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Can you be 'too poor' to eat at University?

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I'm going to Uni next month, and my loan falls WAY short of my accommodation, never mind covering food, books, etc. When I get to Uni, I'll have to get a job as fast as possible to make up the rent, and I have an overdraft in order to eat: £500 per term... I suggest saving up the entire year before you go in order to have enough money for the things you want to do... I know student that hold down three jobs just for enough to have a few drinks and pay rent/food/utility bills.
Means testing is a stupid way of determining loans IMO, it doesn't count your household expenses!


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Reply 41
If you go to uni in Switzerland...

10 quid for a lunch :eek:
Original post by Astronomical
My loan doesn't even cover my accommodation. Thanks government for letting me be independent and not have to run to Mummy and Daddy for their money! Oh wait, you give me no choice but to ask them! :rolleyes:

Stupid loan system is stupid. How can you just assume peoples' parents have the money to pay for those of us in this situation to survive! What if it all goes on mortgages? Maybe it's all tied up in other assets? It's ludicrous that my parents have total control over my university life because of how much they earn, and it's no less ludicrous that people studying the same degree at the same place who will leave with the same qualification with the same prospects get more loans, extra grants, and sometimes lower tuition fees, just because their parents earn less money than my parents. Notice how that's not that THEY earn less than ME - it's entirely based on our PARENTS!

And of course, it's because of idiotic Labour "50% of school leavers should go to uni" Blair, because now so many people (wrongfully) decide to go to university that the government simply cannot subsidise it anymore to the same extent - leading to fees tripling and a biased and frankly unfair loan system. So thanks people doing "media studies" at Oxford Brookes and London-met goers who probably got DDE at A-level, you've ruined it for everyone who actually deserves to go to university because they have bothered to work hard at tedious A-levels to get good grades. Because guess what those of you I'm criticising - University should be a privilege to be earned and not a right for the utterly undeserving to take a three year break from the crappy nine-to-five job at Insignificant Ltd, or flipping burgers at McDonalds, or scrubbing toilets at the local pub, that you're going to end up in anyway.



Spoiler



Agreed. I worked hard at sixth form and I'm going to an excellent uni, but I just can't stop worrying about money... why do I have to suffer because my parents earn a lot?? It's not like I'm seeing any benefit from it! Meanwhile this guy at my school loves to gloat to me about how he's receiving thousands and thousands of pounds of grant every year, and about how he's going to be so rich when he goes to uni, all because his parents have separated and he lives with his dad who is a cleaner, despite his mum (who is a dentist) also supporting him financially. He didn't work nearly as hard as I did!

I'm going to struggle to support myself, have to live off tescos own food for the whole three years and get the cheapest accommodation available. It doesn't help that Oxbridge have this stupid 'no job allowed' rule, so I can't even get a job during term time! And I've tried all summer to get a job, but because of the crappy economy I couldn't even get one at mcdonald's! So I've had to resort to voluntary work at a charity shop, which, don't get me wrong, is very fun, but I need MONEY!!

I've managed to save up about 1000 pounds because I got a paper round WHEN I WAS TEN for five years, but then the government decided last year that they're going to make it 18,000 pounds more expensive for us to go to uni (and that's even BEFORE interest!) and makes all of my hard work as a little ten year old saving up for university in 8 years time look ridiculous and pointless and a waste of time. I shouldn't have been so responsible, I should have just spent it on sweets and toys and ****.

AND, to top it all of, the fact that we're going to good universities, the fact that we're obviously hard working people, means that we're more likely to earn more than average, and so on top of paying 9% of our earnings paying back our student loan until we're 51, we're also going to have to pay ridiculous amounts of tax, and going to end up having to support all of our children through uni, because they're not going to be able to get grants or adequate loans either! ARGH!

I've thought countless times that I'd be better off just working at sainsbury's or something for the rest of my life, leaving it to the government to house me and give me benefits to live off.

This government really does penalise hard work.

/end rant.

Please tell me why you're negging.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 43
Original post by XxelliexX
No, when was this? :s-smilie:


Oh, I got sent one by my college when they gave me my offer. I had to guarantee I had the money for the tuition fees and £7500 to live on. It sounds like loads, and it is loads - I'm going to have £160 a week to live on after rent by the looks of things. Can't work out how I'd need that much. I wouldn't have that much, but my student loan + grant comes to about £6000 and then Cambridge will apparently give me another £1500, so I worked things out like that. Maybe it was a trinity hall thing, but my friend going to Magdelane got sent one too.

Edit: Just googled it - it varies from college to college and at King's you only have to provide one if you're not from the UK. I quite liked having it though, because it does now mean I know I'll have enough to live on.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 44
Original post by llacerta
Just to say, don't make any assumptions about catered accommodation- it works differently at different universities. I'm going catered next year, but 'catered' in reality means only half price food in the Dining Hall. It is, however, cheaper than most of the self-catered accommodation we have. My point is, best to check these things out just in case! :biggrin:


This is very true. Always check with each university.

If I recall correctly, Southampton had a nice system where you were allocated a certain amount that could be spent on campus food if you went catered, but self catered people could buy the same food if they wanted. This meant that they could have mixed catered/non catered in each hall.

