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Higher education

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

Original poster

Living Expenses

29 replies

LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 10:11

I would really appreciate some advice.

DC1 will be going to Manchester Uni in the autumn (has a confirmed place is currently on a gap year).

I would really appreciate any advice on how much to allow for living expenses (I know this varies dramatically from student to student but would appreciate some help).

Obviously tuition is £9250 pa and whilst he won’t have a hall allocated for a while (Manc very vague as to whether those with unconditional offers will get this allocated before those holding conditional offers) but the most expensive hall he’s applied to will be £7169 pa.

We will pay for his phone and bus pass / rail card so that just leaves living expenses. What sort of figure are we looking at? We are not rich but are in a fortunate position to have money saved for the dc at Uni.

I’m also in a quandary as to whether to apply for a maintenance loan for him (he will get the minimum).

Any help / guidance gratefully appreciated Easter Smile

OP posts:
Comefromaway · 17/04/2022 10:30

My daughter did a performing arts course where you can’t apply for student finance. We paid her halls fees and gave her £80 per week to live on. We didn’t pay her phone or travel etc, everything came out of that. We also only paid it to her over 11 month (sept-July)

Do you know how much maintenance loan your son will get. This website will give you an idea www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html

My Ds is off to Leeds in October. Based on our income he will get the minimum loan of £4,524 per year. So we will top it up to the full £9,706 which equates to £431 per month.

After halls fees of £7,202.50 that will give him just over £200 per month to live on.

Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 10:37

Thanks for the reply. He will only be eligible for the minimum maintenance loan.

OP posts:
yogabbagabba134 · 17/04/2022 10:38

I mean taking the loan would reduce some burden on you as I assume u r helping him out. Is he catered?

Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 10:41

Yes we will pay his hall and tuition fees as well as bus pass and phone. It’s a question of how best to do the rest and how much. All the halls he’s applied to are non catered.

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mumsneedwine · 17/04/2022 11:15

@LadyLazarus40 we have always paid the accommodation and they've lived off the minimum loan. They have never run out of money (& both have v active social lives !).

MarchingFrogs · 17/04/2022 11:59

Why ate you paying his tuition fees? If he takes out the loans he's entitled, the tuition fee loan itself give you nearly two year's worth of topping up from minimum maintenance loan (assuming he takes that as well) to the nominal expected amount for every one year's tuition, iyswim.

This is money that he can never borrow for any other purpose, whereas your savings can be used for anything you want / need. If you have lots of money going spare once your DS graduates, you can always spend it on reducing the capital of his loan for him. Or hang on to it in case he wants to do a Masters; he can get a separate loan for this, bit it is a fixed amount and for many courses that barely covers the fees, let alone living expenses.

Also, he has to apply for the loans, as they are his responsibility - you only need to be involved if he would be entitled to anything above the minimum in terms of the maintenance loan and you have already calculated that he won't be.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 17/04/2022 12:02

Don't pay for his tuition fees.

We pay ds's rent and then the minimum maintenance loan he lives on. Think it's £4,400.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 17/04/2022 12:02

And yes,hang on to any saved money for a Masters.

Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 15:21

Thanks for all your comments and I understand people feel passionately about not paying tuition fees etc etc but we will be paying them (v long and personal and not something I want to go into) but do appreciate your comments. Just looking for a feel for how much living expenses (on top of fees and accommodation) that people are giving their dc.

OP posts:
Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 15:23

And yes I do understand that it would be my dc who would have to apply for any student loans Smile

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Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 15:23

[quote mumsneedwine]@LadyLazarus40 we have always paid the accommodation and they've lived off the minimum loan. They have never run out of money (& both have v active social lives !). [/quote]
Thank you this is really useful!

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SeasonFinale · 17/04/2022 15:24

If you want to pau his tuition then do so. Some parents do. The main issue is whether there is also potentially a house deposit pot too because if not then it may (not definitely will) be better to have a student loan and donate the £27,750 towards a deposit.

EmpressCixi · 17/04/2022 15:26

When my DD stayed in catered halls we gave her £250/mo for expenses this included her paying for her phone and any transport (train to city for events). We did pay seperately for things like new contact lenses, glasses, annual association fees, and if books got a bit pricey one term we’d top her up. But £240/mo seemed to cover all her meals not in the dining facility and expenses like toiletries, local travel to PT job, etc. The agreement with the PT job is that she save the money towards graduate study or summer internships.

yogabbagabba134 · 17/04/2022 15:50

@LadyLazarus40 I assume ur DS has worked in his gap year and has savings?

Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 16:51

@yogabbagabba134 am confused why you say this? Not that it’s relevant but he has spent / will spend the majority of the year travelling in SE Asia (he has entirely self funded this).

But don’t know how this relates to his living expenses at Uni Confused

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yogabbagabba134 · 17/04/2022 16:56

@LadyLazarus40 I thought people work in a gap year (before uni) to save up money for living expenses. May have reduced the 'help needed' bit from you if he had a few thousand saved up (specifically for uni). That's all.

Original poster
LadyLazarus40 · 17/04/2022 17:11

@yogabbagabba134 ah I see. Anyway no he had a gap year to travel which is something I am very pleased he has had the opportunity to do and something he has / is gaining a lot from.

As I said I don’t want to debate how his degree is funded and he is well aware of how fortunate he is to have this money (which due to very specific reasons which I won’t go into is purely for his degree) I’m just really looking for a feel for how much he should be budgeting for living expenses (he budgets very well as has / is doing this whilst travelling which has given him a huge appreciation for money and what it takes to earn it having worked very long hours In hospitality to save up).

Thanks to everyone who has commented with their / their dc’s experiences- really helpful.

OP posts:
clary · 17/04/2022 18:12

My DC get about £7k in loan, which has covered their hall fees (about £4-5k pa) and then most of their living expenses.

I have subbed them with about £20 pw (so about £1k pa) and also pay their phone; I also buy anything at all big, by which I mean clothes, sports kit in DS2's case and anything like laptop (not that they have needed a new one thank goodness). i also paid for a decent set up before they went in terms of cooking equipment, bedlinen; whenever I see them I offer to do a grocery shop as well.

So if you are paying your ds's phone, bus pass and accommodation, I would say about £60-£100 pw would be plenty (ie the minimum loan would easily cover it). It depends a bit on whether he goes out a lot, whether you would expect him to buy clothes and other big things out of that and whether he had any expensive hobbies - DS2's sport costs a lot but DD's band practice did not.

Kite22 · 17/04/2022 19:16

About £40-£50 would be plenty.
My dd gets under £40 from us (and pays for her own phone) and says it is fine for "needs".
"Wants" (or luxuries if you like) she works and earns her own money.
Generally she spends less than £20 pw on food / groceries. (My 6' ds said the same before people start saying girls eat less). Things they find expensive tend to be laundry, but they soon learn it makes sense to buy another week's worth of underwear and wash less often, and that most clothes don't need washing after only one wear, etc.

user1487194234 · 17/04/2022 21:02

We pay ours £1100 each
Rent is around £500
Also pay for contact lenses,phones and other bits and bobs that we had previously paid for
No fees as in Scotland x

User7493268965 · 17/04/2022 21:11

I think generally you make it up to the maximum amount of loan that a student would be entitled to. Any extra on top of that then it is a good idea to get a job

LadyMacnet · 17/04/2022 21:24

DC gets the minimum maintenance loan. This really is plenty for the weekly food shop, day to day living expenses and socialising. We pay their rent, travel costs to/from home at start of the academic year, Easter and summer. We also cover the phone contract and a kind relative pays for (cheap) gym membership.

NeedleNoodle3 · 17/04/2022 21:30

My DC got the minimum maintenance loan, this was put towards their 6k rent and we gave them £85 per week term time only and £10 a week in the holidays. Plus paid their phone bills, travel home and any big things such as tickets for balls or kit for sports societies. One got a not very regular part time job at the university and the other started a small business up which he ran while studying.

SerendipitySunshine · 17/04/2022 22:05

I'd suggest maybe looking at some catered halls too. The modern en-suite ones, organised in fits, are more fashionable now, but the student satisfaction for the old style corridors are often much higher. They offer a wider pool of students to help find your tribe, and eating together is great to help socialise. Plus they don't drink away their loans and run out of food towards the end of term!

beeswain · 18/04/2022 07:15

DS does not have a maintenance loan. We pay his rent termly (v reasonable 4.5k uncatered) and then give him £250 per month for the 8 months of the year he is at University. He manages v well on this and works during holidays to give himself a bit of a buffer.