student living expenses

ha12roon

hi, im soon to start my 2nd year at university in Birmingham, and was wondering if anyone knew roughly what the costs per week/month are likely to be for 2 people sharing are 2/3 bed house in Birmingham interms of utility bills elec/gas/water. I know council tax should be exempt for students.

sorry if posted in wrong section

Any help much appreciated

Kazzajr

I would say this amount is too high if this is on top of her loans, even if she didn't have loan I would have said £70 pw to live on is more than enough. Is this on top of her rent?

It is good you are able to help her out as this will save her getting a job but I think it would be in her best interests to learn to budget living off a smaller amount rather than having plenty of money.

My total income from all sources is £140 this amount covers all my outgoings (rent, utilities, books etc). This is for myself and my son who manage to get clothed and fed really well on this amount. I do not have an overdraft or credit cards.

diesel9181

i would have thought £70 a week on top of student loan would have been more than enough for food/beer/nights out/petrol & books. i dont think i spend anywhere near that during term time.

kr15snw

I get the full grant and the partial loan and earn about £150 a month. I have to pay about £30 a week to my boyfriend for food shopping.

I manage fine. I dont get a penny from my boyfriend or family and can afford to run a car, go out, have fun, have internet, sky etc.

I would think £70 was a lot, has she thought about getting a job?

Stubert

£70 is a lot. Budgetting about around £20-25 for food per week. If that is on top of her loan, she'll have loads of money! With it being a Scottish uni I imagine accomodation costs won't be massive. I've had relatively expensive living costs here comparitively up here (Manchester) especially in my first year and I still had about a grand left of student loan left at the end, mainly due in part to having a sunday job. It was only £60 a week or so, but it really made the difference for me.

melancholly

ha12roon wrote: »

hi, im soon to start my 2nd year at university in Birmingham, and was wondering if anyone knew roughly what the costs per week/month are likely to be for 2 people sharing are 2/3 bed house in Birmingham interms of utility bills elec/gas/water. I know council tax should be exempt for students.

hard to say - that will depend a lot on how much you have the heating on and how much electrical equipment you have on all the time. just make sure you check your bills against the meter every time, as utilities companies have a knack of over-estimating!

barginboyrob

I dunno, I got £100 a week when everything was already included (catered, accommation, bills, fees etc)...say nights out cost £20, bit of food and textbooks I bought myself...but you can get the second hand off 2nd yeaar students...

freebie_junkie

that sounds increadibly generous!

i live in my own flat (and of course i wouldnt dream in a million years of askign my m&d for any cash!) and out of my loan and grant (plus working for myself pt) ive managed just fine furnishing and running a home plus a few luxuries like sky and a car (which is much more expensive than being in halls- i know coz i lived in them in my first year!)

never been overdrawn and have savings too (peopel who say they had to go overdrawn usually spend a lot of money on useless stuff in my experience- my oh included!)

KPG_2

£70.00 pounds a week!!!!! A week???? Am I missing something here?? Maybe I am!! My Daughter is off to Uni in a couple of weeks and we have had to think hard about the wizest way to help her. Her loan will only just cover her tuition fees, so that's all accounted for. We are paying her rent (halls). We were thinking along the lines of £20-£25 a week to cover food. She has just had a gap year and worked part time. She has been fairly good at saving and will use this money for 'nights out' etc etc. Hubby works and lives in London during the week and he ,on average, only spends £12 a week soley on food (3 meals a day over 5 days). £70 seems more than enough and either your daughter will be great at saving and will be able to spend the long summer holidays 'resting' or she's going to have a 'complete blast' at uni. Either way good luck to her and I hope her studies go well.

student_advisor

KPG wrote: »

Her loan will only just cover her tuition fees, so that's all accounted for.

Is your daughter doing a uni course? Is this a career development loan you are referring to? Uni students would normally get a tuition fee loan to cover fees in full and a maintenance loan (and possibly grant).

Don't mean to be nosey, just want to make sure your daughter is getting all the financial help she's entitled to.