My student daughter cannot get a student account!

notafan

EdgEy wrote: »

I am in the same boat. Student Finance give me £6400 loan/grant combined. More than enough during term time, the issue is with helping family out outside term time, as I said.

There is no need to work during term time unless your parents are tight or you get the wallet out at every opportunity.
The "rich people" are those that are in trouble as you have to rely on parental contributions. Under 15k you live in relative bliss.

Thats a load of rubbish. The average cost of rent (as per the independent) is around 50% of what you'll get in your loan/bursary figure that's based on the highest amount you could receive ie the 6400 you mention. Most 1st year Uni accommodation is higher then 50% that amount also. You just brand people as tight based on not knowing anything about their circumstances.

One of the reasons the system is screwed is because it says if your parents earn X amount they can contribute - what it doesn't do is take into account what the affordability is likely to be of the amount they suggest. Where does that leave the students who don't get anything - they have to find extra from somewhere else, such as work.

After rent your left with roughly £3200 for the rest of the year. Some books are over £100! Then there's the usual living costs gas, electric, water, travel, food. Before you get into having a social life or buying none essential stuff.

There was three types of people at uni...

-the ones that didn't work and were rich enough to be funded, some didn't even take out the student loans.

-the ones that did work to supplement the amount they were given.

the ones that didn't work but took out large amounts of debt on credit cards or multiple student accounts to fund everything.

Good for you for living on 6k per year - I'm not saying its impossible but you must live like a hermit or something you certainly sound tighter then the parents your slating. Most students will easily burn through more then 6k on the essentials its easily done and hardly reckless.

For the OP I'd encourage her to get a job. She'll be timetabled for a small % of the time she has available and could easily fit in a bit of work to top up her money - she'll still find plenty of time for everything else too.

Lokolo

Are you honestly saying people can't live off £6k a year without being a hermit!?

Wow.

I spend around £7k a year and this includes living like a king! I run a car, buy plenty of good food, and go out most weeks (apart from last few weeks and future weeks because my final year project is due soon eeeek! It's 11pm on Friday and I'm working - and browsing MSE )

notafan

Lokolo wrote: »

Are you honestly saying people can't live off £6k a year without being a hermit!?

Wow.

I spend around £7k a year and this includes living like a king! I run a car, buy plenty of good food, and go out most weeks (apart from last few weeks and future weeks because my final year project is due soon eeeek! It's 11pm on Friday and I'm working - and browsing MSE )

Its obviously location and person specific - but i'm saying i don't think its that easy no.

Would love to see a detailed SOA of people living on that much. I would say that from the basic amount received for the vast majority of students out there covers priority living costs and not much else.

But yer i think 6-7k on Rent, a bond or deposit, Gas, Electric, Water, TV Licence, Insurance, Broadband, books, food, any field trips, uni related stuff (folders, books, pens, paper etc) and travel like bus passes (which can be in the hundreds for term passes) or a car with MOT, Insurance (especially high in the typical age group of a student), Fuel, Repairs and Maintenance is a tall order. Add on the other bits like topping up a mobile, trips back home (train or car) clothing, going out for a pint and i think its incredibly tough.

And after all that i would love to know what your doing/spending to live like a king

DCFC79

I know quite a few students who worked term time when at uni,

Derivative

notafan wrote: »

But yer i think 6-7k on Rent, a bond or deposit, Gas, Electric, Water, TV Licence, Insurance, Broadband, books, food, any field trips, uni related stuff (folders, books, pens, paper etc) and travel like bus passes (which can be in the hundreds for term passes) or a car with MOT, Insurance (especially high in the typical age group of a student), Fuel, Repairs and Maintenance is a tall order. Add on the other bits like topping up a mobile, trips back home (train or car) clothing, going out for a pint and i think its incredibly tough.

I am one of the students that get £6400 a year and I am telling you, it is not tough. It is not even remotely difficult. What IS tough is getting £4k or less and having the government expect your parents to top up the rest - which is what some my fellow students have to put up with.

Firstly, the 6k is for HALF the year. Rest of the time you spend at home, and I don't think asking the average parent to help their kids out a bit there is asking much. Set aside 1k for outside term time to balance out Child Benefit and you're in the same situation as you were at age 16.

Most halls include bills, broadband. Those that don't are generally cheaper to make up for it (rare to see private rent of £1k/term outside London, and Londoners get more help from SLC).

