The Student Room Group

Maintenance Loan-> does it really cover your expenses? opinions wanted

So basically I've recieved a 3k loan from student finance and I'm quite confident I'll have a large amount left over because of travel being £80 a month and well food would be around £200 month. Obviously there are gonna be expenses such as university books but for me I can see I've got quite a bit left over
Does anyone else feel the same?
Gonna invest in a bloody new phone for myself though lol Ive had this *****y 4s for years now
Reply 1
You are aware that 280 x 12 months = over 3k, right? And that's just your food and travel expenses. 3k isn't a lot to live on for a whole year at all.
I live on my own as a bloke of 40+ and spend about £100-£130pm on food.
Obviously if you're going out or drink (I don't) then this will need to be factored in above this amout
Reply 3
Budgeting for university can be really tricky, especially as most of us have never done it before. As a third year, I have a few tips I hope will help anyone looking for uni budgeting advice.

Do some research. There are loads of helpful websites which help explain the things you need to factor in to your budget in a much more helpful and professional way than anyone can advise you on Student Room. Just type in 'how to budget at uni' on Google and lots of useful relevant websites will come up. Some examples of useful websites are:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/managing-money/student-budgeting-tips
- This website helpfully lists all of the things you need to bear in mind when managing your income and expenditure.
http://university.which.co.uk/advice/student-finance/student-finance-budgeting-things-to-remember
- Again this website lists the most important and costly uni expenses.

Buy a simple calculator and budget notebook. This might sound patronising but speaks for itself really. Please don't rely on your brain to work out your finances. Brains are always capable of human error, calculators are not. :P You can also get finance books/budget planners in WHSmiths or Tesco. They're basic notebooks/planners but do help. You could even make one yourself with squared paper, or just use a cheap lined notebook. Again if you're really struggling to work it out on your own, the internet is your saviour. There are lots of websites which can help you work out your budget.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/budget-calculator
- Another UCAS website, this one is a calculator. All you do is type in the amount of money you will earn/spend next to the relevant subheadings and it will work out your budget for the year. Remember that your budget may change - you might spend more/less than you expect on certain things. You may well get larger loans in second and third year too.

Open a student bank account. I recommend Santander. They have a large overdraft on their student account (that is, the amount of interest-free money that you can borrow from the bank), you get a free 16-25 railcard, and the interest rate is okay. They also tend to have branches everywhere. But it is worth researching the area your uni is in to see if there is a branch around as you may need to pay in cheques or query something at some point.

Determine your income and expenditure. I must stress that this is going to be different for everyone. There are many factors to take into account including whether you are commuting from home or living in halls. If living in halls or off-campus you need to know how much rent you will be paying and work out how much of your maintenance loan will be spent on that rent. (Halls rent tends to lump rent and bills together into one payment per month or per term, but this varies from uni to uni.) Additionally, you'll spend a lot more money on food if your halls accommodation is self-catered.
In my personal experience, my maintenance loan has only ever covered my rent and bills but none of my other expenses like food, books, etc. For universities in London, accommodation will be more expensive, but your loan may be slightly bigger - you need to work out how much of your loan will be left over after you have paid your rent, bills and/or transport costs. Sometimes you will have money leftover, but this is generally not a lot (especially now grants/bursaries are being scrapped). Most students prefer to get a part-time job during their studies as an extra income for these expenses. Other students may get money from their parents. It depends on the individual and it's really worth doing the research. Here's a list of things to consider (but let me stress again that it's worth checking out official websites as they are more helpful than me!)

Income
- How much is your maintenance loan?
- Will you have a part-time job? How much will you earn?
- Will your parents provide any money for you?

Expenditure
- Rent
- Commuting costs/ transport costs - it is really worth getting a 16-25 railcard which gets you 1/3 off rail fares. If you have a car, then the relevant costs such as insurance and petrol.
- Bills (water, gas, electric, wifi, TV license, phone)
- Insurance (my off-campus insurance is helpfully included in my parents home contents insurance, but if you have none it might be worth considering, especially if moving to London or somewhere that has a high crime/burglary rate.)
- Books (get second hand books or borrow from the library)
- Food and drink
- Household supplies e.g. toilet roll, cleaning products, etc.
- Socials/nights out/societies
- Clothes if you want

I hope this helps you and anyone else struggling with finances. I know it looks intimidating, but first year is all about trial and error. Be careful with your spending, keep an eye on your bank balance and make sure you have a bit of money as a buffer or back up in case you overspend.

Good luck with university! :smile:
Reply 4
No it's not nearly enough. My daughter's accommodation alone will cost £2,000 more per year than her student maintenance loan without adding food, books or entertainment. She knows she will have to get some sort of part time job to supplement her income but that isn't going to happen on day one.

All the finance talks we attended at various university open days were very laid back and indicated that nothing needs to be paid back until you earn over £21,000 a year and will be written off after 30 years but absolutely no mention at all that your parents are expected to fund any shortfall.

We fully expected the amount of loan available would match basic expenses but we found out very late in the application that this was not to be.

