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Higher education

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

Original poster

How much allowance do you give your student dc to live on per week

255 replies

FlamingHot · 20/05/2021 16:27

Or per month? Dd’s halls of residence and course fees will be covered by us and student loads.

We’re not sure how much she’ll need for food/nights out etc. Her halls will be self catered only.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Middersweekly · 21/05/2021 09:26

DD will be in a catered hall which we will pay for. Aside from this we will probably give her an extra £150-200 a month for extra expenses like stationary, toiletries, clothes and likely snacks and alcohol. Second year will likely be a house share so probably £400 a month extra (we will cover her rental cost also).

Comefromaway · 21/05/2021 09:38

The answer to that question depend on how much loan they get.

We told dd that we would make up her money to the full amount of a student loan. For us that means £327 per month.

I

titchy · 21/05/2021 09:40

@FlamingHot

Ah, ok, I think I need to find out more about loans first so I can find out what she will get. I think she's unlikely to get a job while she's there. She has ASD and ADHD, just getting through day to day will be draining so I don't think she'll have the energy for a job too. She's terrible at managing her money - not a bean of common sense - so finances are a bit of a worry!
If she's terrible with money I'd suggest the loan pays her rent - loan comes termly, and often student rent is paid termly, even living out.

Then pay her monthly, or even fortnightly, and maybe consider sending part of her allowance in the form form of a Tesco voucher.

Ragwort · 21/05/2021 09:42

Our DS gets the minimum maintenance loan and we give £250 a month - he has to budget for and pay the accommodation costs out of the total (he is lucky enough to get £100 a month from DGPs as well). He manages very well on that and saves, he did work part time during the first year but that job has gone due to Covid.

It's difficult to give exact advice because accommodation costs vary so much ... and what students see as 'essential' Grin.

Crumpetstoday · 21/05/2021 10:13

We basically give the equivalent of the student loan, we pay accommodation which includes evening meal and then we give £150 /week by bank transfer, which he says is v v comfortable. ( he eats a lot and spends about 60-70 a week on breakfast and lunch at college, no kitchen facilities)
If dd has trouble managing finances it might work for you to transfer her money weekly or monthly. Ds is good with money but it suits me to pay out of monthly income rather than take a lump sum out of savings at beginning of term. We also gave a bit more in September y1 to pay for one off costs, joining clubs etc.

Comefromaway · 21/05/2021 11:38

@FlamingHot

Ah, ok, I think I need to find out more about loans first so I can find out what she will get. I think she's unlikely to get a job while she's there. She has ASD and ADHD, just getting through day to day will be draining so I don't think she'll have the energy for a job too. She's terrible at managing her money - not a bean of common sense - so finances are a bit of a worry!
This is the rough sliding scale

www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html

Xenia · 21/05/2021 13:23

As Crumpet says weekly payments can be wise. I give my sons their weekly £150 each all year so they never run out of money (and they are very lucky I can afford it).

2021/22 living away from home outside London the full maintenance loan for parents who are not very well off is "£9,488" www.gov.uk/student-finance/new-fulltime-students The Government never makes it as easy to find the minimum which is what loads of middle class people get. It looks like minimum is £4422 outside London - table if you scroll down here www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html

So a well off parent making minimum up to maximum for a student not in London would pay £5066 a year = £97 a week or roughly £100 a week. If instead they paid the rent costs and let the student live on 4422 loan that is £85 a week averaged over the year.

My parents however gave me a third of the difference between minimum and maximum grant each term I think it was so I would learn to budget it and make it last. I can see pros and cons to both approaches but I just decided with my own children to do it weekly.

chopc · 21/05/2021 13:35

@Xenia the £150 a week included food?

DS will be catered and have his accommodation and fees paid. How much is a reasonable amount for pocket money in Durham?

Comefromaway · 21/05/2021 13:40

My dd has about £85 per week in self catering. Her food budget is £35 per week.

