Weekly spending money at uni after bills/food covered?

[WombatChocolate]

DC is looking at going to a Uni where the halls are fully catered and priced 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. The rents for their halls are high, as they include 21 meals a week.

My question is, how much extra money do you think they need per week in term time?

I know they will still buy snacks and the odd extra meal, but spending in food should be pretty limited. DC isn’t a big drinker but will want to socialise and go out. Realise there will be some bigger costs at start of year for Freshers week etc. But what do you think it would be worth budgeting for them to have weekly?

I’m not so interested in where the money comes from - loans, parental contribution, them working etc. Really interested in what a student who has been fed and watered needs beyond that. Wondering about £60 per week in term time and perhaps £30 a week during hols.

Any thoughts very welcome.

Mine get £500 a month
I pay phones and contact lenses and a big shop each term

We can probably give £500 a month but food would come out of that. We're hoping she will get a pt job. She should be able to transfer to the university town branch of where she works now. Also she can work at her current branch at Christmas and in summer.

Son’s non catered rent is 8k a year covered by us. We pay his phone £10 and his travel home.

Minimum maintenance loan to live on.

Has 8 k in savings which was in the Gov CTF so in his name.

I am trying to encourage him to also save and budget so for any money he has left out of his minimum maintenance loan at the end of each term I match it and put it into savings for him.

He only turned 18 August 23 before he went to Uni. Doing a medical degree so no time to work term time. He will be expected to find a job in the summer.

My DH and I were given no help at all from either of our parents we were the poorest of students. I don’t want that for my son but as you say it’s a balance of learning the life skill of budgeting and saving too.

Currently he is enjoying watching the interest grow on his savings and knows he will have enough interest to pay for his gym membership (which we covered his first year) next year (£300.00).

Like your son he doesn’t drink alcohol much and because he was 18 in August he could never go clubbing with his friends at home because he couldn’t get in. The first term he did party a bit more than usual and spent most of his loan money. He rarely drinks now he has got it out of his system but will still go out to the clubs.

He is trying to budget better this term as he wants the savings match I said I would do so we will see.

Even not drinking in a club is expensive and going out to do fun activities all adds up.

@Africa2go I did say to start at £0 and build up based on costs and what your student would like to do. So you absolutely would count in the pizza meal and having some fun with others.

I have often found MN parents have dc who live frugally and my DDs didn’t. That’s why it’s a good idea to talk to your child and know how they wish to live within reason. Plus what can be afforded. If a DC doesn’t drink, doesn’t do any sport and stays in their room not mixing (and plenty are like this) their monetary needs will be different. I’ve often been lambasted because I openly admit my DDs had a coffee or two. In a coffee shop!! Shock horror. Each to their own but I agree many students don’t want to be the one not going for the pizza. So look at all costs that is reasonable for your dc. Not the DCs of others.

My son gets£50 per week and pays for all food, sports clubs and socialising. He has a job he can choose to do when he wants( Deliveroo) and had some savings from selling a bike and weight lifting equipment before he started and he may be using some of that but he never asks for any extra. We do a big shop whenever we see him to top up.

I should add that we will still buy clothes for him as needed

I gave my DD £250 PCM throughout the year to cover all costs after rent and meals. So £3000 a year. She soon learned how to budget, and only worked in the holidays! She got minimum student loans.
This was 10 years ago.

Non catered halls we gave £40 a week and he topped up with wages so probably added in £60 a week himself. We continued this in years 2 and 3 and he topped up with a job. We pay for his phone and car insurance as well.

Yes, I definitely sat down and had a proper conversation with my DC before even choosing options. I was always clear that he would get the equivalent of the max maintenance loan. It was then up to him to choose which accomodation to go for, whether an ensuite was better than extra spending money etc. I think it's very healthy to set a fixed budget. I have also funded all travel home (mainly lifts but paid for train when not possible) and bought a big shop once a term and sent the odd treat, including an extra contribution to Freshers week costs as I didn't want him to miss out due to finances. My student is quite financially savvy and conscious of how much they have and is quite careful to allocate it which is all good practice.

Same as @Chewbecca
We'd had conversations long before applying for Universities about fixed budget, and factoring that as an element into the whole process of choosing where to apply for.
Questions about cost of accommodation and cost of living and making choices between catered / non-catered ..... fancy penthouse or even studio vs ordinary halls .....en-suite vs shared bathroom .......on campus vs walk away from campus and so forth all looked into before applications went in.

