University: weekly money needed as 'extra' in 1st year (catered accomm)

[GLVF]

Eldest went off to uni for first time yesterday. We briefly discussed what we'll give her as an allowance to live off for extras, but I'm wondering if this may need revising.

She's in catered accommodation fairly close to campus. So, the main costs I foresee are:
• 5x sandwich-type lunch (Mon–Fri lunches are her only uncatered meals)/occasional snack or coffee out (we did pack her off with snacks)
• evening drinking/clubs (but she's not a huge drinker)
• possible bus travel (unlikely, as fairly central to uni/shops)
• very occasional extras, like haircut/cinema.

We plan to help her separately with printing/laundry/books costs, so I'm really focusing on main weekly expenses throughout term-time. What kind of ballpark are we thinking in the modern world to help her start to budget without leaving her hungry/deprived?! Are there many things I haven't thought of?

Our thinking was – very simplistically – £5 x 5 for sandwich + snack/coffee during day, and £15 x 3 for nights out, which equates to £70/wk. It should leave a little extra, potentially, if she's careful, as she rarely drinks more than 2-3 drinks, and has plenty of snacks for the time being.

Of course this will depend on family circumstances and location of uni, but a rough idea from those in the know would be helpful. She's been earning a little (waitressing) throughout sixth form and is usually fairly careful with money.

Thanks!

Keep it simple.
Minimum loan value (£4k -ish) delivered by regular bank transfer every month. Or week. Or 3 times a year.
Deduct an allowance for the catered element of the accommodation if you want to.

Then she has to budget to cover everything else. It's inappropriate to micro-manage an adult's budget (assuming no other reasons in play). You don't need to know how much is spent on going out or laundry etc.

Next year she'll have to budget for food, so start now.

I gave mine £350 a month as an allowance when she was in (London) catered halls. I also paid her phone and gym.

I was given £50 a week, twenty years ago. All my meals were catered, but did still eat out occasionally. I did drink/socialise more than it sounds like you're expecting. But £50 was tight. There'll be uni events she may want to attend - tickets etc. Subs if she joins any clubs. Toiletries etc. I'd up it a little if you can, to be honest.

Uni societies cost a lot of money now, largely because the uni bills them for everything.

So DS has joined a uni sport club, which costs him £80 a year because the club has to rent the pitch & use of changing rooms from the uni. When they play away matches , the players have to pay ££ for the minibus even though it belongs to the uni. DD was in a fun drama group, they had to pay to use rehearsal rooms. It cost her £40 a year for the hiking society not including transportation, the main expense was insurance for the hike leaders.

Getting a job isnt realistic?

I think expecting everyone's parents to give them 120 pounds per week is unrealistic.

My parents didn't give me any money at all during university.

I paid for myself throughout my whole degree, by working at weekends and two evenings during the week.

A lot of people get through university without getting any money at all from their parents. They work at weekends to fund their studies

So if you give her any money at all, it's very nice of you to do so.

I'd say as a bare minimum you need to match the maximum maintenance loan of £10227 (or as @redskydarknight suggests the Welsh amount of £12150) so about £1K pcm before accommodation split over 12 months. I think the more control you give your DD over her expenditure the better for her to give her a sense of independence rather than you buying most things for her but then.

Thinking about what I spent my money on as a student a lifetime ago: food, clothes, books, concerts, posters, shoes, jewellery, music, stationary, phone calls, camera, travel to see friends and family, gifts, alcohol.

It's not 'very nice'. Parents are expected to contribute to support their student children. Only students from low income families get full maintenance loans, everyone else is expected to get some money from their parents. This has ALWAYS been the case, my parents paid for me when I was at University in the 80s, my grandparents paid for my mother in the 60s and pre-student loans my great-grandparents paid for grandfather in the 1920s (maintenance and full fees).

"Everyone else is expected to get some money from their parents"

Really? You really think EVERYONE does?

Youre living in a tiny privileged bubble then.

I know loads of people who didn't receive any money at all from their parents for university.

Most people that I know worked at the weekend to fund their degrees.

We all worked through Univeristy.

Everyone had a weekend job.

DC self catered last year with maintenance loan covering rent, so we gave money weekly to live on.

£85 was plenty, that included food, bus travel locally and train home (get the 18-25 railcard btw for 1/3 off), socialising and laundry.
STEM subject so no physical books to pay for (online access) and we covered phone and sports kit/subs.

My ds wrote a budget that was approx £95 per week. This did assume some travel and lunches only as in catered. He also has access to his savings from work but like you I wanted him to have enough to live but also learn how to budget.

I'm paying for his phone and perhaps gym when he decides which one will work for him.
Why not start of with £70 and review after a few months?