I may be mixing it up with another place, but I'm pretty sure somewhere had that system.
Original post by E13
Oh, I got sent one by my college when they gave me my offer. I had to guarantee I had the money for the tuition fees and £7500 to live on. It sounds like loads, and it is loads - I'm going to have £160 a week to live on after rent by the looks of things. Can't work out how I'd need that much. I wouldn't have that much, but my student loan + grant comes to about £6000 and then Cambridge will apparently give me another £1500, so I worked things out like that. Maybe it was a trinity hall thing, but my friend going to Magdelane got sent one too.

Edit: Just googled it - it varies from college to college and at King's you only have to provide one if you're not from the UK. I quite liked having it though, because it does now mean I know I'll have enough to live on.


Yeah I researched it too and found that I don't need one if I'm from the UK :/
Hmm...
Yeah, I don't really know what I'm going to do to be honest... :frown:
Reply 46
Original post by XxelliexX
Yeah I researched it too and found that I don't need one if I'm from the UK :/
Hmm...
Yeah, I don't really know what I'm going to do to be honest... :frown:


I'm really nosey and feel free not to reply or to PM, but how did it happen? I was under the impression that as long as you applied for a means tested loan you should have enough? Or have you ended up in the sticky situation where your parents earn more than the student loan people say they should to not have to give you anything but it works out they can't?

Edit: Also most colleges have hardship funds if nec.
Haven't read the OP (sorry) but some uni's can give you emergency money of the circumstances are that bad.


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Original post by E13
I'm really nosey and feel free not to reply or to PM, but how did it happen? I was under the impression that as long as you applied for a means tested loan you should have enough? Or have you ended up in the sticky situation where your parents earn more than the student loan people say they should to not have to give you anything but it works out they can't?

Edit: Also most colleges have hardship funds if nec.


Yeah, my parents earn too much for me to get support from student loan people but say they can't afford to give me much... :/
Reply 49
Original post by XxelliexX
Yeah, my parents earn too much for me to get support from student loan people but say they can't afford to give me much... :/


That's a total pain! I'd be tempted to ask if I could borrow it from them, or I for one have ended up with well off grand parents, so I might ask them. I hope it all works out, and I'm not sure what degree you're doing but there are lots of scholarships and stuff at lots of the colleges.
Original post by Aliceo
What I mean is this:

If I chose catered accommodation I'm assuming the costs of the meals are included in the price? (although I'm sure catered accommodation is a little more expensive than self-catered, as long as you can get a loan/grant to cover the costs of it, that will be fine).

But what if I chose self-catered? Do you get an allowance to cover the cost of food or something? Or are you expected to find a way to pay for it yourself? How does this work?

I hope this makes sense! Sorry if it's a dumb question :tongue:


You get your maintenance loan to pay for rent, food etc.
A lot of times, people's maintenance loan doesn't even cover the rent especially in London where it's so expensive, so people have to work or have saved up money over the summer from working or get money off their parents. I was lucky my loan just about covered my rent, I had enough money left over for basic food but if I wanted takeaways/clothes/nights out I had to use money I earned from work.

If you learn to be a good shopper you can spend small amounts and get loads of food for it. Like meat is really expensive. Stick to supermarket brands. Plan your shops and always have back ups like tins and dry food :smile:
Reply 51
Original post by Aliceo
I don't think budgeting would be too much of an issue (for me), but I just wanted to know how the loan works - I thought the money is given straight to the uni? But do you get given some as well?


You get given all your maintenance loan.

The uni only gets the fees loan.
Reply 52
Original post by Astronomical
My loan doesn't even cover my accommodation. Thanks government for letting me be independent and not have to run to Mummy and Daddy for their money! Oh wait, you give me no choice but to ask them! :rolleyes:

Stupid loan system is stupid.


I totally agree. I don't see why your loan depends on your parents income. After all, it's ME who will have to pay it back, not them. I will get the minimum loan, which will only just cover accomodation costs if I get the cheapest room available. I think we worked out that I need an extra £2000 a year just to get food. Which i'll have to get from my parents. Not to mention travel, mobile phone, books, etc. And after first year i'll have all the bills to pay as well. My parents can't afford that. They may earn more, but they spend it all on mortgages, food, etc. I've seen their bank statements, after paying for all the necessities, they have less money than I do (and I dont even have a job right now.) plus, they have 3 of us kids to pay for, and for at least one year, we'll all be in uni together, then 2 of us will be in together for the rest of our degrees. So they have to find £6000 from somewhere so we can eat, pay our bills, and just generally live for one year. It's ridiculous.



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Reply 53
Original post by Zebrajess
I totally agree. I don't see why your loan depends on your parents income. After all, it's ME who will have to pay it back, not them. I will get the minimum loan, which will only just cover accomodation costs if I get the cheapest room available. I think we worked out that I need an extra £2000 a year just to get food. Which i'll have to get from my parents. Not to mention travel, mobile phone, books, etc. And after first year i'll have all the bills to pay as well. My parents can't afford that. They may earn more, but they spend it all on mortgages, food, etc. I've seen their bank statements, after paying for all the necessities, they have less money than I do (and I dont even have a job right now.) plus, they have 3 of us kids to pay for, and for at least one year, we'll all be in uni together, then 2 of us will be in together for the rest of our degrees. So they have to find £6000 from somewhere so we can eat, pay our bills, and just generally live for one year. It's ridiculous.