So you're essentially talking £2k for food, and textbooks/stationery. All of your other things listed are optional.

This is Money Saving Expert, you've included a list of some of the most expensive things that students DON'T do. I know hardly anyone that owns a car. Noone that owns a TV license (we're students, supposedly we have brains, the internet is a valuable resource) and halls pay for bills.

I could do an SOA but most of the things on the standard MSE template don't apply to students. Remember that Council Tax, TV license, gas/electric/water, internet, landline bills don't apply to many if not most of us.

notafan wrote:

Good for you for living on 6k per year - I'm not saying its impossible but you must live like a hermit or something you certainly sound tighter then the parents your slating. Most students will easily burn through more then 6k on the essentials its easily done and hardly reckless.

I just can't make clear enough how wrong this is. I am unsure if you are a student but it seems you neglect the fact that we don't need all of the toys like cars just yet.

Derivative

I should also add that I don't think £3000 rent for 30 weeks is normal, that is the high end of the spectrum. In my hometown you could get a 3 bedroom terrace for that and house share. You'd have to pay bills but it'd work out far less.

*Kat*

I think IF parents can contribute they should... if some parents have enough money to buy their 17 year old's cars then they should pay something towards their education...I'm sure if my mum had enough she would. I guess that just depends on the attitude of the parents though hmm

Fiddlestick

notafan wrote: »

Would love to see a detailed SOA of people living on that much. I would say that from the basic amount received for the vast majority of students out there covers priority living costs and not much else.

But yer i think 6-7k on Rent, a bond or deposit, Gas, Electric, Water, TV Licence, Insurance, Broadband, books, food, any field trips, uni related stuff (folders, books, pens, paper etc) and travel like bus passes (which can be in the hundreds for term passes) or a car with MOT, Insurance (especially high in the typical age group of a student), Fuel, Repairs and Maintenance is a tall order. Add on the other bits like topping up a mobile, trips back home (train or car) clothing, going out for a pint and i think its incredibly tough.

And after all that i would love to know what your doing/spending to live like a king

Oh go on, I too would like to see Lokolo's SOA.

When I was at University I had the princely sum of £4,500 per year to live on - it's tighter than a nun!

Fiddlestick

EdgEy wrote: »

Firstly, the 6k is for HALF the year. Rest of the time you spend at home

That's quite an assumption isn't it?

Most halls include bills, broadband. Those that don't are generally cheaper to make up for it (rare to see private rent of £1k/term outside London, and Londoners get more help from SLC).

Halls aren't generally available outside of 1st year, and it's very very easy to pay over £1000 for rent in a term even outside of London.

I could do an SOA but most of the things on the standard MSE template don't apply to students. Remember that Council Tax, TV license, gas/electric/water, internet, landline bills don't apply to many if not most of us.

Are you in first year by any chance?

I don't know of any students that had the chance of staying in halls after their first year, let alone any that would have wanted too

maddocks_2

EdgEy wrote: »

I should also add that I don't think £3000 rent for 30 weeks is normal, that is the high end of the spectrum. In my hometown you could get a 3 bedroom terrace for that and house share. You'd have to pay bills but it'd work out far less.

It depends on a lot of factors. Some universities have privatised some of their halls and that means the rent goes up (the facilities also do, as a rule - they become en-suite only, for example). Some unis *aren't* in Sunderland - on the private market when I was at uni it was £250-300/month outside halls ex-bills and £300-550/month in halls inc bills depending on the type of room. But they were shutting down the cheaper halls (fire regs etc) when I was there and were replacing it all with more expensive accommodation.

I got approx £5k/year (4k loan, 1k grant) and fees paid on the old system (1k/year fees). I'd actually worked out a lot better off on the 3k/year system as the grants and bursaries went up and I actually asked to transfer, to be told that they couldn't allow that.

My parents were unable to help, but my loan assumed no help from them anyway due to their income.

I did it with part time work, then a year out working and saving money, then going back with the saved money to supplement what I was doing. I still ended up stuck when I was unable to work one summer due to gallstone attacks then the subsequent operation, so I applied for a hardship grant and got it.

The most important thing to remember about this is that the SLC assume you only live there during term time: they do not supplement the 20 weeks a year you're "meant" to be away with your parents (I was unable to do this). Once you get that bit worked out, it's actually very generous.