DD1 ended up at insurance choice and that was more expensive. Plus no choice of accommodation. She got catered and that was that. However firm was catered but cheaper, We didn’t want either DC choosing based on costs. Best course and outcomes for work were more important but I understand for many its costs and parental contribution is a bigger proportion of maintenance.

By the time they get to 17/18 most of us know what makes dc tick. My DDs did not do sports but gym and sports memberships can be expensive as well as socialising after. Societies socialise and there might even be a ball. DD liked gigs and the theatre. Some dc don’t do anything so their costs are less but mine liked a variety of things to do. Plenty of boys find they like bars too. It’s a time to try new things.

We obviously set a budget and DDs didn’t exceed them. So everyone was happy.

Do most parents sit down with their kids and look at the figures and what they will be getting from loans/parental contribution and any student earnings and say ‘look you’ve got X per week or per term to spend.’ and talk through with them what that spending might need to cover? Or are people not doing this and making it up week to week as they go along and just giving them money as they ask for it?

You'd hope more of the former; however as the MN boards (and others) often show the "topping up" expectation (Wales excluded) can still come as a surprise to some, and though not a surprise financially challenging still for a further group.

We've taken the route of paying accommodation and leaving the DCs with the minimum loan - which is more than adequate for them in our experience. They all had holiday jobs, plus savings ahead of actually starting uni. It does mean they have a lump sum at the start of each term, and therefore need to manage that accordingly. Truth be told the youngest - Y12 and Y13 through Covid - got a bit carried away in his first term but soon learnt from that. Our approach has meant that in some years the overall amount they have (accommodation + min loan) exceeds that max loan figure; but more often it has been the opposite (wise / fortuitous accommodation choices after yr 1).

On a broader level the general principle of "topping up" to the max maintenance loan equivalent was a reasonable approach imo however the inflation levels of the last few years now give a somewhat hollow ring to it.

The government announced earlier this week that the maintenance loan (for students from England) will be increased by 2.5% for 24-25. Meaning that for students outside London the max loan of £10,2444 will be just over £1900 short of the £12,130 the loan would be if the Government had raised it in line with inflation since 2020/21. The give the RG some credit they've produced a fairly clear graph showing this.

https://russellgroup.ac.uk/news/russell-group-responds-to-2024-25-maintenance-loan-increase/

and the point is re-inforced in this HEPI blog

https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/01/26/the-increase-in-student-maintenance-hides-a-critical-shortfall-in-financial-support-for-students/#:~:text=This%20announcement%20also%20confirms%20the,line%20with%20inflation%20since%202021.

Household income thresholds also look to be frozen once again.

I think the "parents pay rent, children survive on (minimum) loan" doesn't lend itself to the catered scenario we have (and OP is talking about) as it would mean parents finding £9k or £10k per child and the children having @ £90 a week (over 52 weeks) or £150 a week (just term time).

Even for Yr 2 onwards (obviously self catered for the vast majority), rent will be cheaper but not massively so when you factor in that we'll be paying 52 week contracts, rather than 39 weeks in halls.

As this thread demonstrates, there isn't really a "one size fits all" solution - it really boils down to having a grown up conversation about expectations / budgets and then seeing how your YP get on.

@Africa2go We didn’t do that but plenty do. Many self catered are getting near £9000 pa. Those lovely new halls with ensuites that DC must have! (Even though they share a bathroom at home quite happily). My DD had shared room, shared bathroom and catered. Sharing a bathroom after boarding wasn’t an issue but she was allocated it so no discussion about luxury! Many students choose a very expensive self catering option, paid for by parents, and minimum loan pays for everything else. Those “luxury” blocks are not empty.

DS is in catered halls, catering covers breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday. He has £60 a week during term time only for everything else. He doesn't drink, which helps. He says he is towards the lower income end in his flat of 15 students, but also says the others are mostly southern and rich (he is northern and in a northern uni). I am hoping that at some point he will be motivated to go and get a job. He is autistic and just keeping up with life has been enough stress for him over the last couple of years, but I know he needs to get some experience so don't want to make life too easy for him otherwise he has very little incentive to actually look for part-time work.....