MyDcAreMarvel · 21/05/2021 13:47

@FlamingHot pip has replaced dla for over 16 year olds. DSA needs applying for it’s not automatic x

MyDcAreMarvel · 21/05/2021 13:47

@FlamingHot was texting at same time Smile

motogogo · 21/05/2021 13:57

Mine get it made up to the full loan amount, if they want more they need to work. Dd2 has plenty as she's sponsored, dd1 earns money as a musician

Tulipomania · 21/05/2021 14:03

DS receives the minimum maintenance loan which we make up to the equivalent of the full maintenance loan. Plus pay for his phone as it's on a. very cheap contract.

Parker231 · 21/05/2021 14:46

@chopc - does your DC do sport or want to continue with a particular hobby? DT’s both did a lot of sport (and drinking and partying) - they had equipment and travel costs which we paid for on top of their monthly amount from us.

chopc · 21/05/2021 15:00

@Parker231 yes he plays cricket and would like to keep up with his Taekwondo if possible. I think cricket will be on site in Durham and he has to travel to Newcastle for the Taekwondo

Cowbells · 21/05/2021 15:06

I give DC £60 pw. That is supposed to cover food (self catering) and laundry, as well as a bit towards nights out and travel.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 21/05/2021 15:27

DS has enough savings to last him the first year, especially if he works as well. We will pay his accommodation (and I already pay his mobile phone, it's only £10 a month with Giffgaff).

For his second and third years we'll have to have a conversation but i suspect £100 a week will be enough (excluding accommodation).

In my last year as a student I had £300 a month and £200 of that went on accommodation. So I had £25 a week plus anything I earned on top. I don't actually know how I managed, but I did.

looptheloopinahulahoop · 21/05/2021 15:29

Interesting point about paying them weekly - I was thinking about doing that but I wondered if he should learn to budget on a monthly basis. As I say he's got savings, and it might be a good idea to drip feed a certain amount into his current account each month during the first year.

When I had £300 a month to live on, that was a grant of £3000 which I dripfed into an account each month so I didn't spend too much.

mykitchenruler · 21/05/2021 15:32

We pay rent and DC live off their minimum loans which is more than enough, even for the spendy one.

Devlesko · 21/05/2021 15:34

Not quite there yet, but nothing.
Can't afford to so all of ours were on their own.
Managed ok.

Parker231 · 21/05/2021 15:40

loop - we’ve always done it monthly as different times had different expenses. Worst at the start of each term but some cheaper weeks to balance everything out.

Comefromaway · 21/05/2021 15:43

@Devlesko

Not quite there yet, but nothing. Can't afford to so all of ours were on their own. Managed ok.
I assume they were entitled to the maximum loan though?
BackforGood · 21/05/2021 15:44

the people who got the full loan entitlement generally had more money than they needed, you really don’t need to top it up to the full amount.

All my dc have said this, and nieces and nephews - so that's across 7 different universities. They all have commented at one point or another that the students who have plenty of money to spend are always the ones on the full maintenance loan Smile

I agree with Titchy about using the loan to pay the rent makes most sense for most students. Yes, if they are on min loan you may need to top up, but the loan comes in and the rent goes out within a day or so, and then the money that you give as part of the top up can go to them either monthly or weekly - whichever you think the student will be able to manage. After all, as adults, none of us are expected to make one payment last for 4 months and budget accordingly.

Xenia · 21/05/2021 15:47

My twins' £150 a week is getting quite complicated. The short answer is yes it has included food. So year 1 catered hall in term time I suppose I was also paying for their food via paying their halls fees. Year 2 £150 stayed the same but they were now buying their food at university from it. In holiadys the £150 continues and I pay for all their food (so luck down in a sense made them quids in from last March (at home).
Year 4 - the one who is away at present - he gets the £150 and buys his food out of that and the one at home gets the £150 and I pay for his food on top which neither of them wanted me to change this year despite the unfairness as the one away is home a fair bit due to lock down after lockdown and probably because they are both studying from home next year so in the interests of both that they keep getting the £150 plus the food from me.

They are pretty well off as when their 10 year old brother moved house instead of selling his old one I put that in the name of the twins as I was planning to help them each buy a first place anyway once they were in their mid 20s, and a second little house bought Jan 2021, so they have a house each and rent from those too.

Budapestdreams · 21/05/2021 16:12

Hope easy is it for students to find party time jobs when they are at uni?

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