Could you live decently on £14,400 a year?

[Deleted User]

As a band 2 nursing assistant, the government expects me to live on this figure

Indie_Kid

bloolagoon wrote: »

You should be getting around £9000 basic bursary with the extra weeks allowance dependants and parental learning allowances. Add £3500 CTC and the £1100 CB so around £14,000 excluding housing and council tax. Plus free school meals. From what student nurses tell me you won't pay much of your rent, so bearing in mind tax and NI you will be on considerably more than they said in the OP with a higher disposable income.

Not that I think you don't deserve it as mature nursing students often make excellent nurses, you are in fact working full time and will work and be providing a service for less than you'd get working full time on NMW and will repay once graduated. So I'm not having a pop just saying that I think your comparison that it's about the same as a workers is a bit out on figures or you aren't claiming what you should be.

I seem to remember BM is in Scotland the rules there for how much student finance they can get is much less.

Kim_kim

I'm single & live in the expensive South east, I would struggle on double your £14,400.

thorsoak

There are a lot of young people living in the South east who do struggle to make ends meet on £14,400 - but if they are single, then they have to.

PenguinJim

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I earn around 17300 gross in the Midlands. I have a motgaged flat, a HP car and a small amount of savings. A bit more than JRF say is the minimum but yes, doable. My mortgage and utility bills come to 740 leaving me just under 470 for food petrol and nights out. The most expensive thing I have is a relationship so recently feeling the pinch!

Wow, I missed a trick there! I never used to charge people for going on dates with me.

I'm married now, it's too late. Well... probably. I'll ask tonight.

brumbrum2

I'd say it's do-able for a single person but in this day and age it may not be the best wage to live off.

Brallaqueen

PenguinJim wrote: »

Wow, I missed a trick there! I never used to charge people for going on dates with me.

I'm married now, it's too late. Well... probably. I'll ask tonight.

:rotfl:

I'm not charging or being charged to go in dates, it is just that they are an additional expense that has come along recently due to having a partner who likes to do stuff. We keep it cheap for my sake (bless him) but still. Ukulele practice at the pub in a closeby village is only 2 quid but petrol there and back, drinks for both whilst you're there all adds up.

Buttonmoons

bloolagoon wrote: »

You should be getting around £9000 basic bursary with the extra weeks allowance dependants and parental learning allowances. Add £3500 CTC and the £1100 CB so around £14,000 excluding housing and council tax. Plus free school meals. From what student nurses tell me you won't pay much of your rent, so bearing in mind tax and NI you will be on considerably more than they said in the OP with a higher disposable income.

Not that I think you don't deserve it as mature nursing students often make excellent nurses, you are in fact working full time and will work and be providing a service for less than you'd get working full time on NMW and will repay once graduated. So I'm not having a pop just saying that I think your comparison that it's about the same as a workers is a bit out on figures or you aren't claiming what you should be.

Gosh no the basic bursary here is £6,578 - I do get more because I get a dependants allowance on top of that, I don't know what a parental learning allowance is, but we don't get that either. Also no access to any discretionary funds, or loans etc etc.

Perhaps is around the 14k mark once CT is factored in, I don't know what I'm entitled too for HB yet, as it stands I'm still paying full rent until they assess me. Free school meals, my daughter has completely swapped to packed lunches as the food is nasty, the fish she got served was grey :eek:

I'm very grateful for what I get to live on each month, it enables me to progress throughout university without huge debts hanging over my head.

I feel for the younger girls in my class, as they have the basic to live off and nothing else, and student accomodation in Aberdeen is around £120 PW, more if you don't want to share with 7 other people.

mgdavid

thorsoak wrote: »

There are a lot of young people living in the South east who do struggle to make ends meet on £14,400 - but if they are single, then they have to.

Only if they have unfortunate circumstances; the rest can live with their family - but choose not to. It's a peculiarly british thing, look at other cultures in Europe (France, Italy, Spain etc) and even other cultures in this country.

Ames

mgdavid wrote: »

Only if they have unfortunate circumstances; the rest can live with their family - but choose not to. It's a peculiarly british thing, look at other cultures in Europe (France, Italy, Spain etc) and even other cultures in this country.

Hang on, we're always hearing that young single people should move to where the work is, but now you're saying they should be living with parents.

It's funny how everything's got an oversimplified solution which changes to suit.