I didn't sit down and have any sort of conversation with my son about budgeting. He sort of worked it out himself though. It's hard to know what they need before they go, but mine I think mostly spent it on drinking and food (particularly in years 2 and 3 when he wasn't in college). You do have to buy tickets for the balls and formals. But there isn't much to do in Durham, not many shops, drinking is cheap in the college bars. There may be gyms etc but I don't think they are near the centre and it would be a trek without a car. You can't have a car at college.

Thanks for all the really helpful thoughts here. Just so helpful for our planning.

I too am surprised that lots of parents seem to pay the rent (which can be close to £10k for the catered accommodation in Durham and other places) and then have the minimum maintenance loan and give it to the kids for spending purposes. That means they have £5k for spending, which is an awful lot per week if you’re in fully catered accommodation, and means the DC has about £15k per year in total - which even with proper inflation added on to the full maintenance loan, is several £k beyond the full maintenance loan. But I totally understand that some people have more and want their DC to be able to afford absolutely anything they want and not to need to make choices or budget.

We want DC to be able to fully participate - as the example given - to be able to go for a pizza with friends if everyone is doing it. We want them to be able to join clubs and go to the pub and to go the formal meals or a summer ball etc. At he same time, we don’t want or need them to be in a position wheee they don’t need to think about any expenditure and simply say yes to everything or are initiating lots of late night takeaways (having had 3 meals provided) or boozing to excess 5 nights a week, or joining every club going without considering if they will really attend. Some sense of there being a limit and needing to budget is an important part of the the learning journey for us. If we had unlimited money, I don’t think we’d want to give them much more than we are thinking of.

I agree that on one level we need to just do what seems right for us and plan for our particular DC and their lifestyle. I don’t think we can fully ignore what others are doing (and the difficulty is that until you get there, you don’t really know what the finances of their peers will be like) because some of it is about being able to join-in with the social life and that’s partly determined by the budgets of others. So I think we will want to be a bit mindful of that, but only to an extent. No doubt there will be some who seem to have limitless funds and are ‘living it big’ but we wouldn’t want to be matching that and wouldn’t be aiming to “ keep up with the Jones’”. I think we have enough self belief in our own decision making and ability to adjust a bit if needed, to not feel we need to exactly follow the crowd. This is what we don’t it’s our own finances - we make choices for us and they aren’t always what others with similar jobs or backgrounds or incomes might make…but we have the confidence to do that and own our decisions.

And yes to there being some flexibility within it all. I think it really will help DS to have some numbers and sense of what there is per term and per average week. It will help him to think there won’t be loads extra, although he might sometimes get a bit of a gift from grandparents or whatever, or a one-off purchase from ourselves…but not to rely on it. If we realise the numbers are significantly out, we will have to have conversations with him about it and talk through what the solutions might be - does he need to budget better and spend less, earn/earn more in the hols and within that we will consider if we should give more. In my mind it’s not just about what we can afford, but what we think is good for him.

I’m going to start with £12.25k as I said last night. We will sit down with him and talk about that and where the £12.25k will/could come from. And then we will look at those expensive catered halls (which I do think are a good idea)and let him consider what the implications of those halls are compared to the self catered Durham colleges, and see what he thinks. He can see what he’d have on a weekly and termly basis with the different options and what he thinks about that. It’s not that easy for him to visualise because at the moment he has a smallish social life and much if it involves being at parties at people’s houses and not lots of going out that costs significant amounts, nor paying for extra curriculars as we cover all that. But he can start thinking about it and also that will help him think about holiday work and when and how much he might want to do. I don’t think we are that keen on term time work, although the odd bit of student ambassadoring in a college bar work might be okay.

Please do keep your thoughts coming if you have any more, and I hope this is also helpful for other people thinking about this stage now or in future. I am aware that families are in very different situations and that for lots, they aren’t in a position to give anything and whatever the maintenance loan given, even if the minimum, is what they will have and everything else will be earned by the student themselves. They can set a target figure, but will live on what they actually have in reality, and for lots, that can be student poverty. So I’m grateful that we are able to think about this now and have the luxury of some flexibility to help him decide on budgets.

@Doraemon I think he will struggle if he works in term time. Not everyone in the south is rich. They might work like stink in the holidays. Maybe give other students a break just because they live south of Birmingham? I suggest he works in the holidays when he’s home.

