University living expenses

[neva]

Any thoughts on what is a reasonable monthly allowance for a full-time living away from home student (outside London)?

In dd's case her maintenance loan only covers the costs of accommodation and food. The allowance is for clothing and socialising, mainly.

Thanks.

Does it cover bills as well? I had £300 a month for bills, food and general misc (so basically to live on, not counting tuition fees or rent) and that was fine. My car tax and insurance had to come out of savings, as did big extras like new laptop or holiday. So taking bills and food out... £200? £150? I don't really know, it depends what you can reasonably afford.

Thanks fuschiagroan. Was thinking along the same lines ie £150 to £200. Want to get it right, not to much, not too little, which is harder than it seems.!

Is she living in uni Halls?
You should have gone to the Open day which some universities run for Parents of student applicants, Some of the best Unis give parents a costed itemised budget suggestion.

Maybe better to look at it per week - remember transport can be expensive, if she will need to take buses often, and taxis for getting home after a night out.

Some university towns/cities are more expensivethan others. Also depends on whether they are on a campus or colleges all spread all over the place.

We give our DD £200 a month. She lives in catered halls Mon-Fri so money is meant to be for out of pocket expenses, drinking, clothing and feeding herself at the weekends. We also bought her a bike so she can cut down on bus fares. DD is at the moment putting her CV around lots of shops and restaurants in the hopes of getting a job to boost what we give her.

dd is on gap yr atm
going to sheffield uni next sept
do I really need to sub her £200/month
isn't she on her own now financially? loans?

ggirl it depends how much she is loaned. My DD had her tuition loan which pays for her course and the other loan paid for her accommodation with £100 left over for the whole year!!!! My DD does NOT want to be taking money off of us, so as soon as she gets a job, she will tell us and we will probably half her monthly payment.

The other thing I do, is top up a student card at Sainsburys once/twice a month with £5/£10, least that way I hope she will buy some food with it rather than all alcohol.

that's a good idea pisces
have a few months before I have to start worrying about thie-thank god
she's off travelling -spending all her £££

How long is a piece of string? It all depends on how much you are happy to give. DS2 has just started at university and the first term is very expensive - books to buy, societies to join, lots of things to sort out. Then, around exam time they won't need so much as they won't be socialising etc.
A part time job is highly recommended.

Don't know the answer, but DS's self-catering halls are £126 pw which we pay by DD. He worked over the summer and is still living off that - I was almost tempted not to send him the loan approval form & just send him money but we knew someone who did this and their child took out the loan behing their backs to pay for exotic holidays etc. so have decided to get him to take the loan but intend to pay it off on graduation (as long as we don't get made redundant in the cuts!)

jsa is £65pwk, I think that's a good guideline.

Well DS was in London and his loan didn't even cover the rent!

My Son started Uni a month ago. His loans just about covered his fees and rent (no bills to pay, no books to buy, no clothes to buy & outside London) We spend £200 on food and toiletries before he left (he has enough toothpaste, deodorant, pasta and noodles - to last him the year!) and he will be getting Tescos vouchers for Xmas and his Birthday in Feb... so hopefully he will only need to spend £10-£15 on food a week for the rest of the year.... he gets £50 a week from us ...if he needs more (and we could afford more but are choosing not to) he can get a job

My son has loans to cover tuitions fees and his rent but as he is at Oxford the course is too intense to work as well, and this is frowned upon. We send him £300 per month and don't pay over the summer when he is at home. He works in Tesco to earn a bit during the holidays, and generally goes back with a bit extra to see him through. If DS2 goes to uni ( not likely to be Oxford) I expect he will be able to work part time and will not need quite so much from us.