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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

What’s the stupidest thing your dc have spent their student loan on?

48 replies

rheak · 22/09/2018 21:22

DD takes a student loan to supplement her spending, in order
to have a decent quality of life and not be tied constantly to a job.
We pay all her rent/food.

She agreed to save the money from the loan and try and keep a strict budget otherwise.

I’ve just found out she’s used £1,000 of it on flights abroad for next summer !

What’s the daftest thing your dc have spent it on?

OP posts:

Report

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:22

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:24

There isn’t one.
He didn’t have much money and was grateful for anything we contributed so he wasn’t ‘stupid’ Especially as his friends were just about managing .

LoniceraJaponica · 22/09/2018 21:25

DD's BF is spending all of his on alcohol.

VioletCharlotte · 22/09/2018 21:26

Oh god. This thread isn't helping! DS is expecting his first student loan to drop on Monday. He goes through money like water anyway so it's really worrying me what he's going to be like

HollyBollyBooBoo · 22/09/2018 21:28

A billion years ago...my housemate spent his entire student loan on a DVD PLAYER!!

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:33

Honestly I feel like a cunt but how does anyone laugh about their kid being a dick about money?
There is no way to do that unless you are a) indifferent to your peers struggling or b) so used to being profligate that you don’t give a shit

rheak · 22/09/2018 21:39

Gosh, this was meant to be light hearted.

Yes £1,000 on flights should have come from her summer job, but travel is also a great education in itself.

Some people are poorer and others much richer than others, life isn’t fair. To suggest spending money makes you “indifferent to others struggling” is ludicrous. Otherwise, we’d all be living in the same two up two downs etc.

OP posts:

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:44

Sure
Im sure thats true but no, its not lighthearted.
Mine definitely fall in the category of not living a two up two down life but I’ve seen that as a reason to be aware of the lives that others lead rather than an excuse to be a dick

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:46

My kid gets his rent paid but saved all year to pay for his flights for his holiday If he’d done a grand on flights I would have been embarrassed rather than thinking it was an hilarious anecdote

rheak · 22/09/2018 21:48

We have very different views on life, and that’s o.k

I’m not quite sure how one would be embarassed by that, but suum cuique.

OP posts:

Fuminglily · 22/09/2018 21:51

I don't think that's funny either, but then I'm genuinely worried about how we are going to afford dds uni next year. She'll have a loan but we'll have to pay for accommodation I think.

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:55

Yes. Exactly
Uni is so expensive. The loan works but the advantage of those of us who can pay for rent/accommodation is palpable.
I’m so impressed/in awe of those of us pushing to get kids through uni
I hope everything works x

Thecatisboss · 22/09/2018 21:56

When I was at uni (many years ago) my housemate spent all his grant on an Xbox. He then lived off tinned pies/soup as I remember for the rest of the term.

Pagwatch · 22/09/2018 21:59

Rheak

If you don’t understand why ‘my kid blew £1,000 on flights’ is embarrassing then I’m not sure you’re quite in contact with. Real life.
I’m happy to chat if you’re interested in the whole ‘fucking rich people who don’t want to be dicks’ community

chasingsushi · 22/09/2018 22:38

When I was at uni I spent my student loan on food and beer.

Although I once remember ringing my mum from Ted Baker telling her I really liked an expensive top, but if I bought it I wouldn't have enough money to eat. Probably hoping she'd transfer some cash. She told me to buy the top and eat beans for a week. I did.

I also went to Australia for 3 months after uni entirely on credit cards. Had the time of my life. Paid it off eventually. Never regretted it.

Pagwatch · 23/09/2018 06:07

God, I’m really sorry

I don’t know what on earth made me post in such a horrible way!

Rheak - please accept my apologies. I’m genuinely sorry. I have no excuse - I’m not sure why I was so unpleasant but I shouldn’t have been.

I will ask for my comments to be deleted if you would like me to but I I won’t unless your ok with that. I was such a dick - it should sit there so I can be embarrassed about it unless you’d rather it was all gone .

Groovee · 23/09/2018 06:45

Frozen chicken seems to be the only thing my Dd has bought! She's having to pay her rent out of her loan as we hadn't expected her to move away.

icklekid · 23/09/2018 06:48

I'm just surprised you know! I certainly never told my parents what my loan was being spent on and wouldn't expect my children to tell me unless there was a problem!

QuaterMiss · 23/09/2018 06:58

A billion years ago, in the first year of my degree, I used to envy the Marie Antoinette stylishness of a girl in my college. I wasn’t bad at getting dressed but, every time I saw her wafting about in clouds of sprigged cotton and tartan, I used to regret all my choices.

I learnt later that she’d blown her entire grant at Laura Ashley and got into a deal of trouble with both her parents and the college.

SandysMam · 23/09/2018 07:06

Pagwatch...I don’t think you need to be mortified. If you are struggling with money, a thread like this can hit all kinds of nerves. I’m sure the OP will understand. Don’t be too hard on yourself I got what you meant.

NakedMum33and3rd · 23/09/2018 07:20

I work at a uni and one year a Mum called me up to complain that I had let her son spend his loan on a vintage velvet coat!!

Shampooeeee · 23/09/2018 07:27

I wouldn’t worry OP.
I saved my loan and scraped by on the small allowance my parents gave me (I realise I was lucky to have it but I had to be very frugal). I also worked hard in the holidays and put a lot of my earnings into savings.
In hindsight, I regret being so sensible! I wish I had blown some cash on flights and travelled the world while I had the time.

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Mrsfrumble · 23/09/2018 07:47

Back in 1997 one of my flat mates blew his loan on a electric guitar and amp in his first week there. thrvrest of us generously shared our super noodles and value baked beans so he didn't starve.

I can see both sides. I can understand why some will find the breezy tone of the OP as upsetting or annoying. But students have been frittering away their loans and grants and stupid stuff since the beginning of time, hence all the stories being shared.

SlimmingMumOf1 · 23/09/2018 08:24

I spent mine on a car. Which left me skint but I needed a car to get to uni!

YeOldeTrout · 23/09/2018 08:41

I could see DD blowing £1k so daftly. I'd like to throttle her for it but I could see it happening for sure.

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