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Student working at the Cole Museum
University of Reading
Reading
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How much should I budget?

My son is coming to Reading in September. He is only entitled to the lowest amount for his loan as both me and my husband work full time.
His living allowance doesn’t even cover the cost of his accommodations, so already will have to find an extra £2 thousand to cover the accommodations. I’m starting to worry about mounting costs, but I don’t want him to worry about money and I want him to be able to enjoy uni life and not be skint and miserable all the time.
My question is - how much, realistically should I give to my son to live on each month? Food, social, travel, clothes, uni supplies.
Thanks.
Hi,

That's great to hear your son has picked Reading.

In terms of student finance for University it is very dependant on the individual. It's not uncommon for loans to not cover accommodation costs, unfortunately. However there are definitely a few things I can suggest from my two years so far at Reading.

- Part time Jobs. Reading is a massive campus University and therefore has a system called Campus Jobs. This means students can pick up part time jobs in and around campus, which are all very flexible as students. These range from student ambassadors at open day events, to bars teams for campus outlets and admin advisers in offices. As well as many part time jobs around Reading centre off campus, which the university provides help and support for. Many students have part time jobs, and its become an excellent way to balance studies and meet many new people.
- Sharing costs. Quite often textbooks required for courses can be shared easily amongst 2-3 people, which cuts the costs of these books massively. In addition to many being stocked in the library. Also, another excellent idea is cooking together or even in bulk (especially when you get more settled at Uni, this can be an excellent money saver).
- Keep tracks of budgets. So try and encourage engagement with planning costs in advance and ensuring they have budgeted enough for the whole term, as this can be a hard thing to adjust to in the first term.

These would probably be my main tips, however if there is anything else you are concerned with regarding funding, please do ask!

In terms of average budgets at Reading, this can be quite difficult as its dependant on the individual.

However,
- The University itself, when socialising can be relatively cheap. We often have a lot of events on campus in our students Union, which are specifically ran for students, therefore prices are reasonable cheap.
- Food again is dependant, I would say on average most students spend between £20-30 each week on food. However, this can be adjusted depending on the individual.
- Travel can be expensive however there are good options for students. The return bus ticket as a student to Reading Town costs £2.50 and opting for a rail card can definitely help if you're planning to go home or travel a lot.
- Uni Supplies often have a more upfront cost. However, opting to for example share textbooks can really help. However, the supplies side of what you need is fairly little, as the campus has a lot of things you will need.

There is also a lot of information on the Universities website regarding funding; https://student.reading.ac.uk/essentials/welcome/before-you-arrive/finance-and-funding.aspx.
However, as mentioned, please feel free to write back if you have other questions.

Delia
2nd Year Business and Student Ambassador
Original post by Sam1971
My son is coming to Reading in September. He is only entitled to the lowest amount for his loan as both me and my husband work full time.
His living allowance doesn’t even cover the cost of his accommodations, so already will have to find an extra £2 thousand to cover the accommodations. I’m starting to worry about mounting costs, but I don’t want him to worry about money and I want him to be able to enjoy uni life and not be skint and miserable all the time.
My question is - how much, realistically should I give to my son to live on each month? Food, social, travel, clothes, uni supplies.
Thanks.
Student working at the Cole Museum
University of Reading
Reading
Visit website
Reply 2
Thanks, that’s really helpful.

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