Uni living costs for our darling offspring?

[BabyStopCryin]

So we are working out costs, accommodation, fees etc for DS off to uni this September (in London).

How much can students live on (reasonably) a week - friends we have asked give their kids between £100 and £250 (not including rent) a week!

Dd reckons she spends 400-500 pm maximum out of her maintenance loan excluding accommodation which we fund.

Well you could start by deducting her loan from the full loan available. This is how much the government expect you to pay based on your income. Then look at whether she is in an expensive location and if she wil get a part time/holiday job. Lots of students have to contribute.

DD is only entitled to the minimum loan. We pay for her accommodation, DD pays for living costs from her loan and her job (which is holiday time only).

I always post this link from Imperial, which is an average based on an annual survey of their students. It is eye-wateringly expensive! It can be done for much less.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/living-costs/

For anyone who doesn't dare click on the link, they suggest £19,580 for 12 months living in a private house share (it's unusual to be able to get a place in university halls in London after the first year).

Just worked out DD received £12100 last year - a combination of student loan and us topping up. Her rent was £7800pa. That leaves around £390pm a month (on an internment abroad which we're still subsidising). She pays for her travel home (not cheap as 330 miles away), all food, utilities, going out, extras on moving into accommodation (ie airers etc), storage (too far to transport home), flight to country abroad for internment. Her laptop broke, so she had to buy another one. She had a small job at uni and usually gets work when she's home - if she hasn't got enough she has to use this.