and have a realistic attitude to lifestyle and not spending more than they have at their disposal before they go they are off to a flying start.

A lot of universities now contract out their accommodation to private companies. This has seen a big rise in much nicer accommodation, but matched with a big rise in price. In many towns, it isn't a matter of being able to choose the cheaper accommodation, there simply isn't the option. In others, it is as Squirrels say there is more of a range. In a lot of places, unfortunately the accommodation is more than the maintenance loan.

We give ds £500 per month in term time - nothing for the holidays as he is home and we pick up all costs (we are abroad). He is supposed to save some of that to tide his UK account over during holidays.

As he is vvvv expensive Postgrad accommodation this year, I could cut the allowance, but he has trips to pay for, so I've left it as is.

Roll on August - we are through with education then - his PhD is for him to fund - we've done the rest.

I would approach it from a zero base and Work up the costs being realistic in the first instance. If a student doesn’t get the full loan, then parents should expect to contribute. This is no different from the grant system of years ago when parents paid the difference between expenses and the grant. Many students didn’t get the full grant back then.

When you have budgeted realistically, thinking about a lap top, printing costs, books (some courses do require them!), entertainment, food, sports or club costs, toiletteries, clothes and general day to day expenses such as travel and a coffee or two, decide what has to be reduced, if anything. Use the costs of accommodation based on an average at the university DC might be interested in. Generally, if it’s managed by the university, it’s cheaper. Go without en suite and mod cons if you need to save money. Decide if you are paying for fares home and phone. Who is buying the lap top? Most don’t need a fancy one.

I love the idea that running a car is paid for by being a holiday time lifeguard! How? Is it very well paid? A car is the ultimate luxury and lots of university accommodation has next to no parking. The vast majority don’t factor in a car!

"A car is the ultimate luxury and lots of university accommodation has next to no parking."

Are you sure that this is always the case? DD has struggled to get to 9.00 placements, needing to get up at 6.30am to get underway by 7.00ish. She says many in the years above her have cars and others have told her it is a nightmare having to arrange lifts and to rely on others. It would be different if she were studying in London, where transport is good and any placements accessible.

Plus zero based budgeting does not work if you don't know what individual elements should cost. There will be marked divisions. Do you take in a packed lunch and a water bottle, or does a student expect to grad a bite/coffee in commercial coffee shops. If the latter it might well be an extra £5 or so a day.
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YY to buying lunch; ds worked out that lunch in college could cost £5 per day, and has started to go back to his house for lunch as it's cheaper.

It depends what parents are expected to contribute towards. A car, lunches from coffee shops and clubbing are non- essentials ( ok exceptions possibly for a car but would still suggest out of most people’s league) and take the whole thing up a notch.

Hmm the car was a surprise to us. The perils of an integrated medicine course with placements from the first week, though I assume the same might apply to those doing teacher training or nursing. Never an issue in London. I am not sure what deal we can come to. One advantage of medicine is that DD can do Bank HCA shifts over the summer.

Most sensible people can work out likely costs if they put a bit of effort in! I managed it. You look at your big ticket items, car, lap top, clothes, phone, sport costs, tickets home, accommodation, food and go from there. Apart from not knowing the exact cost of accommodation, all the other things are open to a reasonable guess. The information is available on costs at the university for accommodation and clubs.

Even buying, insuring and running a car for an 18 year old where the car isn’t kept at home can be calculated.

Of course there are a few decisions to be made such as what to do about lunch and how much socialising is done, but these are known costs per meal/club session and can be put in or out of the budget as required. We tend to know if our DC are likely to cook diligently or not or go out a bit, or not be interested. It really isn’t rocket science to sit down with Dc and look at it.

Not sure how my DDs Medic friend ever managed without a car, but she did! Just shows even poor people can aspire to be doctors and not worry about having to find money for a car whilst studying! Which would, of course, have been impossible.

"Not sure how my DDs Medic friend ever managed without a car, but she did! Just shows even poor people can aspire to be doctors and not worry about having to find money for a car whilst studying! Which would, of course, have been impossible."

I assume you are talking about Bristol. And that your daughter's friend started there some time ago - indeed I assume she is now qualified and well on her way to being a consultant.

Honestly there is no need to patronise. Yes you can manage without a car. However you are at the mercy of rural bus services or lifts. Presumably your daughter's friend has explained to you that the course has changed a lot since she was a student, with placements from the first week. And transport will get more difficult each year, as a higher proportion of the course is spent away from the University. You could risk being cut off from University activities and social networks simply because you cant get back for a match, concert or rehersal. You do however get compensated for giving other people lifts.

I really don't think it is that easy to work out how much DC will need. We have been surprised at what our children spend. MN can give the impression that your DC will be social lepers if they don't have the money to hang round in coffee shops, dash off round the country to posh 21st birthday parties, or go clubbing regularly. Its not been the case. A lot seems to be about the friends you make. By not having much money, you are likely to make similarly frugal friends. As in my day, its OK to be broke if you are a student. The big surprise though has been the cost of sport. Kit, subscriptions, gym membership, initiations, again completely unexpected. But ofset by fewer books that we had anticipated.

I'd imagine poorer people applying to uni have a lot more pressing worries than being able to afford a car.

Interesting thread that seems to confirm what I've already concluded, that is depends on a lot on the student and the lifestyle they adopt. After all, they are still in that transition phase where spending mum and dad's money doesn't require half the restraint they would put on themselves with their own money.

Someone mentioned pressure and speaking with a few friends whose kids are/have gone through uni, there seem to be a quite a bit of it. Because of the various options, different levels of loans etc..., what some student can afford to spend (or not when they start using the credit cards) varies a lot.

I personally believe that it is important to allow our kids to go to Uni not only to gain knowledge towards a career but also gain knowledge to full independent living, and that includes living on a tight budget and not feeling pressured by others who can afford a different lifestyle.

Of course I still want DD to eat healthily, have the right material to support her studies and live in residences that can feel like home. Due to her choice of course, working during her studies won't be an option, but she knows that she will have to work during the holidays, not just to afford a nice holiday with friends but also to save for her costs at Uni. She will start this summer after her exams.

I was thinking of giving her about £300 a month with her loan paying for her accommodation and go from there.

Ds could probably manage on less (given that I see what he spends on Amazon!), but as he is in UK and we aren't, the theory is that he has an adequate cushion for emergencies if he needs it. He does not have a credit card, or loans, and a max £500 overdraft.

We give him a monthly allowance, as opposed to a lump sum at the beginning of each term, so he knows about monthly budgeting. If he has overspent on Amazon and whinges about no food, he is directed to the huge bag of pasta with which he is supplied at the beginning of the year, and told to get on with it.