How do i survive on £10 a week?!

That's not right. You can apply for a current year assessment if your household income has gone up or down by 15%. Doesn't matter what year you're in.

If you go to a gurdwara I know they normally give out meals to anyone in the afternoon (part of their religion). I have this as a back up plan in case I run out of money. You can't really live off 20p noodles- you'll end up sick. If worst comes to worst it will get a decent meal inside you.For a back up have you checked if you can get any additional bursaries from your university? Lots do music scholarships, support for those on low incomes etc. I'm sure churches/mosques/the christian union might help but then you would probably have to explain your circumstances. idk about anyone else but I'm a proud person and would struggle with that.
If that fails I'm sure you could ask the union to help you get a job while studying? It's not ideal but it seems necessary.

I was thinking exactly the same thing... maybe it would be worth giving them another call just to double check. Also they told be on the phone that student finance is not only based on parents income but also on the uni itself and the surrounding area which i don't really understand to be honest. Another thing as well.. my sister actually got £1,000 more than me when she was at uni two years ago even though my parents earned a lot more than they do now

I can easily live on that as,I'm very careful with money. You can buy lots of food and other things if you shop using your brain. Shopping in Poundland can cost more as,some items costing a £1 there are available for 89p in another shop. /Or even cheaper)

Lidl bag of frozen Chips - 50p
Sauages 20 - 89p

Frozen items last longer than a week unless you eat them everyday

Pasta 33p Morrisons
Pasta Sauce 34p
Tuna flakes in brine 45p

Can make a healthy tuna & pasta meal (23p Mash Potato Tesco) to make a Tuna & Pasta Bake

Chicken Drumsticks 5 for £1 Morrisons....

See all you can do if you put your mind to it? Soap etc can be bought to which you won't need to replenish unless of course you're eating it then do buy it weekly....

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^^^ this - You need cheaper accommodation, end of.

I know there are people showing how you can 'manage' on £10 a week but seriously that is NOT viable. Aside from the fact you will be miserable if you can never go out, never party, never go on a trip, never have a take out, never grab some chocolate to treat yourself etc and being miserable is not a good way to get good university grades - if you have to get four trains you're probably looking at a months budget for a train home... presumably you at least need to go at christmas... speaking of which, buying even basic presents for a few people will set you back another MONTHS budget, buying a mascara is going to be a whole weeks budget, if you need a course book (most will be in the library but occasionally you do have to buy something) that'll be a week-a month gone... every time you get your period you'll be using half a week's food budget just on feminine hygeine produces... and you have no way to make those deficits back up - how depressing will it be to be living on plain rice and pasta, never going out or socialising and STILL be dropping further and further into your overdraft?

Getting a job is a very good idea but like you've said, there are no guarantees. I imagine you should be able to find something if you're not picky (think unpopular jobs or jobs with *****y hours - telesales, support work, shops with crappy reputations etc) but you need to seriously commit to the job search because you will end up dropping out as things stand at the moment. Really you should have already worked full time over the summer as you could have tripled or quadrupled your yearly budget if you had.

I am literally going to be the poorest student ever. I'll probably only shower about once a month just so i can save on shampoo body wash....

Like i've said before it's too late now to find cheaper accommodation and to be honest i don't think the uni accommodation comes much cheaper... i did have a job over the summer (which i was forced to leave about a week ago as they new i would be going to uni in sept) also but pretty much all of the money has gone from that (buying stuff for uni, clothes, makeup, going out, ect) and that also leaves another month that the money has to last... i also just had two emails telling me i haven't got the jobs LOL what even is life

welcome to the real world.

I would defer uni for a year then - get a job in the meantime and get some money together.

Sorry to sound unsympathetic but you really should have worked all this out before you applied to uni.*

My student finance has come through and i have worked out i will only have £10 a week to live on, how the hell am i going to live on this? Does anyone have any tips on living on such a *****y income??? Also my parents can't help me out as they both work on minimum wage. Im so so so so so annoyed. Am i just not going to be able to have a social life? Is shopping in pound land going to be my life now?

