The Student Room Group

Moving back home third year?

I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?
Do you have the option of moving into Halls? Some Uni's have Halls that are for final year students only so they can be close to the lectures, study centres, library etc. and just concentrate on the study side of stuff without traffic jams, issues with landlords etc. distracting them.
Reply 2
Original post by SomeonesDad
Do you have the option of moving into Halls? Some Uni's have Halls that are for final year students only so they can be close to the lectures, study centres, library etc. and just concentrate on the study side of stuff without traffic jams, issues with landlords etc. distracting them.


Yes but unfortunately the rent alone would be above my maintenance loan and therefore I’d have to do so much overtime at work to afford to live away from home again. The main reason for going home third year would be to try and save up whilst finishing off uni so I can not end my degree completely broke 🥲
You might want to talk to the Uni about the workload and the likely timetable next year. If your lectures are going to be scheduled on Mon-Wed for example, you might find it cheaper to study from home / part-time work Thursday - Sunday night and then drive to a Travelodge near the Uni for Sunday - Tuesday nights. There are examples out there where students who have done this have been able to save good money.
Good luck with your journey.
Reply 4
Original post by anna1590
Yes but unfortunately the rent alone would be above my maintenance loan and therefore I’d have to do so much overtime at work to afford to live away from home again. The main reason for going home third year would be to try and save up whilst finishing off uni so I can not end my degree completely broke 🥲

Your parents are supposed to top up your loan ... at least they could give you the money they are saving by not feeding you.
Reply 5
Original post by Muttley79
Your parents are supposed to top up your loan ... at least they could give you the money they are saving by not feeding you.


This logic completely disregards the fact that they have other children to take care of and also do not have big incomes? Most students have to get part time jobs because their parents can’t just fill the gaps.
Reply 6
Original post by SomeonesDad
You might want to talk to the Uni about the workload and the likely timetable next year. If your lectures are going to be scheduled on Mon-Wed for example, you might find it cheaper to study from home / part-time work Thursday - Sunday night and then drive to a Travelodge near the Uni for Sunday - Tuesday nights. There are examples out there where students who have done this have been able to save good money.
Good luck with your journey.


Thank you! That sounds like the best idea ..
Reply 7
Original post by anna1590
This logic completely disregards the fact that they have other children to take care of and also do not have big incomes? Most students have to get part time jobs because their parents can’t just fill the gaps.

Most parents make excuses - they are saving money by the student not living at home - there's no excuse not to help out. I am speaking as a parent ... if the income wasn't big the loan would be larger.
Reply 8
Original post by Muttley79
Most parents make excuses - they are saving money by the student not living at home - there's no excuse not to help out. I am speaking as a parent ... if the income wasn't big the loan would be larger.


I understand where you are coming from but I genuinely get what I can off them, my parents are older and will be retiring soon and so there are other things they have to think about
Reply 9
Original post by anna1590
I understand where you are coming from but I genuinely get what I can off them, my parents are older and will be retiring soon and so there are other things they have to think about


I wasn't that young when my son went to uni and one income - still helped him.
Reply 10
Original post by Muttley79
I wasn't that young when my son went to uni and one income - still helped him.


I am not going to pester my parents for money when we haven’t grown up with much. It was my decision to go to uni and so far I’m doing fine, I wanted advice from people who may have gone home for third year and instead I’m being told that I’m not getting enough help from my parents from someone who doesn’t know anything about my life?
Reply 11
Original post by Anonymous
I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?

You need to factor in the cost of fuel, the additional wear and tear on the car, and how tiring the commute will be -- particularly if you'll be travelling in the dark if you start early or finish after 4pm in November/December/January. Will you realistically be in the mood to do any academic work in the evenings when you get home, or will you be tired out from the driving?

Also, how easy is it find parking at/near your university and how much will that cost? If your university is in/near a city centre, for example, all day parking can be staggeringly expensive.
Hi there,

I know how hard it can be financially at university, even with student loan, so I'm sorry you are in this situation. Moving back home is ultimately your decision, so you will have to weigh up how important living at university is to you. It is also important to consider how much it will likely cost you in petrol if you will have to travel most days to attend lectures and seminars, and if there will be any cost for parking your car at university. If you have considered these and these work out to be significantly cheaper than renting, I definitely think living at home can be a good idea. From my experience, third year is the year where you have to knuckle down on your studying, therefore socialising takes a back seat anyway, so if you don't mind sacrificing the university/partying life style to live at home, then it is definitely worth considering. I don't think living at home will be the worst situation as it will also mean you will likely have less distractions and can therefore focus on your degree, which is most important.

I hope this helps and the best of luck for whatever you decide to do.
Scarlet - Sheffield Hallam Student Ambassador.




(Original post by Anonymous)
I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?
Original post by Anonymous #1
I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?

Hi! I'm sorry to hear that you're in this situation, and there's definitely options for you!
Struggling with money can bear a big mental toll on you, and the last thing you want to do is be worrying on top of your studies.
It depends on what you're studying, but if you find that you don't need to be on campus a lot for labs etc. and that you could access video recordings of lectures then that might be a case for living at home. It also would be good to save some extra money for after uni!
Remote jobs exist, such as tutoring over zoom, and so if you were trying to keep your costs down but income in then that could work for you.
On the other hand, I totally understand the desire to be on campus and feeling like you're 'at' university. It depends how much you like your part time job at the moment as well! If you're happy to carry on for your independence then great!
Best of luck with everything :smile:
Original post by Anonymous #1
I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?

Hi there,

I'm sorry to read this - it does depend on how long the drive to uni would be (if you ended up skipping all of your 9 a.m. lectures because you didn't like the traffic then this would obviously be a problem). However, if this isn't an issue and you're happy living with your parents then I don't see why not allow yourself to focus on your studies rather than worrying about rent. I think that this largely depends on your circumstances.

All the best,
Jaz - Cardiff student rep
Original post by Anonymous
I am going into second year university and did a foundation year (lived in halls) , did first year in a house and am staying another year in a house for second year but have really struggled with money. Most of my friends will be going home anyway as they didn’t do foundation year so will be graduating. I am thinking of moving home to do my final year, even though the commute will be long (I have a car and can drive, and could use the loan for petrol and helping out my parents). Does it make sense to do this for third year? Especially in terms of work load? Or would I find it easier renting again, even though that would probably mean doing more hours at work potentially taking away from study?

Hi there!

It seems like you're trying to find out if it's worth staying around uni since most of your friends would be graduating. Well, it depends on what option you'd prefer as both would probably see you spending time and money. Staying at home would mean commuting long hours and you won't be flexible to take part in many uni activities but at the same time, expenses would decrease greatly and if you're in uni for maybe only two days that would make it even better. Plus, you can even catch a ride on some days just make sue you can focus and study at home.

On the other hand, renting would cost a lot, food, unforeseen expenses but you would be closer to uni and won't have to worry about getting around. You could also use the library at uni since you're close. But you would also be able to go to more activities and make more friends.

I think this should be a personal decision where you think of what you don't mind and can handle more than the other, use your experience so far from foundation year up until now and probably by the end of your second year, you're reach a decision. Hope this helps!

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