Uni budget - can students really live on £40 a week!

[scattysue]

My friend recommended I join a Facebook group called What I want to know about university. I have done and it has really made me think because so many posters on there say their kids live on £35-£50 a week at uni (excluding rent and utilities). This strikes me as VERY low - my eldest DS budgets £60 on a Sainsbury’s shop each week (including alcohol for pres and lots of meat protein) and then, as I want him to socialise and have fun too, I fund two nights out a week (£25 each time) plus gym (£8 a week), laundry (£9 a week - 2 loads of washing and drying as he does so much sport) and then £13 for miscellaneous . So I give him £140 a week. That struck me as fair but now I am wondering if I am too generous! What do u think? DS does work 20 hours a week in hols but he uses that money to fund his car/clothes/holidays - not uni. He gets minimum maintenance loan, pays it to us and we pay rent and, as I say, give him £140 a week during uni terms. Am I out of touch? Or is this uni Facebook group I joined overly frugal and unrealistic?

I couldn’t eat/live comfortably on £40 a week today and I live in a second world country. I certainly couldn’t have done it when I lived in the UK until earlier this year. I think it’s expected that parents will top up these days or students will get a job during term time, or both. I went to uni in 2006 and £50 a week was just about enough to cover spending, especially with the cost of textbooks!

People can live on £40/week I would think, but it is at the low end. Plenty of students have to live on less.

That seems like a lot to just hand out to him given all bills are covered too, is he getting student loan too? Do you pay him weekly or as a lump sum? I wouldn’t think, that he would rigidly stick to that exact budget tbh.

Ultimately your query depends on your income. Personally I worked during full time university precisely so I had much more disposable income than that, and my parents topped me up if needed so I can’t really comment on whether you’re giving him the right amount. I probably had at least a grand a month to play around with outside of bills, as I used to do
overtime etc and pick up as many shifts as I could. If money isn’t an issue for you, then just carry on.

I can’t understand why his gym costs £8 a week. I’m sure there’s cheaper student memberships than £32 a month? I don’t necessarily agree with every other figure but it depends on finances. If things are tight then there’s plenty of scope to cut down. If things are not tight, equally you could give more. I bought things like clothes or train tickets or non-night out outings like restaurants or cinema tickets etc when I was at university, I definitely couldn’t afford that on £13 miscellaneous money per week. Hence why i picked up a job.

My dd lived on £40pw for food but didn’t have expenses like travel because her uni was on a campus. She attended the Freshers events with lots of drinking but that kind of event petered out by end of October so she didn’t regularly drink alcohol after that. She’s a slim size 6 and eats protein like salmon and steak but probably eats less than a man who goes to the gym. She had a job during term time to fund clothes and going out but she’s happy with cheaper alternatives like vinted plus she’s a confident cook so wasn’t ordering expensive Deliveroo.

Oh also, I went to university in London and graduated a few years ago.

I do think students can live off £40 a week, especially if bills are already covered.

It’s tight but the student lifestyle supports being uni-poor, there will be discounts and freebies and such. I could squeeze a decent weekly food shop from M&S out of £40, let alone if you had student discounts and shopped somewhere cheaper. Don’t underestimate how creative students can be with their last £5.

It’s not uncommon for students to spend to their last pound. Plus on night outs, everyone can predrink & share the cost of a bottle to avoid alcohol costs when out? so it seems redundant to give him money to buy alcohol during groceries and also money for drinking nights.

£140 a week is ridiculous. There are families who live on less than that. You are funding £50+ a week on alcohol, there is no need for that at all. If he's serious about the gym and high protein diet, he wouldn't be drinking that much.

£40 is too low. DD budgets around £60, but she has £100 per week after accommodation, broadband and utilities, plus savings. She's always been very good with money.
DD hopes not to work at least during term time. She has a job in a burger chain at home and can set her availability when she's here if she wants. She'd like to travel or do an internship each Summer
Her accommodation is very close to university and the city centre so has no transport costs. She's insured to drive my car and if she comes home I'll drive there and she'll drive back (4 hours). I rarely drive so she knows at home she can use it whenever.. I cover all car costs, insurance and petrol. She doesn't drink and I pay her phone bill.
Her costs are food, laundry and several societies/gym/socialising. So far she's easily stuck to her budget but I sent her off with several months worth of anything non-perishables from clinfilm, shampoo and detergentt to rice and oats. I'll probably continue to buy these things. I think DD is doing well on £60, although it would be a fair bit more if we didn't help.

If a DS does a lot of Sports like my foster son and needs a high protein diet there is no way they can live off £40 a week. My FS spends between £50-60 per week on food. He doesn't smoke, vape or drink alcohol so it really does go on food. He has paid £100 to join cricket club for training and matches, £50 for volleyball training and more for Taikwando. He also goes out with people in his halls once a week and people on his course once a week. Laundry is £10 week. Bus fares all add up. I don't want him to work whilst at uni because I want him focussed on his course and it has a lot of practical aspects so quite time consuming. He volunteers for 3 hours every Saturday morning already. Throw in clothes and I think you are being fair to him. I know many students are managing on less but some work a ridiculous amount of hours. My DD had a girl on her course waitressing until 1am 4 nights a week and every weekend. She was working 34 hours every week as well as studying.

He’s living the high life at your expense. Why can’t he get a job?

