Uni Advice

[Tractor]

My daughter starts Uni in September and I was looking for some advice.
Firstly, how much money would be enough to live on at Uni, I do not want to give her to much but enough to get by and I know whatever i give her as a monthly allowance she will prob spend the lot pretty quickly anyway so will probably need a part time job too.
Unfortunately the grants do not even cover accommodation costs.

Also to any students, is there one thing you wish you had taken with you which you did not have or any other advice would be great.


Cheers

[Acidmouse]

obv. depends where she is studying as living costs can be double depending on where they are..

is she living in uni accommadation and is it all inclusive? so are you just talking about stuff for going out and extra's for herself?

Probs £50 a week on top of accom/food/bills is good.

[Tal]

Depending on whether she is in accommodation with a cleaner - and potentially even if she is - a mini fridge might well be a good investment.

Other students are filthy beasts and if, like me, your daughter has OCD/control issues, having somewhere in your room to put your food is a great shout.

Also stops neighbours stealing her stuff. Did I mention other students are filthy beasts?

As for money, also depends on how much work she will be doing. I saved a fair bit by spending a lot of time in a library. And even more by not drinking.

It's a harsh learning curve if she's never fended for herself before.

Would advocate a massive bag of pasta. You can get enormous bags these days - term sized!

[Free_Rollin]

Money really does depend on if you're including food, how often she goes out, what does she enjoy doing in her spare time, etc. You don't have to figure it all straight away, it's a learning curve for the parents too! She'll likely be going out more in the first couple weeks when freshers is on.

Annoying things I forgot was stuff like cotton buds and nail clippers. I know it sounds a bit silly, but it was stuff I had at home but had to buy again, which is annoying. Extension cable is another useful thing to take with you.

Yeah, people do steal a lot of food at Uni. Midnight kitchen raids happen everywhere.

I didn't have a part time job, and am sooo glad. Obviously a lot of students do however, and I'd recommend something on campus (if it is a campus Uni) simply because you still get to meet more students that way.

Another bit of advice is to start looking for second year accomodation around Christmas time. We did at my first Uni and we got literally the best flats ever. People don't look till summer time and you're left with the worst options.

[Tal]

Extension cables and those things I forget the name of that give you four plugs for one. (Yes yes I know. Paid for an education and can't remember the name of those white things with the four plug sockets in them).

Which uni is it? Maybe there's someone on here who has been/knows someone who has been.

[Tractor]

Thanks for the info, she is going to Falmouth Uni in Cornwall, we have been down there a couple of times and its not the cheapest place to live but really nice.
All good stuff, its seems its all the small things that get over looked.

@Tal We had already thought about getting a mini fridge but we are not really sure if there will be room in her room until she gets there. Four gang extension leads, noted

@Free Rollin thanks for the advice about loooking for second year accommodation early, i will pass that on.

[Laxie]

I used to send Brian off each week with a big grocery bag full of stuff, but the things he asked for most were pasta, rice, and tortilla wraps.  Tortilla wraps are good because you can fill them with anything and they're an 'on the go' kind of thing.  Also, loads of chicken breasts & mince beef...stock up on them and freeze.  They're easy to cook and feel like a proper meal.  Don't forget a tea towel, loo rolls, bin liners, sandwich bags, cling film, washing up liquid and kitchen paper, as well as a couple of plastic take away containers to put left overs in.  Hangers are usually a bit scarce as well as stick pins for posting things on their cork boards if they have them.  It all sounds silly, but those were things he came home asking for during the first few weeks.

She'll need at least £50 per week for the first few weeks and possibly a bit more if you can manage it.  No matter how prepared you try to be, there's always going to be a few little things forgotten and it'll eat into her money in those first couple of weeks.

Best of luck to her and hope she has a great time!

[smashedagain]

Students like tortillas because iteans no washing up

[SirPerceval]

Large pack of Condoms

[DMorgan]

£50/week is fine for normal term time, freshers week will be closer to £100 though if she wants to go to most of the events.

Definitely a big +1 to looking for second year accommodation early. I moved into a house with the people that I lived with in first year and we had pretty much the nut house (local was the student union ) but we had a couple of third years in the group too who were insistent that we started looking at places in October. Turned out to be a very good move. Avoiding a 25-30 minute walk in the mornings increases your chances of getting to lectures exponentially

[snoopy1239]

Also to any students, is there one thing you wish you had taken with you which you did not have or any other advice would be great.


