How much does maintenance cost each year (assuming your child is not living at home)?

[FrydayFish]

I'm trying to get a feel for how much it will cost when the first of our two kids goes to uni in a couple of years.
Obviously the fees will probably be 9k per year but how much per year does it cost for accommodation,food, travel, socializing etc.
I would like to think that my kids will get part time jobs while they are in uni so what is a ballpark figure for how much I will have to subsidise them per year?
6k, 8k, 10k, 12k?

I know loans for maintenance are also available but for now I'd just like to get a rough feel for the numbers.
Thanks

In all the things I thought about when my children were small, and decisions we made, paying for their education did not feature. At all. What was the point of planning it when there are many ways to achieve success in life, including apprenticeships and working way up from the lowest role. We just could not afford to save at that level AND for me to be a sahm. It felt important to do so AND I wanted to be with them. I did not want to have a baby and have someone else look after it whilst I chase money.

Maybe it's because I am the only one in mg family, and dh's, to have gone to uni - until my dd.

In my circles it is just not talked about. I cannot tell me dd she needs to self-fund as I know she will decide not to go. So, I spend the next year worrying and trying to save what I can.

Could you take on some additional part time work?

A friend who has one DC at uni already and another going next year is in a similar position and has just gotten some PT weekend work (in a shop, but she said there was plenty in hospitality as well). She's stashing all the extra earnings to help DC next year, then next year plans to save for the following etc.

What was the point of planning it when there are many ways to achieve success in life, including apprenticeships and working way up from the lowest role.

If that is how you truly feel why aren't you standing by that and telling your dd do do an apprenticeship or leave school for an entry grade job?

What was the point of planning it when there are many ways to achieve success in life, including apprenticeships and working way up from the lowest role.

If that is how you truly feel why aren't you standing by that and telling your dd do do an apprenticeship or leave school for an entry grade job?

What was the point of planning it when there are many ways to achieve success in life, including apprenticeships and working way up from the lowest role.

If that is how you truly feel why aren't you standing by that and telling your dd do do an apprenticeship or leave school for an entry grade job?

What was the point of planning it when there are many ways to achieve success in life, including apprenticeships and working way up from the lowest role.

If that is how you truly feel why aren't you standing by that and telling your dd do do an apprenticeship or leave school for an entry grade job?

Sorry MN glitching again.

You're right though

You're right though

dd lived on the exact amount of the full maintenance loan of just over £9,000. Her rent was £130 per week including bills and she had roughly £80 per week left for everything else. She did have a part time job which paid £50 per week but they closed down during the lockdown and never re-opened.

This year she is dong postgrad in London. I pay her rent of £550 per month not including bills and she finances everything else from her part time job. She earns around £200 per week but has higher travel costs (approx £50 per week)

Your grant would have been parental income dependent. Dh's parents were a crane driver and a low paid office worker and they were supposed to contribute. My mum worked in a corner shop and my dad was a plumber and I got barely anything. (1990's)

Dh and I were both the first of our families to go to university. we come from an are where education is traditionally not valued and where few go to university. Dh struggled because his parents did not give him their expected contribution so we decided early on that if our children wanted to go to uni we would plan for it.

For many years we didn't earn anything like what we do now, it is only in the last few years that we reached the £65k mark. Ds has also put a spanner in the works as we never thought he would go to university. Our aim was simply to try and keep him engaged as long as possible in some kind of education after he scraped his GCSE's. But he has stunned us all, blossomed during his Btec and has some really good offers. Added to which dd suffered greatly with her mental health during 2020-2021 so is now taking an extra year, they will overlap.

I kept my eye on what the situation was with regards to student finance over the years so I knew what the situation was.

I think that you'll get a better feel for costs if you take rent out of the equation for a moment as different university towns have very different property markets even out of London Lincoln vs Brighton for example. Beyond that living expenses are more equal across the country. We give DC1 £500 per month on top of rent and that is ample. They are studying music so have instrumental costs and travelling to external courses etc on top of normal expenditure and it is harder to work as they have lessons until 8pm some nights and also want/need to go to concerts etc. Having said that they do earn £35 for an hours teaching. I would have thought that £300 pcm on top of rent should be enough to feed them and pay for basics and then if they want anything else they can get a job. It is worth looking at whether they could find something more lucrative than a supermarket or bar though to reduce the number of hours they need to work - or to find work like babysitting where they can be paid to study......

The best thing anyone can do to help their child as they look at going to university (or just generally) is to teach them about money and how to budget and how to shop/cook economically. The Jack Munroe website is a good place to start for the latter. I made a notebook for DC of family recipes and cheap nutritious food they will eat with notes on each recipe on how to use left overs to provide another meal or two. We cooked from it over the summer holidays last year and the year before.

I have estimated about £20k including tuition, travel, computer etc. Or £11k all up. You can fund it with combination of loans, parent contribution and part-time work in term time and/or full-time work in holidays.

DS is in London, about to move into a shared house. £749 a month for rent, £160 for a travel card plus £60 a week for food. This is why I can't retire yet.

Rent (cheap northern city) is £380/month.
Bills were £60 last year but expecting them to go up this year, although the new house is better insulated.
No travel costs as lives close to uni.
Food and entertainment - how long is a piece of string?
Her maintenance loan just about covers the rent and bills. I give her £70/week for the other stuff and also pay for SIM card, contact lenses and an occasional train ticket home when we're missing her!