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not disagreeing with the general point of your post, but I don't see how the bolded part can possibly be true. based on a 42 year contract that means your expecting to pay £47.62 a week for food. A more realistic (and far from stingy, still more than I spend) food budget of £20 a week would mean you need an extra 840 just for food in that time.And realistically you wont only be home for the summer there will be time over christmas and easter you are home to so it would be less.
books are very expensive yes, hopefully you can buy as little as possible ans use the library as much as possible, I spend loads on books in the first semster but in the second decided it was a waste of money and just used the library and was fine. But of course this will depend on your specific course and uni's library. Travel and mobile phone can't really be avoided aside from making sure you have a cheap contract.

realistically £50 a week. is a fair amount to be inclusive of everything that you need though. and thats including money for things like going out so if you don't do that much less.
Reply 54
Original post by boba
not disagreeing with the general point of your post, but I don't see how the bolded part can possibly be true. based on a 42 year contract that means your expecting to pay £47.62 a week for food. A more realistic (and far from stingy, still more than I spend) food budget of £20 a week would mean you need an extra 840 just for food in that time.And realistically you wont only be home for the summer there will be time over christmas and easter you are home to so it would be less.
books are very expensive yes, hopefully you can buy as little as possible ans use the library as much as possible, I spend loads on books in the first semster but in the second decided it was a waste of money and just used the library and was fine. But of course this will depend on your specific course and uni's library. Travel and mobile phone can't really be avoided aside from making sure you have a cheap contract.

realistically £50 a week. is a fair amount to be inclusive of everything that you need though. and thats including money for things like going out so if you don't do that much less.


Yeah you're right, I might be including going out and stuff in that. I think it was more like £1000 just on food, so £2000 overall. But even so that's only if my loan covers my accommodation, which it probably won't. I'm looking at an extra £400 just for that. And after first year there's bills too. And if I want to go to a London uni I need another £20 a week for an oyster card. So if you include all of that it's over £2500 I think. Including absolutely everything.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 55
Original post by Zebrajess
Yeah you're right, I might be including going out and stuff in that. I think it was more like £1000 just on food, so £2000 overall. But even so that's only if my loan covers my accommodation, which it probably won't. I'm looking at an extra £400 just for that. And after first year there's bills too. And if I want to go to a London uni I need another £20 a week for an oyster card. So if you include all of that it's over £2500 I think. Including absolutely everything.


If you go to a London uni you are entitled to a larger loan, and will your parents not be saving money by not having you there so could help you out with the money they would have spent on you anyway?


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Reply 56
my maintenance loan didn't even cover my accommodation for first year. so I had a starting budget of negative £300 before having to factor in books, food, drink etc. so yes it's easy to not afford food without a job
Original post by A.J10
This is very true. Always check with each university.

If I recall correctly, Southampton had a nice system where you were allocated a certain amount that could be spent on campus food if you went catered, but self catered people could buy the same food if they wanted. This meant that they could have mixed catered/non catered in each hall.

I may be mixing it up with another place, but I'm pretty sure somewhere had that system.


Bath does :smile: but the actual halls are still split due to kitchen facilities.

My way of looking at it was that after first year I'm going to have to cook for myself, and I'm also going to have to travel into uni and look after myself far more than when I'm in halls. So I should learn to cook etc for myself while I'm in halls and it's a five minute saunter to a lecture rather than when I have to catch a bus that goes at a specific time. Also I will eat more healthily :smile:
I had 2 gap years and saved up a high majority of my wages from that so that I could afford to go. I worked full time, ****ty jobs for those 2 years. My 'rents earn too much for me to get much help from student finance, but they've got other commitments and can only give me a token amount each month. I knew this beforehand so I'm going to uni 2 years later than all my friends. Sucks, but that's life.
Reply 59
Original post by 05sykesd
If you go to a London uni you are entitled to a larger loan, and will your parents not be saving money by not having you there so could help you out with the money they would have spent on you anyway?


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Yes you get a larger loan, but the accommodation is more expensive, so again the loan only just covers the cheapest rooms. Most of the accommodation is still too expensive. And the money they spend on me at the moment is the money they get from the government. When I move out, that stops. Also, they wouldn't spend £20 a week on my travel normally, they wouldn't pay £50 for me to come home when I wanted, and they wouldn't pay two sets of electricity bills etc normally. So yeah, they could give me some of the food money they usually spend on me, but there are 5 people in our house, so even with me gone they won't spend that much less on their own food. In general, they don't spend much on just me, so they won't save that much. The only money they spend just on me is my pocket money and phone contract, which they'll have to keep paying, so they won't save that. And then food, but we all share that, and my mum will buy a pack of chicken or whatever, so she'll still have to buy the whole pack, so she's not saving much.
(edited 11 years ago)

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