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Higher education

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Original poster

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

203 replies

scattysue · 01/10/2025 03:13

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?

OP posts:
Elbowpatch · 01/10/2025 10:44

I managed on £10-12 a week back in the early 1980s. The BoE inflation checker suggests that is equivalent to £40 today.

So, it should be doable if they live like a 1980s student.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 01/10/2025 10:51

**

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 10:59

@redskydelight I don’t think £140 is very generous! Depends what it has to cover. Sports fees, travel, food, going out, clothes, phone etc. It wholly depends what parents pay for on the quiet and what they don’t.

Who on earth in the 80s didn’t enjoy student life and go out and go to gigs? Nearly everyone was drinking and partying. The boring people can survive on 2p but they don’t want a life outside of study. Most go to university to get a life!

Comefromaway · 01/10/2025 11:04

£140 per week is incredibly generous and far more than what most students are living on.

There is a danger that some people whose young people were students prior to about 2021/22 are unrealistic in what you need. My daughter managed in halls at drama school in 2020-2021 on £35 per week for everything and I have seen costs jump to now.

She is currently on maximum loan and after rent (she is in very cheap rent) has about £100 per week left over and she runs a car on that. She pays for everything. All we contribute is the odd one off purchase at the start of the academic year and occasionally she willl ask for a major item of clothing for birthday/christmas (we just bought her a winter coat for her birthday). As I said previously, my son has approx £68-75 per week after (more expensive) rent. He works to top that up a bit.

Most of their friends are living on similar amounts apart from a very few who come from wealthy backgrounds or are lucky enough to have well paid part time jobs.

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:08

@Comefromaway No it’s not if they work. You have no idea what students spend. 2/3 now have jobs. It’s changed since Covid. Or have savings. It’s a myth that most students live on beans and chewing gum. Most are earning money so they have clothes and evenings out. As someone said above, DS saved up for gym membership. If you factor everything in it’s never ever £40 a week and many will be spending £100 plus when parental treats are added in!

ThirdDesk · 01/10/2025 11:10

My DC get £40 a week, but they arrive with enough store cupboard food and toiletries/toilet paper etc they don't need to buy any for the term, and bills are included. They also have an inheritance. Two have survived so far but DC3 is more of a party animal and I am waiting for a call asking for more.

mamagogo1 · 01/10/2025 11:11

Yes they can but they won’t have much to spend on fun. My eldest spent less than that (long story) but she’s vegetarian and doesn’t do socialising. I gave her £150 a month for food and sundries which was plenty

ChangingWeight · 01/10/2025 11:14

redskydelight · 01/10/2025 08:57

£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.

I agree, location is also relevant too. As a fairly recent London student, most people I know had a part time job. Sometimes in London you just breathe and it’s like £30 has been subtracted from your account!

Comefromaway · 01/10/2025 11:14

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:08

@Comefromaway No it’s not if they work. You have no idea what students spend. 2/3 now have jobs. It’s changed since Covid. Or have savings. It’s a myth that most students live on beans and chewing gum. Most are earning money so they have clothes and evenings out. As someone said above, DS saved up for gym membership. If you factor everything in it’s never ever £40 a week and many will be spending £100 plus when parental treats are added in!

I have a very clear idea of what students spend as I have two young people currently at university plus my dh teaches at one. My son, in particular and his friends housemates talk about their finances with me (I have been called upon for advice/help on more than one occasion)

madaboutpurple · 01/10/2025 11:15

Food costs are massive now and surely a social life is important at college is important. I doubt a student would be able to go out if they only had £40 a week.

redskydelight · 01/10/2025 11:16

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:08

@Comefromaway No it’s not if they work. You have no idea what students spend. 2/3 now have jobs. It’s changed since Covid. Or have savings. It’s a myth that most students live on beans and chewing gum. Most are earning money so they have clothes and evenings out. As someone said above, DS saved up for gym membership. If you factor everything in it’s never ever £40 a week and many will be spending £100 plus when parental treats are added in!

I think people were saying £140 a week was too generous, not that £40 a week was enough.

I actually have a student DC. The only thing we pay for is a big food shop at the beginning of the year (I tell a lie, we just bought her some new glasses). She manages ok on £100 a week during term time which includes everything except for weekends away and holidays, which she finances using her summer job. That allows for some coffees/lunches and nights out with friends, travel, food etc. It also covers things like clothes and household expenses. She seems to be fairly typical in terms of many of the students she mixes with.

