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?

We give our DS £100 per week to live on. Everything else is paid for by us (rent, bills, phone, gym, travel home, etc) so it’s his to feed himself and have fun. I believe he could live on less, probably £60/70 per week and still be able to have a night out. I feel we are pretty generous & expect DS to work hard at his studies.

Just talked to ds1 and he spends about £25 per week on a food shop. His PIP mostly goes on travel. Not sure how much he spends on having fun. He doesn't drink but he likes going to the cinema and gigs.

We pay rent each month and my YP has £500 pm, £25 goes into savings so £475 pm on food & socialising & any extras. However he gives me min maintenance loan when he gets it towards rent as we prefer to do it this way so he can budget and doesn’t blow the lot! We pay for everything else though - contact lenses, gym membership, payg phone, prescriptions and car insurance.