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!

I suppose going away for 3 years of fun with a bit of study thrown in, is very much a luxury. In the past, when perhaps 10% of young people, and affluent ones at that went, it was very much something for the lucky few…..although ironically, it was then better funded through grants, for anyone who had lower incomes.

Society is polarising. Going away to uni for 3 years of fun with a bit of studying will increasingly become the preserve of the rich. More and more people won’t be able to afford it. But what’s difficult for families at the moment, is that parents often went themselves when it was funded by grant and fees paid by government and see going away as a rite of passage into middle class life. Not having that for their own kids is difficult to stomach, in the same way some groups struggle to accept they can’t afford private school fees when they had a private education themselves.

In time, the natural trend will be for more people to go local. Having a loan for the academic fees, or parents funding those or part of them will become more the norm. The 3 years of a jolly living away will be for the few and seen as a luxury, like attending a private school. But of course, the issue is not all unis are equal. Your local uni might be a top one if you’re lucky, but often it won’t be. Those who can go away will have access to more and the better unis, whilst those who can’t afford to go away, will have less to choose from. More polarisation in society, with the best options available to a reduced number.

As the loan is applied for by the student, not someone else on their behalf, and if they are entitled to a loan at all, the minimum level is accessible without the parent(s) being involved in the process at all, she may well be doing so as we speak...

@mugglewump, the repayment period is now 40 years. Interest added immediately so for most students they will pay off a loan for the rest of their working lives.

I think @wombatchocolate is right that different people have different experiences and mixing with people like them. I knew nobody who worked during term time but when I was discussing with some workmates they said everyone they knew worked during term time (although they then said they knew rich students who put their grant into an ISA because they got enough money from their parents so not quite everyone 😁). I went to a RG Uni, the other two went to a non-RG red brick and an ex-poly.

@Abbylikeswine is reminding me of a poster I saw once on a thread about poverty who said that having one pair of shoes and having to wait till your next pay cheque to buy a new pair when you got a hole in them wasn't being poor because everyone has to budget. It's probably easier for her to think her experience was standard than realise her parents chose to made her life much harder at Uni than it needed to be.