What's a reasonable amount for a uni student to live on after rent?

[MrsMaverick]

Having some differences of opinion here on what is a reasonable amount for food/going out/travel costs etc after rent and bills are paid.
I'd be interested please in how much your dcs have to spend (irrespective of whether it's from maintenance loan or parents contribution) and whether they are in London or elsewhere.
Thanks.

Both DS3 and DS2 have the minimum loan to live on. We pay accommodation cost. Neither in London, although the main London differential is more likely housing costs, and probably going out costs.

Neither seem to struggle. Based on time away it’s something in the region of £140 per week, so in my view more than adequate. Both also have holiday jobs.

could be a little different come this autumn for DS2 who has just finished third year and planning on starting a masters, as the funding for that is a bit different.

Mine have always had their rent paid & lived off the minimum loan. We also aid their phones (£10/month). One had money to spare for a cheap holiday at the end of each year, the others had jobs (all had jobs in the holidays).

140 per week. Phone paid. They can always get a part time job if they want more money.

£140 a week seems very high if no rent and bills!

I don't have kids at uni so prepare to be told this is normal - watching with interest.

DD used min maintenancenloan plus a top up from us for her rent to the tune of an extra 2k.

To live on we give her £500 per month, all year round, so £6,000 per year. She also has a part time job in the holidays. Now first year is done, and she is more settled, she will be getting a term time job as well next term. She also does pet portraits for £30 each, nice little earner on the side!

She has actually saved some money this year, as she is good with food, and not a big drinker, but next year, her rent is even more than the uni accommodation was, and exceeded my budget, hence the need for an extra job.

I should perhaps add, that she pays for everything with that. All her clothes, food, toiletries, medical needs, train home, gym sessions inc. personal trainer, netflix etc etc etc.

2020-21 - DD received £10k from student loan and us. Accommodation £6700 and approx £600 travel travel home (660 miles away), so that left £2700 for food, toiletries, prescriptions, utility bills, insurance, socialising.

Currently on year abroad which offers a large student loan and erasmus funding. Accommodation a lot cheaper, so doesn't need anything from us.

Dreading next year, her accommodation looks more like £8000pa for nothing special!! It's a city, but not London. Luckily she's on final year, so will have more work, so less socialising. Also, has a group of well off friends, but they're happy to do drinks, meals in, take picnics to park.

Thanks for the replies.
DD is in London on minimum maintenance loan with us paying rent so that leaves her with about £130 per week for the weeks she is away.
She seems to be surrounded by people on considerably more!
She seems to have bought clothes and takeaways on this budget so hasn't done too badly I think!

My dd manages on £65 a week no problem. We do big shops each term and pay her phone. She goes clubbing, has the odd takeaway etc. generally £25 goes on food and the rest on play!! Her friends are on similar amounts.

London £400/months. Includes mobile and travel and has needed a few extra trips home for medical appointments. At Birthday and Xmas main gift is also money.
Has a part-time job.

Given the increasing energy costs what is the best way to pay the rent when they live out. ds1 was bills included so when we paid his rent we were paying his utilities as well but times were different and he was at a much cheaper university than ds2. We are planing to pay ds2's rent and he will live off his minimum loan but he had assumed we would pay utilities, I have said not, but now I am doubting myself.

Plus I am frankly shocked at how much money some of his friends have , he's not asking for more and has managed to date but its clear that sometimes he has struggled to keep up, and we are not taking champagne and ski trips just the usual sports , pub and food. (although he is fully catered dinner at 5pm has resulted in a lot of late night either takeaways or microwave meals)

We could afford to give him more but I struggle with the idea that he has too much, that sounds silly but I have always felt they should know the value of money. On the other hand I don't want him constantly worrying when he doesn't have to or feeling like an also ran.

Bloody hell I'm not showing ds's this thread..! Ds1 got £65 a week in year 1 and we reduced it to £50 a week for years 2 and 3. He gets this in term time only - he doesn't get anything when at home..! He hasn't got a job, so it's up to him to get one if he wants more money.

