How much does your DC student spend on maintenance per year?

[WombatChocolate]

I’ve been on threads about how much parents give their kids etc, but see few where the issue discussed is how much they actually need.

Is anyone able to mention the location their DC is studying in and how much it is costing them to live per year please? I’m interested in how much they are spending in total really - so accommodation, food, socialising etc.

I’m not so bothered about if they get it from the maintenance loan, parents, job or a combination of the 3, but simply in how much they are actually spending.

I realise some will be heavy drinkers and socialisers and others don’t really spend on that stuff, so there will be differences.

If you have a sense that they just about have enough, or they really struggle, or they have plenty that’s also be useful too.

What I’m trying to work out is wether the max maintenance loan amount of just under £10k is enough, or is £11k or £12k going to be more realistic.

Thanks in advance….and I know I’ve asked something similar before, but I’m re-phrasing now to try and get the info I’d find useful.

Loughborough and the max student loan amount is fine for an adequate standard of living.

£7500 Cardiff. Home a lot though

This might be helpful https://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-budgeting/what-do-students-spend-their-money-on.html

I think the England maintenance grant is not enough, if only because it hasn't kept pace with inflation. So I'd use the Wales level as a "better" baseline. (£11720 outside of London)

Thanks. Interesting that those 2 who have replied have enough with just the maintenance loan.

Currently looking at costs for a range of places ranging from Exter in South to Durham in north and a few in the midlands too.

Mine comfortably lived on £400 a month for food, travel, phone, going out, clothes, festivals, even a cheap summer holiday. Those costs are pretty much the same everywhere, though you may want to factor in another £100 a month travel if they can't walk to campus (mine could).

Rent will be the big difference. One of mine paid £350 a month in a cheap location, the other £500 a month in south west, and now each pays for houseshare £600 a month on south coast, and £1000 London.

@WombatChocolate Ds is at Durham so standard rent ish for first year with no real variation except en-suite/shared/catered. He was self catered with an en-suite and a 3/4 bed. His accommodation cost was £6335 (2021/2022) he gets minimum loan but we top him up to the full loan amount (savings, planned ahead and very lucky financially)

The way we worked it because it felt like how long is a piece of string was maximum loan amount £9488 minus accommodation cost £6335 left £3153. As he was meant to have a 30 week year which included freshers' week we divided that £3153 over 30 weeks giving him £105 per week.

We agreed in advance this would be talked about and rejigged if needed. How he spent it, £3.60 ish for one load of laundry, now Ds did 2 a week, one for clothes the other for bedding and towels. He is very clean and tidy, Tumble drying was free in first year (he now pays £1.80 a load in private halls) food he spent around £35 per week on a supermarket shop. He occasionally eats a take away but he is money savvy. He had a Tesco delivery fortnightly and did mini top ups if needed but he is a meal planner. We gave him an extra £100 for freshers' on top of the usual £105. I should say that he also gets £50pm from a Grandparent too for "beers".

Costs for course materials zero, travel, he comes home once a semester so about 5 weeks in but we are relatively close by and he chose a student bank for the young person's railcard. He can walk to campus, Durham is small so you can everywhere fairly quickly. Socialising, lots of them just gather at houses/kitchens/campus buildings because not everyone has money to burn. Ds doesn't even drink now especially with the cancer risk.

Things to consider, phone contract, we moved Ds onto his own so he can build a credit rating but still only £10pm or £2.50 a week. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, any gym membership, clubs and societies. We provide clothing basics including trainers/shoes, winter coats, hat, scarf, gloves (Durham is cold ish) anything he wanted on top of that he just budgeted and bought himself.

Like some other universities, the final term is a bit of a joke, Ds was finished 4 weeks before term ended in first year, 2nd year he was home 20th May when his exams finished, his "term" ran until 23rd June. The money he was given covered him whilst at home in the holidays for socialising and tickets to gigs. So despite being home we still gave him the money as that was the agreement and he is very good at saving, has a LISA for a house deposit.

Things to consider, how much it will cost you to kit them out for uni. We are not a family of spares so I didn't have old pans he could take or old towels. I hope that helps.

My DS was in the Midlands ..he managed just fine on the full maintenance amount .. (loan plus we made up the difference to the 'recommended' amount) probably even saved a little. Accommodation was all bills included and he seemed to eat well; socialising revolved around his sport. He happily buys clothes from charity shops. We did kit him out with 'household spares' from home so that obviously saved money & we would take him to and from Uni at the start and end of term so no travel costs.
It varies so much though and to an extent how 'frugal' they are ... DS had a friend who ate out or had a takeaway delivery every single day .

Mine live on the minimum maintenance loan plus whatever they can earn, and I pay their rent. At the cheapest uni, the rent plus minimum loan approximates to the maximum loan. At the more expensive unis the rent exceeds the expected parental contribution by some margin (ouch). I do it this way, with their agreement, so they all have the same amount of spending money, regardless of how ridiculous the local rental market is.

In summary, I pay their rent and they live off the minimum loan supplemented by their earnings.

Ds has just finished first year. He gets the minimum loan (but London weighting) so we pay his accommodation and he has the loan to live on. He has managed totally well on it and came home with money saved to last the summer and no overdraft.
he’s sociable but not a mad party animal so doesn’t spend more than £100 per week for food, laundry, nights out etc.
we Chuck him the odd £20 for a takeaway and I always send him back with food for the freezer.
he doesn’t work at uni but has a job for the summer.

DS is at Oxford, rent very reasonable, 4.5K per year lives on 3.5K over the year. Supplements this with tutoring and summer jobs

£21,600 St Andrews. Rents are mad though. DC has a PT job that earns £1k/mo towards this.

DD1 in Cambridge got by on the student loan plus a C bursary and ended up with savings. She largely self-catered and is extremely frugal with her own money.

DD2 in the E Midlands got by for 2 years on the student loan but due to DH getting a decent job, her loan plummeted last year. We were meant to give her £4k for the year to cover everything, however, I forgot to transfer the final £1000. She told me not to bother as she had plenty of money. Again, she is frugal, a savvy shopper and prepared to work in her holidays.

DD2 just finished first year at Warwick (so Coventry) with just shy of £10k. Her halls was £7,600 and we gave her £3k for living expenses. This was plenty and she had enough for a cheap holiday as well. But she’s not a party animal and an incredible lightweight when it comes to drinks!