The Student Room Group

Is my maintenance loan enough?!

DELETED
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 1
Well I don't bloody know do I? some context is needed.

Where are you going to university?
Will you be living at home?
If not, what's the price of accomodation you'll be staying in?
Original post by mongodb
Well I don't bloody know do I? some context is needed.

Where are you going to university?
Will you be living at home?
If not, what's the price of accomodation you'll be staying in?



First of all, you don't need to be so rude. It was just a general question. No, i will not be staying at home, i'll be living in private accommodation. My accommodation is around £6000 for the year.
Original post by Xo_ltm
Hey, just wondering if my maintenance loan is enough.. i'll be paid a bit over £8,000..is that enough?


So that leaves you with £2000. Should be enough for food, going out occasionally and any unexpected course costs.

With a high maintenance loan like that, you should also be eligible for any means-tested bursaries the university might offer.

Which university is this, may I ask?
Original post by Xo_ltm
First of all, you don't need to be so rude. It was just a general question. No, i will not be staying at home, i'll be living in private accommodation. My accommodation is around £6000 for the year.


It's a question that's impossible to answer without information you failed to provide and very easy to answer yourself.

You know what you are getting so subtract essential costs like rent, bills and food then whatever is left is what you have spare to spend on non-essentials.
Original post by Xo_ltm
First of all, you don't need to be so rude. It was just a general question. No, i will not be staying at home, i'll be living in private accommodation. My accommodation is around £6000 for the year.


£2000 isn't a lot to have left over but it should give you about £40 a week in term time which is livable if you are careful. If you want a bit more cash for fun stuff then you may need to get a part time job.

Do have a look and see if you are eligible for any bursaries too.
Original post by Xo_ltm
Hey, just wondering if my maintenance loan is enough.. i'll be paid a bit over £8,000..is that enough?


Tbh, it's not enough if you want to have a good life at uni..

I'm of the opinion that to do all the things that comfortable uni students do you need ~£10-12k in a low to medium CoL location or ~£13-15k in a high CoL location.

For a bare bones life.. It might be doable

You'll almost certainly be eligible for university bursaries at that maintenance loan figure so look into those (should be an extra ~£1k).

Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by Xo_ltm
Hey, just wondering if my maintenance loan is enough.. i'll be paid a bit over £8,000..is that enough?


I'm being paid a little over 8k too, and my rent is around 500 pounds a month, and I do just fine, even being able to splash out on takeaways.
Reply 8
Based on my own experience, I got the full maintenance loan and grant, plus some bursaries - unless you want to either be constantly borrowing off parents for emergency unexpected expenses or living the most frugal life ever and missing out on the fun of being a student, I highly recommend getting a part time job even if it’s a day or two a week. Budgeting is certainly effective but realistically unexpected things happen and people slip up. Plus uni is about so much more than studying, you might want to visit nearby places or travel in your breaks, get involved with new activities, join clubs which might have maintenance fees, etc. PLUS more importantly (unless you’re doing medicine or something else where career is pretty much guaranteed) you will really thank yourself for getting some work experience. If you work in a bar or cafe or something the social life is a nice aspect as well. And yes it’s harder to work and study at the same time but it is in my opinion a lot better than trying to live totally on maintenance payments.
Of course it is it's £8000, I get half of that and hardly any parental support and I'm still alive
£6000 is a lot to be spending on accommodation, ask yourself if you really need to be spending that amount, its better to rought it a bit in accommodation (i.e not have your own bathroom and stuff) rather than have to be worrying about every penny because you havev overspent on accommodation
(edited 5 years ago)

Quick Reply