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Higher education

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

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Original poster

Living costs- How much to give?

98 replies

SlugsyMalone · 10/09/2019 06:42

Morning, ds about to head off to university, he has a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan of around £4000, just wondering how much people give their children a month for living costs. He’s planning on getting a job as soon as he can but obviously that may take a little while whilst he finds his feet. Thanks very much.

OP posts:

ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 14/09/2019 08:53

Well I was talking about people on a low income, so they are probably not going to spend most of their maintenance loan on catered halls. As others have said, what about when they come home - nobody wants to bring their duvet home and lots of people don't have lots of spare stuff at home.
With respect Xenia, you are choosing to spend thousands more on your children than most of us that are buying a couple of pans and new plates, which is obviously your prerogative, but I was thinking that some families might struggle to find the spare money to give their children a few quid to tide them over until their loan arrives.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/09/2019 09:49

What is it with all these people planning to pay for their children’s gym memberships?! Really? That is an unnecessary luxury for any student, surely, unless it’s extremely cheap? Most students do a LOT of walking as most don’t have cars, and it costs nothing to go for a run. Most adults on a budget simply won’t factor in gym membership as a necessary expense, so why are you paying for this type of thing for your nearly adult children?

As for a couple of people saying you don’t choose whether or not to pay off your loan. Well, of course you can, if you as a parent have accrued enough in savings to pay it back for them early. People with inheritances or other windfalls, and those who have saved very very hard since kids were young may choose to pay the loan off for them if it looks as though they will become high earners when graduating as the repayments kick in. No-one wants to be paying higher rates of interest on a student loan than what they’re getting on money that is sitting in savings.

VioletCharlotte · 14/09/2019 09:52

My DS is off tomorrow. He gets £6,500 maintenance loan (I'm a single parent) and accommodation is £5300. I'm going to give him £50 a week for food (term time only). He's going to look for a part time job when he gets there.

VioletCharlotte · 14/09/2019 09:53

Oh and I'll pay his phone contact - £22 a month.

OhTheRoses · 14/09/2019 10:05

TBF my DC took old duvets/pillow from home and I bought new at home. I kept old crockery/cutlery for them to take. DD asked for the heated airer after term one.

DH pays the rent and gives the equiv of min loan each term. I send 100pcm and pay for phone and other treats.

I visit once a month, sometimes more if she's in a performance. DH goes then too. In the winter I tend to book an hotel. With petrol and a meal out visits cost about £200/250. I know it's a luxury but I'd hate not to be able to do that.

2gorgeousboys · 14/09/2019 10:16

DS uses his loan to pay accomodation he then has a little bit left to live on. We then give him £50 a week plus we pay his mobile contract, do a big food shop every 2/3 weeks and pay for his train travel.

He works in the holidays but not during term time.

bengalcat · 14/09/2019 10:17

Mines taken out tuition fee loan but I’ve not applied for the minimum maintenance . Have her 6k for accommodation ( gather now it’s been allocated her bill is @5300 ) . Her Dads giving her £300 per month and I’ll top it up to make £500 . Have told her to call if she needs more for ... I don’t know field trips ? Nights out etc . I don’t expect her to work at Uni or in the holidays but if she chooses to then that’s obvs entirely her decision . She is careful with money and definitely seeks out bargains . She plans to transfer what she doesn’t spend into her savings account . I’d like to pay off her tuition fee loan on graduating if she’s in a highly paid job relatively soon after and doesn’t go off get married having babies etc . If she prefers I’ll direct it into a property deposit . Well that’s my aim anyway . Have only had the one to support .

TaleOfTheContinents · 14/09/2019 10:25

The problem with doing it that way, is that once the loan hits their account at start of term, they have a full terms-worth of money in their account. If they are stupid (and some are when first going away) they may have blown it all in the first month!

I got my entire year's spending money when I went to uni because I studied abroad. It really helped me to learn how to manage my money and budget. Your DC will be living alone and supporting themselves after uni - those are skills they need to learn now as they enter adulthood.

Trewser · 14/09/2019 10:36

Your DC will be living alone and supporting themselves after uni - those are skills they need to learn now as they enter adulthood

Yes that's why I am paying monthly. More like the real world!

MarchingFrogs · 14/09/2019 10:41

As for a couple of people saying you don’tchoosewhether or not to pay off your loan. Well, of course you can, if you as a parent have accrued enough in savings to pay it back for them early.

Well, I could buy you a new set of bedlinen and sub you enough to afford to eat properly all week while your own earning potential is limited, darling, but I've decided to hang on to it and use it as a lump sum to pay off what you could just pay off gradually, once you are earning at least twice what you have access to at the moment?

Unless you've got access to an account paying a massive level of interest over the 3 to 6 years the young person will be an undergraduate, you could use savings to pay the fees up front and not pay the interest which will have accrued, if you want to contribute money they can't use on the bus or at the supermarket whilst at university?