Of course it's possible for a student to spend £140 a week, and DD knows students who have way more than that, but they are doing a lot more socialising or living a lot more luxury lifestyles. She also knows students with way less than that, even with working 2-3 days a week.

Comefromaway · 01/10/2025 11:18

madaboutpurple · 01/10/2025 11:15

Food costs are massive now and surely a social life is important at college is important. I doubt a student would be able to go out if they only had £40 a week.

A lot depends on if they drink a lot. £40 per week would cover food and one night out in Spoons for my two but then they would not have anything at all left over for anything else they might need.

£60-70 is a more realistic amount.

Comefromaway · 01/10/2025 11:19

I think people were saying £140 a week was too generous, not that £40 a week was enough.

Precisely

TheRemedyQueen · 01/10/2025 11:20

I think 40 quid a week is going to be tight for most students, but not completely unheard of. My new undergraduate does not go clubbing, or drink, which helps a lot.

Parsleysalad · 01/10/2025 11:21

Mine spent around £100 a week and they lived well on that

Chewbecca · 01/10/2025 11:21

You are extremely generous.

£40 a week is enough for many students. My DS knows the price of everything, pasta at 30p a pack for example. He knows all the wines for under £3 and which are nicest. We do stock up on basics at the start of term and gift alcohol sometimes.

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:21

We all know student DC! You know less well off ones and they mix with similar, it’s not the same everywhere and definitely is not in London. Students get into their bubbles and don’t look around them much. Many will have no idea that others have saved in the holidays, have grandparents giving them £3000 to reduce IHT etc. The HESA stats show 2/3 of students working so they do have more money - or what’s the point?

cestlavielife · 01/10/2025 11:22

500 to 600 a month to top up minimum maintenance loan is typical.
Do what you decide and can afford and agree with ds.

TheRemedyQueen · 01/10/2025 11:24

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:21

We all know student DC! You know less well off ones and they mix with similar, it’s not the same everywhere and definitely is not in London. Students get into their bubbles and don’t look around them much. Many will have no idea that others have saved in the holidays, have grandparents giving them £3000 to reduce IHT etc. The HESA stats show 2/3 of students working so they do have more money - or what’s the point?

How much do you give yours?

SpudsAndCarrots · 01/10/2025 11:25

It's managable, but it's going to take an adult level of restraint and planning which many 18-19 years olds aren't really capable of yet. It would be easier if a few of them pooled together, £120 for 3 peoples food per week would be plenty, but that would take them all having the same attitude and being able to compromise and work together.
Basically unless mature neither option will work well.

Comefromaway · 01/10/2025 11:26

OhDear111 · 01/10/2025 11:21

We all know student DC! You know less well off ones and they mix with similar, it’s not the same everywhere and definitely is not in London. Students get into their bubbles and don’t look around them much. Many will have no idea that others have saved in the holidays, have grandparents giving them £3000 to reduce IHT etc. The HESA stats show 2/3 of students working so they do have more money - or what’s the point?

My daughter actually spent a year studying in London before moving back North. It was an unfunded course and as we were paying the fees and her rent we could not afford to give her anything to live on. I estimate she had around £150 per week to live on which came entirely from her part time job - approx £45 per week was spent on travel costs to get to and from her job.

Cyantist · 01/10/2025 11:31

I spent that a week at Uni back in 2002 and I was pretty sensible.

Mamadothehump · 01/10/2025 11:44

My DD has only just started (campus uni). Min maintenance which goes towards her accommodation and we have topped up the rest to cover it for the academic year. We have agreed to send her £70 a week and see how that goes. She enjoys cooking and doesn’t drink alcohol at all so I think it should be enough. She has also worked since she was 16 and had 2 jobs over the summer so isn’t short of extra cash!!

redskydelight · 01/10/2025 11:52

SpudsAndCarrots · 01/10/2025 11:25

It's managable, but it's going to take an adult level of restraint and planning which many 18-19 years olds aren't really capable of yet. It would be easier if a few of them pooled together, £120 for 3 peoples food per week would be plenty, but that would take them all having the same attitude and being able to compromise and work together.
Basically unless mature neither option will work well.

The £40 is not just for food. It's for everything excluding rent and utilities.

So transport, course costs, laundry, household items, clothes, socialising ...

Yes, you could survive on it, but it would be miserable.

childofthe607080s · 01/10/2025 11:54

Many students manage without being miserable on that level

most students know that lots of meat protein isn’t essential and know how to party for less than 25 a time

lots dont have much choice