Supporting DC at university- how much did your outgoings change?

[Majoring]

Inspired by the retirement age thread!

If you're DC only qualified for the minimum loan how much have your outgoings changed in either direction once they started uni? (Assuming you're weren't paying school fees)

We currently pay a lot each months for clubs, music lessons etc and I'm hoping monthly spending may even go down? Saving a bit each month specifically for the loan shortfall but that's becoming harder to do.

Im hoping my DC will be able to get part time jobs too. Lots of variables o know but just wondering what others experiences are?

I'm interested to know this. Mine will get minimum loan and mentally I'm budgeting £5k a year, outgoings at home down £100 maybe as she doesn't do any activities so it's just food and electricity.

It will all depend where she goes I think - she is hoping to apply for Oxford and thats halls for all 3 years at roughly £1250 a term in the college she was looking at and short terms so I think would probably be quite reasonable. Anywhere else I guess would depend on location although she would be able to work term time so may help.

when DS left for uni our food bill decreased! And spent a lot less on petrol weekly, as we drove him to Basketball training and matches regularly, sometimes long distances. After A levels he worked at Macdonalds over the summer and managed to save some money. He got minimum loan because DH refuses to divulge any of his financial details to anyone. So I think we gave him in the region of £300 a month to top up so he could pay rent and eat. This was before Covid so cheaper than now.

Food and energy both decreased a little.

With top up rent and living costs we are spending £1000 a month during term time to keep them at university! It’s a nightmare to be honest! Don’t think even we really considered the actual cost, especially as they are only a year apart academically so funding 2 at the same time. They only get minimum loans and both are doing intensive course subjects so not really feasible to work term time.

DS1’s rent is much cheaper as it’s term time only but the downside of that is we have to empty the room each term end.

DS1 is in London so we top up the rent much more and I am guessing this will increase when he is no longer in halls.

Yes I can see food bill hugely decreasing! And hadn't thought about petrol, one of the sports clubs involved a decent number of miles each week.

And on that note, and slightly morbidly, a lot of miles are to see to elderly parents, which may not be a factor 🙁

(and I do know the difference between you/your/you're, honestly!)

Yikes!

Our fuel use has probably has gone up as well because we visit ds1 2 hours away once a term, have to drop off and pick him up due to the need for emptying room and thanks to the timing of train strikes have had to drop of ds2 in central London as well🤪

DS went to Uni last September. Our outgoing have hardly changed as he used to spend half the time at his gf's house anyway. We pay towards his accommodation which I feel are extortionate. Student loan would not cover those and being able to afford to live. He was hoping to get a job but has some issues and seems to be struggling with the course so to be honest we haven't pushed him on that.

My dd got the full amount and with a job, supported herself.

She had to. My income halved (no maintenance, no child benefit, no tax credits) I was already working full time but was able to get a few extra hours.

She paid her way with food when she came home in the holidays otherwise I couldn't afford to feed her.

I agree it is a nightmare. We have one at Uni ( 1st year) and then dd finishing sixth form this summer, but hopefully she is going to delay going to Uni and take a gap year. The thought of 2 at Uni at the same time is unbearable. We have already put ds1 through Uni he is now working. For the 3 years of his course we paid £400 a month towards accommodation- he didn't have the best accommodation, he had the cheapest and shared bathroom etc. My ds who is currently at Uni had to pay over 5k in accommodation costs before the start of jan as the rent costs seemed to be skewed towards the first 2 terms. The payment for April is significantly less thank god.

Dd is in second year now, gets minimum loan and we top up the rest. It's a drain tbh, especially with all other cost of living increases. Luckily ds1 is, with our encouragement, taking a year out so dd will be finished as he starts. We are paying out about £430 a month.

When Dd started uni the thing that I was unprepared for (my own fault) was that payments for halls were not spread evenly over the year so although the total amount was what I’d budgeted for, the monthly amount was higher. I didn’t notice much reduction in monthly outgoings when she left but still had hungry teenage boys at home!

The main changes that made it affordable were finishing with mortgage payments & not having to pay for after school childcare as the youngest started secondary school at the same time.

I had also gone from part time to full time work a few years before in preparation for the uni phase.

This year & next are probably the worst in terms of expenses- two at uni at the same time, one in halls & one renting in an expensive area. I have noticed that food bills are lower now when it’s just me & dh.

I have 2 at uni and on my own so difficult. Ds gets a stipend as post grad and does seminars so earns some money that way so I don’t have to pay anything towards his costs. When home he buys his own food etc.
Dd just gone and gets minimum loan but tutors for 2 hours a week and earns 200 a month for this. I pay her rent, phone and odd things like prescription costs as well as her food when home. rent is approx 700 a month.
I save during term time on food costs, petrol from giving lifts, water, gas/electric and although I am broke it’s manageable. From sept dd will have to pay towards her rent though as will be going into private accommodation with bills etc to pay .

£5k per DC per year.

It's not just term time costs, rent and bills have to be paid 52 weeks/year after Y1 in halls.

Previous outgoings were clubs, bus fares, food, travel, trips etc, so I suppose there was a net effect, but we certainly weren't spending £5k pa each.

I don't expect to have a holiday whilst mine are at uni. We are only just over the threshold for minimum loan, so it's very tight.

There was a very noticeable reduction in food, petrol and electricity bills.
We live rurally so car to everything. DC could drive at 17 but that was heavy on car insurance and not needed so much while they were at uni.

Mine got almost full loans based on our income, but we supplemented by about £2500 each at the time (4 years ago).