Just depends what you can afford. My twins in catered halls had £150 a week term time and holidays including from July before they went so they could build a buffer for the more expensive freshers' week. Plenty had a lot less and some had more.

I just asked three of my friends on a WhatsApp chat, as I was interested.

They all did different degrees. One is a now a teacher, one is a nurse, and one did a business degree.

They all said that none of their parents gave them money during Univeristy.

They either got loans, or they worked at the weekend.

I can't think of anyone I know that got money from their parents during Univeristy actually. At age 18 we were expected to work. We were adults.

So, if any parents do give their children money, their children are very lucky and they should really appreciate it.

Universal credit for an 18 year old is £311 a month.
Out of this they would be expected to pay all of their bills, food, toiletries, food, travel, entertainment.

With having two meals a day provided and no electricity or gas etc to pay then £70 a week should be more than enough.

Re parental money, Martin Lewis,the Money Saving Expert, has been campaigning for years for the student loans system to make clearer to families that parents ARE expected to be topping up maintenance loans. The wording has now changed, so it becomes clearer. Maintenance loans are means tested on family income, and families are expected to contribute.

Of course, in reality, some families don’t make any contribution or their contribution doesn’t take what the student has to the full level, never mind the inflation adjusted level of just over £12k. Sometimes that’s because parents have no awareness that they are expected to contribute, sometimes because they don’t believe it is their role to do so and the student should fund it themselves if the government doesn’t, sometimes people are aware of the expectation but other costs mean they cannot afford it, for others they could have afforded it if aware sooner and had factored it into their financial plans…but they didn’t.

Experiences of parents topping-up vary and vary by area students live to start with and universities they go to. Any individual experience where ‘everyone I know….’ Either had full parent support or no student support, is just one experience and doesn’t reflect all. It is not unusual for parents to top up to the full maintenace loan level or above it, as many families save for this throughout childhood. It is equally not uncommon for parents to give nothing or for them to give something.

In some universities, most students work during term time, but in others, very few do. More students work in the holidays than in term time.

I don’t think it helps to suggest anyone receiving any parental financial support is wildly unusual. The system of means tested loans is based upon the fact that families are expected to pay a role in supporting when incomes are above a certain level. Of course not everyone does or can, but the expectation underpins the system.

My son got the maximum maintenance loan plus some other money. He's left uni now but I worked out that he roughly had about £4300 for the year to spend after paying accommodation. He was fully catered, so didn't have to buy lunch, although I think he often did. I can't work out how much that is per week as I am not sure how many weeks in the uni year.

But why would it be the parents who are expected to top up the student loan?

Why doesn't the student top up his loan himself, by working a job at the weekend?

Students are 18 when they go to University.

They're adults.

They can get a job at the weekend.

That's what I did, and that's what most people that I know did.

@Abbylikeswine

I couldn't have worked a job alongside my course - I wouldn't physically have had time!

Not all parents can send across £120pw - I was literally giving an example. I got help from my parents as I only got the min loan due to their wages - had they earned less and been judged less able to help me, I'd have got a higher loan / bursary from the uni which would have made up the difference 😊

Parents are expected to contribute on a sliding scale - hence to availability and means tested student loans. If they don't want to / for some reason can't (as judged by student finance!) then that's some tough conversations needed between parents / children.

Not a single person I knew on my course had a job during term time 🤷 we had a full time study schedule + expected hours of independent study outside of uni that didn't leave time.

@Abbylikeswine some unis don't allow students to work in term time - I wasn't allowed to and I don't believe the rules have changed at my old college.

Everytime this topic comes up people with no understanding of the current system pipe up with the fact they graduated with no parental help blah blah.

Times have changed. Parents are expected to contribute and loan amount are based on parents / household income. The system may not be good or fair, but it is what it is.

Without taking any maintenance loan I'd be looking to give her the full amount divided into 12 months, otherwise she should take the minimum and you top up to the maximum.

Because it’s a flawed system, their maintenance loan are based on parental income so naturally it is expected that parents contribute. That’s not to say all can, but it’s not been pulled out of thin air that parents contribute.

My DS will only get the minimum loan due to my DH’s income. That’s not my son’s fault. So yes it is our responsibility to top it up.
However he took a gap year and worked full time and has saved (he has a fairly substantial amount ready for a house deposit) but can dip into it if needed.

Its all very well saying…they must get a job but there are so few jobs around especially ones which are flexible with Uni hours.

Luckily he has a job when he comes home at Christmas, Easter and the summer so that should help him as well.

God, reading this makes me realise how in the minority I was for having to work in part time jobs to afford food. I thought it was normal.

What year do you live in that you think a night out is £15??

My son isn’t in catered accommodation but his budget is around £50 per week to cover everything (food, phone, eating out, travel etc)