This. Honestly OP this is mostly your own fault, you clearly did not prepare and budget properly in advance.

I made damn sure I could afford my accommodation and everything else before I signed for it.

You may want to contact your accommodation and ask if they have a waiting list, and if they do request they give your room to someone else (thus releasing you of your contract) and defer a year as this person said to save up money or find a better plan. It might not be want you "want" to do...but you're clearly not going to cope with the amount you have and you in all likelihood will drop out of uni.

And as another person said with the amount of student finance you get your parents don't earn "minimum wage" even if your dads income went down "slightly" they'd be earning in the 40k mark....so either your parents earn more than you think or you have not been assessed properly and aren't getting enough. Find out which.

So it's my own fault for wanting to make something of my life and go to uni? With all due respect, how on earth was i meant to know that i would be getting such a low income in order for me to 'prepare' and 'budget properly' ? Yep. Clearly it's all my fault for having no money.

So it's my own fault for wanting to make something of my life and go to uni? With all due respect, how on earth was i meant to know that i would be getting such a low income in order for me to 'prepare' and 'budget properly' ? Yep. Clearly it's all my fault for having no money.

Now you're just being facetious. I clearly did not say that.

It's your own fault you've not budgeted properly and made sure you could afford something before signing for it. If you didn't know whether you could afford it or not you should not have signed for it before you found out your student finance amount, it's pretty simple and common sense.

The same reason people don't rent a house before knowing their salary if they just got a new job. Because they wouldn't know if they could afford it yet or not.

You have two options really.

A) continue whining, acting like a victim and clearly wanting everything handed to you on a silver plate just for the achievement of getting into university.

B) actually do something to get yourself out of this mess....like follow the advice lots of people have given. Non of which you seem to have taken seriously and instead only made excuses for.

Now you're just being facetious. I clearly did not say that.

It's your own fault you've not budgeted properly and made sure you could afford something before signing for it. If you didn't know whether you could afford it or not you should not have signed for it before you found out your student finance amount, it's pretty simple and common sense.

The same reason people don't rent a house before knowing their salary if they just got a new job. Because they wouldn't know if they could afford it yet or not.

You have two options really.

A) continue whining, acting like a victim and clearly wanting everything handed to you on a silver plate just for the achievement of getting into university.

B) actually do something to get yourself out of this mess....like follow the advice lots of people have given. Non of which you seem to have taken seriously and instead only made excuses for.

So it's my own fault for wanting to make something of my life and go to uni? With all due respect, how on earth was i meant to know that i would be getting such a low income in order for me to 'prepare' and 'budget properly' ? Yep. Clearly it's all my fault for having no money.

Your parents could earn £40,000 a year and you'd still get £6,434. So your parents are clearly not earning minimum wage. Or at least were not last year. The only way it would fall down so far would be one of them losing their job. Only way they'd give you only £6,200 on close to minimum wage would be if you said you were going to live at home. You sure you know how much your parents earn?

Also, you currently live with your parents and they manage to support you too. So there's no reason why they couldn't spare £100 a month considering they probably spend more than that on you when you live away and they don't have to pay for your food and such.

If the income has changed by at least 15% then you can ask to use this year's income. Even in first year so call again and ask. You probably didn't make sense or the person on the phone wasn't trained fully when you first called.

Cheaper accommodation is available, you should've planned accordingly. And don't say there are no cheaper ones, anyone can look on the university website and check the hall prices and there are ones £1000 cheaper. So call and see if they could move you to a cheaper one.

You could even possibly find a shared house for less than £400 a month. If you can get out of the contract that you signed without knowing your budget.

Look at fast food places, warehouses and cleaner jobs. Don't be picky. Also try applying in person if you can. Some places like that will give you a job on the spot but will refuse you if you apply online.

People have had it worse but they planned accordingly. You can always take a gap year to work and save up money. Just because you take a year out doesn't mean you can't do uni and get a nice job after. There's no one else to blame but yourself for being in this situation. So I'm sorry but stop acting so entitled. Actually fallow the advice other people have given you and stop making excuses.