I’d realised we’d be pushed so saved for the years before DS 1 went and overpaid on our mortgage too. We currently pay £600 a month for DD who is on an intense STEM degree course and can not get a part time job. It’s been hard but we wanted to give them their rent as our parents had for us.

When they are away we see a reduction in our energy bills and food bills but we will be much better off when they are through Uni.

I tell every single parent to a new born to save what they can every single month. Too many parents get caught out by the “oh students get loans”. Well, they do, but it’s hard to live on in quite a lot of cities. We were lucky as we’d prepared for these years and have decent salaries (and both ours did/are doing well on their courses) but it has not been easy.

We have two at university and it’s costing about £1000 a month, our bills have gone down but not by that much!

I tell everyone that will listen the costs as well🤣🤣 Thankfully I only have 2, couldn’t do it again!

Everyone assumes loans cover the majority of the costs and it simply isn’t the case! It’s similar costs to early years childcare!

I don’t think even I really appreciated the cost until it happened. Thankfully we paid off our mortgage some years ago and we did save a lot but it’s hard when you are having to make cut backs just to keep your dses at university whilst working full time in a really tough job.

I always get told they should get jobs too but it’s not always possible in term time. Ds1 is at Oxbridge and the terms are short and intense, it would not be possible and ds2 is still finding his feet as a first year.

Everyone assumes loans cover the majority of the costs and it simply isn’t the case! It’s similar costs to early years childcare!
The loans cover quite a lot if they get the full amount.
It's worth pointing out that if they get less then it's because of parents income and the parents are deemed to contribute.

I got the full amount of loans and it covered everything. For the first time since I was 13 I didn't have to work, I could just focus on studying and enjoying the student experience. Perhaps poverty helped me to budget?

The thing is, the answer will depend so much on your dc's choice of university and choice of accommodation.

I can't really comment on any savings in energy as I've had 9 years of one returning home as the next one leaves, and when the eldest went, we weren't really monitoring energy so much. For us by the time they were in 6th form we weren't really paying out much for subs / lessons either so didn't save there.

Do notice the food bills go down though.

If you read all the hundreds of threads on here over the last few years and also have a look on WIWIKAU, you'll find what people pay out varies massively.

None of mine chose expensive Cities to live in.
They all also decided they would prefer self catered and all were happy not to have en-suites...... those 2 choices can save £100 per week, every week. That adds up.

We only gave them money from when they went in middle of Sept until the end of June. They all worked in the holidays not only for their own spending money then, but to save up for the next year.

Then, to some extent, it depends on the students' expectations of what they "must" have...... are meals out / take aways / coffees out a treat or a regular thing ? ..... do they think beauty treatments or gym memberships are a luxury or something they expect ? ditto new clothes, make up, going clubbing, going to concerts or festivals, other expensive hobbies ? Can they cook ? Do they understand that steak or fish is a darn sight more expensive than mince or sausages / that chicken breast is more expensive than thigh / that eating a vegetarian diet is cheaper again / that when you treat yourself that is fine, but you then balance that out with some jacket potato or eggs or beans on toast type meals / do they eat leftovers / do they understand about freezing food / about buying yellow sticker items / etc etc ?

I wonder how many actually get the full amount? We have another younger child still in education and our salaries really aren't big. Thank god we don't still have a mortgage or we really wouldn't cope.

So many variables. Yes food shopping bill goes down and save a little on some bills once child goes to Uni but they are still home for long holidays.

How much of a Maintenance Loan your child will receive is dependent on your Household Income. Their is an expectation that parents will help top this up to be in line with at least the Maximum Maintenance Loan amount. The students need this to be able to live and focus on studies.

Accommodation costs vary vastly even at the same Uni. Student can usually choose whether they want catered, self catering, ensuite, basic ensuite, shared bathroom etc etc. But students don’t always get their first choice of accommodation.

Many students work part time either during term time outside of term time or both. The best things you can learn your prospective student is the value of money, about essentials and luxuries, budgeting skills and how to cook and meal plan. If they are savvie most can live fairly cheaply but many parents top up at least 5K a year as well as children having a job.

We're in a different situation in that we live in Wales and so our DC get the full amount, just on a sliding scale ratio of grant and loan based on parental income. We have 2 DC currently at university and the grant and loan (around £10,700) covers everything for them during term time.

At home the food bills have gone down massively since they left. Also energy usage is slightly lower and we use less petrol. So for us it is cheaper while they're in university. It's a bit of a shock when they come home in the holidays and start eating the entire contents of the fridge again!

I'm not in UK and there are no loans, so I am currently paying tuition (about 800 euros) plus about 650 euros a month for accommodation. Dd is responsible for her social life. I still get full family allowance of 150 euros and get via work a lunch voucher card for about 200 euros a month, which dd has to buy food. She could have stayed at home and commuted (v. common) but has early lectures and wanted the full on student experience - but if we couldn't pay that would be the outcome. She's popular as a crash pad for her old school friends who are commuting and miss the club nights.

Haven't really noticed any significant 'savings' in household expenses since our DS went to Uni ... he seemed to be one of those rare teenage boys who didn't eat huge amounts of food. Energy savings are negligible & we didn't pay much for his sporting hobby. He had a part time job so paid for his own clothes, social life etc. We contribute £325 a month to top up his student loan. We can cope - we have an only DC and have budgeted for this expense. I can't reiterate enough though that parents really do need to plan ahead and think about how/if they top up the maintenance loan .. it shouldn't come as a shock.