Many unis have their own sports clubs and gyms .Durham definitely does. They are not necessarily commercial ones but there’s still a fee.

I was actually pleased my DD wanted to do lots of things and not just mooch around or stay in her room. Plenty do that and it’s not healthy. Obviously not everyone is a busy student but it is a time to try and explore new things and having no money curtails this. It helped her become a well rounded adult.

@Doraemon My DD is autistic too and it's why DH and I have said to her that we don't expect her to get a term-time job, and would rather she didn't. We want her to be able to focus on her studies and also have fun and do other things. She wants to join a sports team. She is actually very social.

But her autism & ADHD means she will need more 'downtime' than others to decompress and be away from stimulus that could all get too overwhelming. Also, having to mask and adapt is draining. She needs a fair bit of time alone in her room to do this, and that has to be factored in. We'd rather she spent the other time (bar studying of course) going out/doing sports/other clubs rather than working, and are happy to pay what is needed so she doesn't need to work.

However, part of the reason we're happy to do this is because DD on her own violation got a part-time job at 17 and worked hard at that at weekends and during holidays for 1.5 years, and she really wants to be independent and earn money. She now dogsits and babysits with works well with her A levels. We also give her a weekly allowance which the three of us calculated on the basis of her travel costs to sixth form college, and getting lunch there, and going out money and books etc. So we know she knows the value of money and we know she'd be getting a job in the university holidays and working hard then.

DS is in fully catered accommodations. I give him around £35 a week all year round (it's a monthly standing order so it's easier just to carry on paying it in the holidays). If he wants extra he uses the money he's earned during the holidays. That said, some big purchases are still bought by us - he needs a new laptop urgently, and we still pay for his phone.

We topped our DC up to the maximum loan and gave them that and let them get on with it. I'd say that learning to budget, working out what accommodation you can and can't afford etc is part of the process of becoming an adult.

So far they've done ok although it's been a pretty steep learning curve.

Catered accom @ £9.8k isn't 'crazy'.
If non catered is 7k then 2.8k divided by 39 wks is roughly £70 a week or £10 a day. For 3 meals that's quite good, esp as you save time & money shopping, prep, cooking & cleaning up.

OP these days there are plenty of resources to find things for free/cheap - especially for students! Make sure DC registers with UNIDAYS, SaveTheStudent (offers loads of student discounts, there might be other sites too but this is the most popular). Join FB groups for the uni community where businesses might post promotions etc. There are also apps like TooGoodtoGo where you can pick up good food for a low price at closing time.
Sadly this didn't exist when i was a student but I did use to hang around supermarkets + restaurants (Wasabi in london had 50% off at 9 p.m) and pick up some great deals!

R.e. jobs, he should definitely be working at least in the summer, nobody wants to employ a graduate with no work experience. But even if you don't want him to be locked into a term-time job, he can consider casual work.
Recent grads I've hired have been with these apps that give casual hospitality jobs, Rota is one I recall. There is zero obligation to do any shifts, you just sign up when you want. They can be anything from 4 - 10+ hours long. Only in big cities though.

The catering charge is £98 per week. It says it averages £4.67 or something like that per meal…so just under £15 a day.

Of course you’re paying for the staff etc etc. But a student could certainly feed themselves for substantially less if self catered. Lots of people report students budgeting about £30-£35. So it is a substantial difference. And Durham do have self-catered colleges. So self-catering is definitely a way to save money or to have more money for other spends. I see the catering option as a bit of a luxury and no-doubt it does become a divider as those who are tighter for funds are less likely to choose it. It’s a luxury to be able to consider opting for it and still having enough money for other living costs.

That said, one problem of Durham is you opt for your college of preference and then get allocated to one and can also be reallocated after results day. Countless people opted for catered and got self-catered and vice versa. The real problem is when people opt for self catered as that’s what they can afford and then find themselves in catered which costs £3k more. And there’s no redress on this. Again, it’s a risk that probably puts some off applying to Durham for cost reasons. Not good if they say they want to encourage diversity!

Dd isn't in catered and we give £500 a month. She also has a part time job she doesn't do loads of hours but it adds another £50-£80 a week.
She's at Sheffield and is from Manchester she can't believe how cheap it is to go out compared to Leeds or Manchester.
She could survive on the £500 and still have a decent social life.