Cheers

For a lass... be a bit careful on fresher's week. Don't go overboard, etc, etc.

[DMorgan]

is there one thing you wish you had taken with you which you did not have or any other advice would be great.

Pizza cutter

[MLHMLH]

My daughter also goes to Uni in September so I know how you feel!  We are paying for her accommodation (in the halls).  She gets the minimum maintenance loan, and her first instalment is about £1200.  She wants £300 of that up front for freshers week, to get things for her flat/room and for books.  We will keep the other £900 for her - she wants to save quite a lot of it for Christmas presents etc.  We are going to transfer £50 a week to her bank account which is for food.  She very luckily managed to transfer her part time job at Sainsburys from our home town up to Newcastle, so she will be working 16 hrs per week there, so her income from that is hers to keep and will be used for night's out and clothes mainly I suspect!  She will be earning over £100 per week at Sainsburys, plus our £50 per week, that should be plenty.  We are hoping that apart from one off purchases like a summer holiday and Christmas that she won't need to use the majority of her maintenance loan and certainly shouldn't need an overdraft on her student bank account!  She is pretty terrible with money and we're hoping that drip feeding the food money weekly will help her to budget a bit better!

In terms of things to take with them, we took a trip to Ikea last night to buy all the bits and pieces we thought she'd need!  

Kitchen utensils inc set of pans, frying pan, wok, griddle, cutlery, glasses, mugs, crockery, potato peeler, cheese grater, pizza cutter, strainer/sieve, wooden spoon, spatula, knives, chopping boards, baking tray, tea towels, freezer bags, cling film, can opener, bottle opener/corkscrew, storage containers for sugar/tea/coffee, plastic sandwich boxes (different sizes) & measuring jug.  We also intend to buy her a sandwich toaster as she loves toasted sandwiches and they're cheap!  If we forget anything then she'll just have to go and buy it from Sainsburys (she gets 10% discount!).

Room essentials inc bathroom bin, room waste paper bin, desk lamp, storage boxes, drawer organiser/separator.  There isn't a lot of room for anything else tbh!

Check what her accommodation comes with.  We're having to take duvet, pillows, duvet covers, pillow cases & fitted sheets as the room comes with just a bed and mattress plus a desk!  The accommodation does however come with an iron, ironing board, vaccuum cleaner, mop and bucket etc!

We've also bought her a couple of books which arrived this morning which are really good.  A Virgin University Survival Guide by Karla Fitzhugh & Nosh for Students by Joy May.  Both from Amazon.  

Other stuff off the top of my head - passport, course acceptance letter, course reading list, loan info in case money doesn't come through, Driving Licence, bank cards, passport photos, railcards, insurance docs, alarm clock, phone, ipod, chargers for phone/ipod, laptop and power cable, multiplug extension lead, towels, stationery, pens, folders, files, washbag, toiletries, loo roll, kitchen roll, hairdryer, hair straighteners, clothes, shoes, dressing gown, slippers, medication/contraception, photos, exam certificates, fridge magnets (to hang things on white boards!).

It's a very stressful time for parents and children!  Get organised, make lots of lists, plan how you're going to fit everything in the car, but don't forget to enjoy the next few weeks as a family, because things are going to be very different once she's gone!  

[Tonji]

Stress the importance of security. My daughter had her laptop stolen. She was in a ground floor room & had left the window open. Oh & a separate hard drive can save a lot of stress.

[aaron1867]

I wouldn't really rely on PT jobs and the whole "she must find one" because every student is in the same situation. But of course it is ideal, but actual most students don't and I had to tap into my pocket so many times, because I couldn't find a job.

By the sounds of it you have not got much out of the loan and grant, but any student will struggle on £50 a week, because let's be bloody fair you don't need to study hard in the first year or even second year to get a good mark at the end of it.

It will definitely be a struggle if the loan and grant doesn't cover the costs of accomodation for sure. It just is pretty much about the lifestyle that your daugther leads.

For those of who didn't go to uni, these student halls (a little poky box room) cost me over £110/week in Manchester. Such a rip-ff, but is the only choice.

Hope it all comes good!