I am delighted that my daughter has this wonderful opportunity to go to university but should it be at the expense of half bankrupting your parents, who have bills, mortgages and other expenses of their own. And what about those of us who have children two years apart who will potentially be at university at the same time. Never mind the students having to find work, looks like some parents will have to take on additional jobs to prevent our children from starving!!
I have about £100 to live off.
Maybe my daughter is lucky, getting full loan and going to Sussex means she also gets £2000 knocked off her £5000 rent and £1000 paid to her.
She did consider bursaries available but were not a deciding factor in her firm or insurance choice.
Even so a lot of unis also had excellence bursaries depends on the returned grades offered. There are also two other bursaries she can apply for but these are competitive so certainly not guaranteed, but its worth checking if there is anything else you may be able to apply for
That said I guess it depends on the loan you are due to receive, I'd expect & hope that she should be able to survive on the £3000 balance for 40weeks after she has paid the rent.
If you don't get a means tested loan then I can imagine that you will have a fairly substantial shortfall before anything else is paid.
Reply 7
Original post by Curryman98
So basically I've recieved a 3k loan from student finance and I'm quite confident I'll have a large amount left over because of travel being £80 a month and well food would be around £200 month. Obviously there are gonna be expenses such as university books but for me I can see I've got quite a bit left over
Does anyone else feel the same?
Gonna invest in a bloody new phone for myself though lol Ive had this *****y 4s for years now


What about rent? If you're living at home, have you agreed with your parents that you can live rent/bill free as long as you buy your own food?

If you're going to live in rented accommodation, then £3000 a year is unlikey to cover your rent, let alone anything else.
You should be fine, assuming that that doesn't include rent. I paid for my rent and then £2.5k living expenses (£20/week food, going out 2/3 times a week etc), and also had plenty leftover from SF
Reply 9
Original post by Katarvi
You are aware that 280 x 12 months = over 3k, right? And that's just your food and travel expenses. 3k isn't a lot to live on for a whole year at all.


My uni course is around 8 months. I don't think any course lasts for 12 months
Original post by Colinj451
I live on my own as a bloke of 40+ and spend about £100-£130pm on food.
Obviously if you're going out or drink (I don't) then this will need to be factored in above this amout

Yeah I don't drink as well but I'm gonna go out for a bit so it's gonna be quite costly I think
Original post by Raffa1
Budgeting for university can be really tricky, especially as most of us have never done it before. As a third year, I have a few tips I hope will help anyone looking for uni budgeting advice.

Do some research. There are loads of helpful websites which help explain the things you need to factor in to your budget in a much more helpful and professional way than anyone can advise you on Student Room. Just type in 'how to budget at uni' on Google and lots of useful relevant websites will come up. Some examples of useful websites are:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/managing-money/student-budgeting-tips
- This website helpfully lists all of the things you need to bear in mind when managing your income and expenditure.
http://university.which.co.uk/advice/student-finance/student-finance-budgeting-things-to-remember
- Again this website lists the most important and costly uni expenses.

Buy a simple calculator and budget notebook. This might sound patronising but speaks for itself really. Please don't rely on your brain to work out your finances. Brains are always capable of human error, calculators are not. :P You can also get finance books/budget planners in WHSmiths or Tesco. They're basic notebooks/planners but do help. You could even make one yourself with squared paper, or just use a cheap lined notebook. Again if you're really struggling to work it out on your own, the internet is your saviour. There are lots of websites which can help you work out your budget.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/budget-calculator
- Another UCAS website, this one is a calculator. All you do is type in the amount of money you will earn/spend next to the relevant subheadings and it will work out your budget for the year. Remember that your budget may change - you might spend more/less than you expect on certain things. You may well get larger loans in second and third year too.

Open a student bank account. I recommend Santander. They have a large overdraft on their student account (that is, the amount of interest-free money that you can borrow from the bank), you get a free 16-25 railcard, and the interest rate is okay. They also tend to have branches everywhere. But it is worth researching the area your uni is in to see if there is a branch around as you may need to pay in cheques or query something at some point.

Determine your income and expenditure. I must stress that this is going to be different for everyone. There are many factors to take into account including whether you are commuting from home or living in halls. If living in halls or off-campus you need to know how much rent you will be paying and work out how much of your maintenance loan will be spent on that rent. (Halls rent tends to lump rent and bills together into one payment per month or per term, but this varies from uni to uni.) Additionally, you'll spend a lot more money on food if your halls accommodation is self-catered.
In my personal experience, my maintenance loan has only ever covered my rent and bills but none of my other expenses like food, books, etc. For universities in London, accommodation will be more expensive, but your loan may be slightly bigger - you need to work out how much of your loan will be left over after you have paid your rent, bills and/or transport costs. Sometimes you will have money leftover, but this is generally not a lot (especially now grants/bursaries are being scrapped). Most students prefer to get a part-time job during their studies as an extra income for these expenses. Other students may get money from their parents. It depends on the individual and it's really worth doing the research. Here's a list of things to consider (but let me stress again that it's worth checking out official websites as they are more helpful than me!)