Once her rent etc had been paid, dd managed on under £40 a week. But she is great at budgeting, organised her flatmates so they clubbed together and did a weekly shop together so very little was wasted, taught her flatmates how to cook basic meals which were cheap. Once a week she’d do a spaghetti bol for all of them and they’d meal plan for the next week, order from the cheapest supermarket, and that was that.

she did have a heavy workload doing a double hons is essay-heavy stuff, and didn’t go out clubbing that often. Nevertheless, she really enjoyed her Uni time, despite interruptions by COVID etc. She’s just finished her Master’s now and is job hunting.

Well the reality is that some have to live on a small budget, because their parents can't afford to give them money, not at the rate you're doing at least.

I'd imagine that running a car isn't a normal expectation for most students either and will be a hindrance in a lot of places because parking will be expensive and/or unavailable.

Most students can also work during term time too, even a couple of short shifts a week will significantly top up their income and leave time for studying, sport, socialising etc. Or they can save their earnings from holiday jobs, instead of spending it all on non essentials like cars and holidays.

Ahh I Ioved working whilst at university. I was at my fav fashion retailer, big discount on the products.

I worked with incredible colleagues who became friends. Management were aware I was a student so my contracted hours were low and didn’t conflict with uni - but I could pick up as many hours as I wanted during quieter uni weeks. Plus the opening hours were sociable.

I felt accomplished from doing well at work - I got promoted to team leader where I did more HR/back office functions whilst at uni.

Overall it didn’t hold me back from getting a distinction, plus it gave me beneficial work experience. I secured the first grad job I applied for & it was on a high salary. I don’t think I’d have secured that had I not worked whilst at university.

My DD used to spend about £25 on food (this is a few years ago but only 2019-22). Food has gone up a lot – DS started uni in 2021 and his food budget has gone up a good deal. Even so, he doesn't spend £60 pw and he is very sporty so he eats a) a lot and b) a lot of protein. I think his weekly food budget is around £40-45.

£140 pw for food and fun is a very big budget. If you can afford it happy days. But plenty of students, yes, are managing on less than that.

I was skint at Uni and didn’t want that for my DC
We pay £1100 a month to them
Also pay some legacy stuff eg phones ,contact lenses and essential clothing

No loans ( in Scotland so no fees) and no term time working

I also don't think that's enough if they have to buy food out of that as well.
I would have thought £100 a week after accommodation and bills.

Does he also get a student loan (even the minimum)? And do you pay his accommodation? It sounds as though the £140pw you’re giving him is the total amount he has available. Is that right?

Also agree ref gym membership. It’s about £15 a month at pure gym for students. Why is his twice that?

Dd had about £150 per week
to spend if she wanted to. She spent about £20 a week to feed herself, doesn’t eat meat but will eat some fish from time to time.
her flat all did a group online shop and shared cooking.
she isn’t much of a drinker, they’d go out but she’d only ever really have one or two.
her gym membership we paid for at home and she just transferred it to her most local one. We also paid her phone bill.
She ended up at the end of every year saving enough to take herself travelling for a few months (in addition to her job savings from when she’d be home). She just graduated this year so this isn’t too long ago.

My DD also gets £140 a week from us. She isn't a big party girl but does go out about once a week, meets friends for a coffee, goes to the cinema with her BF. She also goes to the gym and puts petrol in her car, buys groceries. All her haircuts, clothes and friends birthdays etc she covers from this amount. She eats well and enjoys cooking (she does not live on pizzas & nuggets).

£40 a week would just cover a cheap food shop I would imagine, with no socialising. They'd need a job in the side to supplement that.

When I was at uni about 20 years ago, I had to watch the pennies on £70/week, and I didn't need to pay extra for laundry and I didn't go to the gym.

£140 a week is a lot I would say! But £25 doesn’t sound like enough either. Eldest is at university in the US so the maths are different (catered halls). She is responsible for her fun money.

Exact amounts would depend on things like transport costs, but I would expect at least £40 for food. I know a lot of parents on MN who say their children only spend limited amounts but they are doing a big shop for them at the start of term… that amount should be figured in.

@scattysue Bluntly - NO. Of course not. Pot noodles and room hermit types - maybe! Who wants to encourage that?

Agree that £75 to £100 a week for everything after rent and bills seems a good ball park

£40 a week is too low but £140 is very generous.

I think with the "how much does your DC need at uni" threads, you need to check what the money covers. I've seen a few posters saying that their DC manages well on £x but then goes on to say they buy them big food shops every month, pay for their gym membership, bus pass and phone, bought a lot of big ticket items before they started etc. etc. Also some DC have higher transport and course costs, so it's not all comparable.

I'd like to suggest the optimum amount is more than just surviving but not lavish lifestyle.

I'm assuming the money to live on here includes that from all sources - from loan, parents and part time job.

My DS has around £100 a week from us for living costs outside of accommodation and shared bills (flat share).

He doesn’t drink alcohol but does go to the gym. He paid for the yearly student membership in one go at the start of term (as it was cheaper) from his holiday job earnings over the summer, so no ongoing costs for that.

He does like his food, and buys decent quality chicken and meat so it’s going to be a bit more pricey but he understands nutrition and that protein fills him up more!

No travel costs as free bus travel in Scotland for his age.

I think it’s reasonable amount. I’d say £40 is far too low to allow either decent quality food (especially if a meat eater) or enough to socialise too.

My son currently lives on £70 which includes things like paying for his mobile phone (which a lot of parents pay).

Both he and my daughter spend approx £25-35 per week on food so £40 per week for food is pretty reasonable but if they have other things they need to pay for then they need more. Dd is studying sports science and she batch cooks.