Living Expenses

[KittyMcKitty]

I know this has been discussed in the past and people have vastly differing viewpoints but how much per week (term time) is a reasonable amount after hall fees?

Dc is going to Manchester and has their hall allocation as already has grades (Oak House - oh the glamour 😂) so we are figuring out living expenses and considering around £150pw for everything else?

Woukd really appreciate hearing what others have done.

Thank you

I paid, fees rent and £150 a week (and the cost of the twins' shared car). There is no right or wrong other than as when I went in the 1980s the Government expects parents to make the minimum loan/grant up to the maximum including rent - so that should be most people's starting point.

Ds has the minimum maintenance plan and does really well on that, food, socialising,clothes.

**loan

He has no travel expenses when he's there as everywhere is walkable distance.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor
Who pays the rent? Does he live at home? The min loan usually doesn’t cover rent and living expenses. It’s way too low for that snd a parental contribution is needed when students live away from home on min loan. Living at home is completely different.

We pay the rent.

Ah. So he’s not existing on the minimum loan then.

The OP asked how much weekly AFTER rent/ halls . I replied he lives off the minimum loan.

I did and thank you to you (and everyone else) for your replies.

accomodation is so variable in cost that it’s really weekly living expenses I wanted to gauge. I know some people have said it’s expected that parents will top up to the max loan but with the differences in hall costs this becomes a meaningless thing - some places this will leave you with nothing to live on and in others £5k+.

Reading through some replies I think people felt we weren’t intending to give dc the equivalent of the max loan. That was never the case. He is not getting a loan (this is a sensible thought out decision which has been planned for and isn’t one I’m seeking advice on) and having read all the helpful comments we are giving him £150 pw term time (although will pay termly and if he spends it all on vodka and take away in the first month that’s his problem 😀).

Weekly living expenses are also quite variable

For example, my dc1 started university in Sept/Oct 2020 and opportunities for socialising were incredibly limited then so they just had to make their own entertainment within their households/bubbles

In the second year they went a bit OTT as a result (plus living out), so the next, and final, year should be more of an indication of average living expenses

DS had about £100 pw after rent last year at Exeter and it wasn't enough.
DH wanted to go through his bank statement with him to see where the spending was and was surprised to find there was nothing extravagant, just simply that the cost of living and the nature of DS's course made things difficult.

DS was involved in a lot of shows etc which meant he couldn't cook as much food at home as he'd have liked. Also, as part of this course he was expected to go to the cinema/ theatre a lot which was adding at least another £10 per week!

Don't know what we're going to give him next year yet. I'm very aware that food inflation has been about 20% on some products - something which DH just hasn't grasped yet! On the plus side, DS will no longer be paying £8/week for laundry!

DS was involved in a lot of shows etc which meant he couldn't cook as much food at home as he'd have liked. Also, as part of this course he was expected to go to the cinema/ theatre a lot which was adding at least another £10 per week!

Sound familiar, food out was a big expense for dd. Luckily she got to see shows by working as a theatre usher!