University in London - how much to live on?
Discussion
So, my daughter is starting university in London this year.
How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
Does first year mean living in halls/Uni accommodation with meals included in the accommodation cost?
We gave ours £300/month at that stage (out of London). They both had holiday jobs (to be encouraged).
They ended up being fairly comfortable. I heard tales of some of their mates being down to their last tenner or heavily overdrawn etc, whereas AFAIK our two kept a credit balance of a couple of hundred quid at the lowest.
London’s expensive but London students will know how to maximise their spending power I expect.
We gave ours £300/month at that stage (out of London). They both had holiday jobs (to be encouraged).
They ended up being fairly comfortable. I heard tales of some of their mates being down to their last tenner or heavily overdrawn etc, whereas AFAIK our two kept a credit balance of a couple of hundred quid at the lowest.
London’s expensive but London students will know how to maximise their spending power I expect.
philv said:
It's for food, fun, clothes, toileteries phone etc.
Everything except her room in halls.
I thought about 600 pm?
Quite a few outgoings. I’d suggest starting on £450 and seeing how that goes, with the option to increase. You certainly won’t be able to bring it down if you start on £600!Everything except her room in halls.
I thought about 600 pm?
You could say that clothes (and books?) are things you’ll fund outside the £450 as required.
Both my daughters go to CENTRAL London Universities, between them they have now done 6 years.
Both shop food sensibly, don't socialise or eat out a lot, nor drink excessively. They are also not members of expensive sporting clubs (which can result in travel, equipment, facility hire).
They spend about £1,800 a term (that is for everything except accommodation which I pay), this includes odd items of clothing, stationary, train ticket, concert ticket, utility bill etc.
Typically 12 weeks a term so around £650 a calendar month I'm sure it could be done for less, but equally they have foreign student friends that burn through £2k a month allowances each and every month.
36 weeks (3 terms a year) ......£5,400 a year.
Working a few half days a week (retail/ cafe etc), can earn them around £400 to £500 a calendar month.
Both shop food sensibly, don't socialise or eat out a lot, nor drink excessively. They are also not members of expensive sporting clubs (which can result in travel, equipment, facility hire).
They spend about £1,800 a term (that is for everything except accommodation which I pay), this includes odd items of clothing, stationary, train ticket, concert ticket, utility bill etc.
Typically 12 weeks a term so around £650 a calendar month I'm sure it could be done for less, but equally they have foreign student friends that burn through £2k a month allowances each and every month.
36 weeks (3 terms a year) ......£5,400 a year.
Working a few half days a week (retail/ cafe etc), can earn them around £400 to £500 a calendar month.
Wilmslowboy said:
Both my daughters go to CENTRAL London Universities, between them they have now done 6 years.
Both shop food sensibly, don't socialise or eat out a lot, nor drink excessively. They are also not members of expensive sporting clubs (which can result in travel, equipment, facility hire).
They spend about £1,800 a term (that is for everything except accommodation which I pay), this includes odd items of clothing, stationary, train ticket, concert ticket, utility bill etc.
Typically 12 weeks a term so around £650 a calendar month I'm sure it could be done for less, but equally they have foreign student friends that burn through £2k a month allowances each and every month.
36 weeks (3 terms a year) ......£5,400 a year.
Working a few half days a week (retail/ cafe etc), can earn them around £400 to £500 a calendar month.
Yeah so about £1000 a month all in once all the main bills are paid. Part of living in London is about experiencing London and that automatically means more money than anywhere else. Although some other uni cities are catching up Both shop food sensibly, don't socialise or eat out a lot, nor drink excessively. They are also not members of expensive sporting clubs (which can result in travel, equipment, facility hire).
They spend about £1,800 a term (that is for everything except accommodation which I pay), this includes odd items of clothing, stationary, train ticket, concert ticket, utility bill etc.
Typically 12 weeks a term so around £650 a calendar month I'm sure it could be done for less, but equally they have foreign student friends that burn through £2k a month allowances each and every month.
36 weeks (3 terms a year) ......£5,400 a year.
Working a few half days a week (retail/ cafe etc), can earn them around £400 to £500 a calendar month.
philv said:
So, my daughter is starting university in London this year.
How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
30quid is one round of drinks for 4-5. How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
As a total off the cuff figure I would say she'll need about £100 a week for everything. That being careful and not eating out 5 times a week.
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Edited by thebraketester on Saturday 8th July 15:21
philv said:
So, my daughter is starting university in London this year.
How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
Ill ask my youngest when she gets back but I think it was about £16k-£18k per anmum for everything, with accommodation being the biggest cost (£9k). That doesn't include tuition fees.How much is reasonable for her to live on each month, excluding accomodation?