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/09/2019 11:03

Marchingfrogs: People have to choose what the right approach is for their individual situation as to whether they pay upfront or whether they pay partway through or after graduation. Some people may have a large amount of savings but it’s invested in property, say, with the plan to sell at a better time, at which point they may be able to pay off the loan in full (in the full knowledge that interest on the student loan will have accrued, yes)

Some people may have a relatively large amount of savings, enough to cover the full cost of the first year of uni, but may not want to throw all their savings at it because they know they have other large expenses coming at some point and once the money is gone it’s gone forever.

Others with savings may have a child at uni with an illness or other circumstances which means it may be that that child will likely never fall into the high earner bracket and may never pay the loan back. Maybe they would rather keep their savings as a safety net for their future.

Others may consider their savings to be better used to purchase a house for their student child and friends to live in at uni. I have heard of a few people doing this!

There are loads of different scenarios I can think of where you might have the cushion in savings or investments there, but consider the taking out of whatever student loan they are entitled to a wiser move than just paying it all upfront, even allowing for loan interest accruing.

boys3 · 14/09/2019 11:13

Your DC will be living alone and supporting themselves after uni - those are skills they need to learn now as they enter adulthood

although back here on the planet earth version of the UK quite possibly not

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2018#one-in-four-young-adults-aged-20-to-34-years-were-living-with-their-parents-in-2018

DuesToTheDirt · 14/09/2019 11:20

We make it up to 9k a year. We dont pay specifically for anything, not rent, phones, food etc. That way it's up to them where to spend their money, and whether paying for an en suite or an expensive phone contract is really worth it for them.

BackforGood · 14/09/2019 17:10

I don’t expect her to work at Uni or in the holidays

Can I ask why not ?
What do you think your young people ought to be doing throughout June, July, and 1/2 of September ?
Not only for the money, but also for the experience.
Genuine question.

yearinyearout · 14/09/2019 18:14

I agree with Backforgood, work experience is hugely important. When your Dd leaves uni she won't be the only one with a degree, she will be up for jobs against loads of others with the same degree PLUS a wealth of work experience. Doesn't matter if it's in retail/hospitality/office temping in the summer, all have transferable skills that will be useful and bulk up her cv.
My DS is on a very demanding course and can't fit a job in term time, but he's spent two summers working all sorts of jobs via a temping agency. Along with his retail job whilst he was in 6th form, this has built his confidence, given him a healthy bank account to go back to uni with, and a damn good work ethic.

DuesToTheDirt · 14/09/2019 19:19

I absolutely agree on the value of work experience, but DD can't work during term time and has too many extra curricular activities to work during the summer (things which, for various reasons, are also valuable for her).

bengalcat · 14/09/2019 20:04

I don’t expect her to work because I view university as full time education but as I indicated in my post if she chooses to work when not at university for her own money or whatever reason then thats entirely up to her . If she wants to visit friends / family in other countries , go on hiking expeditions etc then that would be fine . She’s an adult she will make her own decisions .

BackforGood · 15/09/2019 00:05

Whereas I disagree with people who say their dc aren't able to work in term time (on the whole, there are a few courses that make it highly impractical to work in term time), I can see there is an argument against it, and understand we'll all have different views, but I really can't see how anyone can say University is full time education when they don't have anything to do between the end of May and half way through September (again, with the caveat that Nursing, for example, is an exception).

boys3 · 15/09/2019 00:21

when they don't have anything to do between the end of May and half way through September, whilst I agree with the general thrust of your argument back I think your statement is an over generalisation, certainly at the elite end at least. DS1 (Cambridge) certainly had Uni work to get done over the summers but not to the extent that it prevented him having a full time job for at least 8-10 wks of the long break. I think from a time management perspective this was good, and of course financially and for cv building.

BackforGood · 15/09/2019 00:34

Although Oxford and Cambridge Terms only tend to be 10 weeks don't they?

However, that is detail really - the point is, it isn't really "full time" (with the exceptions mentioned)

YeOldeTrout · 15/09/2019 09:35

I'll pay his phone contact - £22 a month.%

Gosh that's a lot. DH manages to get DC on £7/month contracts. We own all the phones outright, though.

LoveBeingAMum555 · 15/09/2019 19:20

DS will get an £8k maintenance loan for the first year - this will go down considerably in the second year because I have got a new job. Rent is £125 a week so he will have roughly £65 a week for food, travel and socialising.

We don't intend to give him a regular amount of money, we are paying for his phone, and paying all expenses to run his car so he can keep this for when he comes home. We will buy him one off things like a new coat, or books if he needs them, but we dont have a lot spare and he really needs to stand on his own feet financially if he can.

Propertyfaux · 15/09/2019 20:45

I have just contributed to the full maintenance loan, I have divided by 40 weeks. Decided on weekly, not because I do not think he will be able to budget as he has managed to save most of his income from the last two years. I do know that if he was short he would not ask. He feels uncomfortable taking the money as it is. He has always felt the need to be as independent as possible.

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