Ds2 is just about to go to Uni, and we've just agreed the same deal with him

My oldest is at Oxford, so the maintenance loan doesn't quite cover his rent. We pay to top up his rent, we pay for his phone separately, and we give him £400 per month to live on. We also pay him separately for travel between Oxford and home, and he gets regular cash injections from grandparents as well. He says most of the students he knows have more money than him, which I believe (as I also went there, and was also surrounded by privately-educated rich kids with credit cards) but it's enough for him to live comfortably. He and his friends drink in the Wetherspoons because it's cheap, and he can cook, so he shops at Lidl once a week and makes himself things like dahl and pasta bakes. He seems to have enough money to go clubbing in London with his old school friends every now and again, and to keep himself adequately clothed. He seems happy enough. If he was struggling he'd tell us, I hope.

My DD has minimum maintenance loan to live on which is about 4.5k.
She comes home during the holidays and lives at home for free.
She does some casual work to top up her up and has some savings (aka birthday money)
We pay her uni rent, the minimum maintenance loan she is entitled to sadly doesn't come anywhere near covering living expenses including rent.
If they are living away from home they really need the full maintenance loan to survive during term time which is about 9.5k. And then live at home for free during the holidays.
It's painful but we want to support her, neither me or DH went to uni so we want her to have opportunities we didn't have, I think it's unfair that the maintenance loan is meanstested on parents earnings - we have other DC and aren't exactly rich and if a students parents won't or can't help and yet the student can only get minimum loan because of parents income they are basically stuffed!

Like others we pay DD's rent and she has the minimum loan to live on. She's got a lot of spare cash at the end of each term, despite an serious ASOS habit, which I think is because she doesn't drink alcohol or take drugs.

Due to disability she's not going to be able to work in the holidays, but fortunately we can comfortably afford to support her.

I would pay his utilities. You did it for his brother so you should do it for him.

My son is in London. The student loan covers accommodation plus he has about £500 spare. Then he gets £100 a week from me and his dad (50 each). He works all the holidays in a restaurant and seems to have enough to live ok in London, although he drinks moderately and NEVER buys clothes

@Greensleeves

My dc1 is also at Oxford and the (minimum) maintenance loan does pretty much cover the rent if they live in hall. Food and travel are added expenses though

It depends on the college. It was the same 25 years ago - my loan covered my rent, just about - DH's was nowhere near. Different colleges charge different amounts.

They both get £60 pw ( not London) plus we pay for phones and one also has a software monthly payment thing. Occasional big shops or online shops on top. Wondering if we'll have to up it with cost of living. One manages well, one not so good with £.... e.g 'can I have an extra tenner this week for laundry '

Thankfully we are in Scotland so fees paid. She then gets the annual student loan which covers her rent.
She gets £250 per month from us. £50 from her grandmother. We pay her Netflix.
She has a job and as our son is about to head off to uni in September ( to a much pricier city) she has said she's happy to reduce what we give her because we've got him to pay for too.

Sounds fine to me. I went to uni in London, there are very, very, very wealthy students about but doesn’t mean it’s essential.

We pay DS’s rent and his cheap phone contract. His grandmother pays for a cheap gym membership and he lives off the minimum loan. It is enough for term time but he has had to get a job in the summer holidays as we don’t top him up with any funds then.

DS is going in September. We will cover accommodation in excess of his maintenance loan and his phone bill. We will also give him £60 a week for everything else and a top up shop every now and then. If that’s not enough he needs to get a part time job. I study and work and it’s definitely manageable, his contact hours are only around 12 a week.

Ds gets minimum loan, we top him up to maximum loan amount then we take off his rent which was £6335 for Durham first year. The remainder was divided down over the number of weeks he would be away which was 30 meaning he got £105 per week. This sees him through the holidays over Christmas, Easter and this summer. He pays for going out, we provide food and toiletries.

We send him with a basics supply of food and toiletries each semester. His supermarket shop is £30pwk, his laundry is £7pwk which is 2 loads, one is clothes, the other is bedding and towels. Tumble drying was free. The rest he used for takeaways, socialising and covering being out and about in holidays, going to a gig in London etc. He is not a clubber. He has friends with different budgets, one of whom seems to spend, spend, spend. Most of them have similar disposable income to Ds and some have much less.

Realistically he could very easily survive on half of what we give but this comes down to can the parents afford it and whether the student manages their money well. I survived on much, much less but missed out on a lot of things food wise and socialising wise, I had to pick and choose what things I attended. I never wanted that for Ds. It does feel like the last bit of being carefree before jobs and houses etc.