Income
- How much is your maintenance loan?
- Will you have a part-time job? How much will you earn?
- Will your parents provide any money for you?

Expenditure
- Rent
- Commuting costs/ transport costs - it is really worth getting a 16-25 railcard which gets you 1/3 off rail fares. If you have a car, then the relevant costs such as insurance and petrol.
- Bills (water, gas, electric, wifi, TV license, phone)
- Insurance (my off-campus insurance is helpfully included in my parents home contents insurance, but if you have none it might be worth considering, especially if moving to London or somewhere that has a high crime/burglary rate.)
- Books (get second hand books or borrow from the library)
- Food and drink
- Household supplies e.g. toilet roll, cleaning products, etc.
- Socials/nights out/societies
- Clothes if you want

I hope this helps you and anyone else struggling with finances. I know it looks intimidating, but first year is all about trial and error. Be careful with your spending, keep an eye on your bank balance and make sure you have a bit of money as a buffer or back up in case you overspend.

Good luck with university! :smile:

Oh man I should of said I was staying with my parents but yo hats off to you with that extensive reply I really hope someone stumbles across this thread and reads this LOL many thanks for your views it actually made me learn a thing or two even though Im not in the uni accommodation

Original post by Mum68
No it's not nearly enough. My daughter's accommodation alone will cost £2,000 more per year than her student maintenance loan without adding food, books or entertainment. She knows she will have to get some sort of part time job to supplement her income but that isn't going to happen on day one.

All the finance talks we attended at various university open days were very laid back and indicated that nothing needs to be paid back until you earn over £21,000 a year and will be written off after 30 years but absolutely no mention at all that your parents are expected to fund any shortfall.

We fully expected the amount of loan available would match basic expenses but we found out very late in the application that this was not to be.

I am delighted that my daughter has this wonderful opportunity to go to university but should it be at the expense of half bankrupting your parents, who have bills, mortgages and other expenses of their own. And what about those of us who have children two years apart who will potentially be at university at the same time. Never mind the students having to find work, looks like some parents will have to take on additional jobs to prevent our children from starving!!

I agree it looks extremely tough with students here living off £20 a week which is frankly shocking I could never do that. Reason why I stay at home, hopefully your daughter manages! anyway living on campus must be really exciting and is really a one time experience
Original post by newsunflower
I have about £100 to live off.

Wtf

Original post by Klix88
What about rent? If you're living at home, have you agreed with your parents that you can live rent/bill free as long as you buy your own food?

If you're going to live in rented accommodation, then £3000 a year is unlikey to cover your rent, let alone anything else.

Yeah I don't have rented accommodation lol lucky me

Original post by peaaceandl0ve
You should be fine, assuming that that doesn't include rent. I paid for my rent and then £2.5k living expenses (£20/week food, going out 2/3 times a week etc), and also had plenty leftover from SF

Oooh I'm spendin a lot more so you'll defo have more SF left
Reply 10
I'm petty sure my maintenance loan will go up to 6k anyway so I think I'll be more than fine though
Feel for you accommodation students Jesus
hey guys, how much would you say is enough to live off each week at uni? i'll be moving out soon for uni
Reply 12
I have never heaard of a single person i know not blowing their loan to hell and back..
It's not even close to enough. I get £140 a week and my rent alone is £211 a week (yay London), I'm just super lucky my parents are helping me out hugely.
Original post by Curryman98
My uni course is around 8 months. I don't think any course lasts for 12 months

Yeah I don't drink as well but I'm gonna go out for a bit so it's gonna be quite costly I think

Oh man I should of said I was staying with my parents but yo hats off to you with that extensive reply I really hope someone stumbles across this thread and reads this LOL many thanks for your views it actually made me learn a thing or two even though Im not in the uni accommodation


I agree it looks extremely tough with students here living off £20 a week which is frankly shocking I could never do that. Reason why I stay at home, hopefully your daughter manages! anyway living on campus must be really exciting and is really a one time experience

Wtf


Yeah I don't have rented accommodation lol lucky me


Oooh I'm spendin a lot more so you'll defo have more SF left

You still need eat 12 months out of the year, not just the 8 that your course is for. You might save the £80 in travel per month you aren't at uni but thats about all. Are you not paying your parents any rent? What about toiletries and money to socialise, mobile phone bill, etc?
Reply 15
Original post by Katarvi
You still need eat 12 months out of the year, not just the 8 that your course is for. You might save the £80 in travel per month you aren't at uni but thats about all. Are you not paying your parents any rent? What about toiletries and money to socialise, mobile phone bill, etc?


When I'm not in uni, I don't think ill be spending no where near as much as I usually would throughout the year so them 4 months ill most likely be chilling and stuff. But yeah I don't pay rent lol are you meant to ? XD never heard my parents telling me to pay rent and stuff.
Phone bill isn't much at all and yeah I don't know how often ill be out after uni
P.S- most likely to get maximum maintenance loan so around 6.9k
ill be fine i guess
I have ~£25 left after rent so I'm guessing no, not for everyone at least.

Oh, thats £25 for the whole year btw.
(edited 7 years ago)

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