Ie, how much for grocerirs?
How much for socialising clothes, going out, etc?
My x thinks £30 a month! for socializing!
I disagree, as in wtf!?
Thanks
In terms of "socialising" she only did what she could afford. Her and her flatmates weren't big on pubs or clubs so that obviously kept costs down.
ETA she says rent was covered by student loan, everything else totalled £100 per week. She has worked since the age of 16 so 9fortunately for me) she paid it all herself.
BlackWidow13 said:
London’s expensive but London students will know how to maximise their spending power I expect.
If you exclude accommodation, London is not an expensive city. If you want to eat and drink in fashionable places, it's expensive, but it's possible to have a great time in London, eat well and drink alcohol, for peanuts. I would start at £400. No mention of increases, but if asked - up it.
The realistic bottom line is 75% of that is going to get p*ssed up the wall.
Which is fine, thats what uni is I guess. But thats why I would start low. The more financially free the more "entertainment" which takes the mind of the actual real reason to go to uni!!!
The realistic bottom line is 75% of that is going to get p*ssed up the wall.
Which is fine, thats what uni is I guess. But thats why I would start low. The more financially free the more "entertainment" which takes the mind of the actual real reason to go to uni!!!
EmailAddress said:
gotoPzero said:
I would start at £400. No mention of increases, but if asked - up it.
The realistic bottom line is 75% of that is going to get p*ssed up the wall.
Which is fine, thats what uni is I guess. But thats why I would start low. The more financially free the more "entertainment" which takes the mind of the actual real reason to go to uni!!!
Rampant barn-dooring?The realistic bottom line is 75% of that is going to get p*ssed up the wall.
Which is fine, thats what uni is I guess. But thats why I would start low. The more financially free the more "entertainment" which takes the mind of the actual real reason to go to uni!!!
Most of your basic costs are the same as at home - litre of milk and a loaf of bread in Tesco Chelsea is pretty much the same as Tesco Carlisle. An Asos package or a phone contract or or a textbook costs exactly the same. Accommodation doesn't but you know about that.
Travel is more but it's capped and easily budgeted either through daily maximum charges or a travelcard. You need to agree who will cover costs to travel to and from home each term or during term.
Going out is much more costly, as described above. And while that's a discretionary expense, it's not much fun being a student and staying in every night. Dining out costs have also shot up relatively since Covid, and I keep being surprised to be presented with a £200 bill for a casual pub lunch for four. Obviously it can be done for less than that with a bit of forethought but you might need to take your wife out for a couple of meals so she can see for herself.
One thing you might want to consider for a daughter is rules for cabs / uber. One of the Newcettes did a degree in London and I gave her a card she could use whenever she felt she was in a situation that she should take a cab rather than public transport. We agreed that would be completely her decision, and there was no budget limit, but if she took the mick we'd be having words. She never did in my view, but it was still a few times a month at £20 to £30 a time.
Travel is more but it's capped and easily budgeted either through daily maximum charges or a travelcard. You need to agree who will cover costs to travel to and from home each term or during term.
Going out is much more costly, as described above. And while that's a discretionary expense, it's not much fun being a student and staying in every night. Dining out costs have also shot up relatively since Covid, and I keep being surprised to be presented with a £200 bill for a casual pub lunch for four. Obviously it can be done for less than that with a bit of forethought but you might need to take your wife out for a couple of meals so she can see for herself.
One thing you might want to consider for a daughter is rules for cabs / uber. One of the Newcettes did a degree in London and I gave her a card she could use whenever she felt she was in a situation that she should take a cab rather than public transport. We agreed that would be completely her decision, and there was no budget limit, but if she took the mick we'd be having words. She never did in my view, but it was still a few times a month at £20 to £30 a time.
Get the student to do thier own research and budget first. It's their responsibility.
When our kids went off to uni, I got them to download the Moneysavi expert budget planner on excel, and then helped turn it into a weekly cash flow forecast.
In terms of incoming money, we never offered them anything above what they got in loans, grants and bursaries. My checking of said forecast was based on what does your tight arse Dad spend. Meals out ? Er..you've got a saucepan.
But then they went to York and Cardiff respectively.
My oldest, used it religiously for the first year to compare predicted spend with actual spend. He eventually went into accountancy,
When our kids went off to uni, I got them to download the Moneysavi expert budget planner on excel, and then helped turn it into a weekly cash flow forecast.
In terms of incoming money, we never offered them anything above what they got in loans, grants and bursaries. My checking of said forecast was based on what does your tight arse Dad spend. Meals out ? Er..you've got a saucepan.
But then they went to York and Cardiff respectively.
My oldest, used it religiously for the first year to compare predicted spend with actual spend. He eventually went into accountancy,
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