To think I will always have financial stress now others have pointed this out?

My daughter is going to uni next year and I have 0 savings for her, I don’t own a house and I eat everyday. She’ll be fine, stop saying you’re struggling to make ends meet when you’re so fat from that it’s laughable

Stop savings for your dd, you can’t afford it and you are lowering the quality of her life now on the off chance you’ll give her a slightly better life as an adult. £20k isn’t enough for you to have as a buffer, any money left at the end of the month put in your own savings, you can give those to her at 18 if she needs it/you’ve not had to replace the car/boiler etc.

when will your mortgage be paid off? Is it reasonable to think by the time you are mid 50s you’ll be mortgage free? Then for the last decade of work you save the mortgage payment money towards your retirement on top of whatever pension you have.

It's because the loan available is based on parental income and they literally suggest a parental contribution amount which makes you feel the government it expecting it but it's not a legal obligation.

But yes, it's very common for students to cover this amount themselves through work and probably even helpful to them getting jobs after graduation.

I never saved for my DD, I couldn't afford to, I worked full time, mortgage, single parent etc.
My DD has not suffered.
She had a DM who did her best and she understands that.
DD worked and saved, she has two degrees that she obtained whilst holding down a full time job, now has a career that pays more than I ever earned, she's married with a new baby and a mortgage and I now have paid off my mortgage and I'm in a position that I'm able to help a little financially.
In your position I'd downsize, you could have no mortgage with your equity, it's crazy that you go without eating for a few days to save for something that may never happen (Uni)
At 6 she's not going to be traumatised by moving to a smaller home in another area.
Think how much easier your life would be with no mortgage, smaller home to maintain, lower utility bills & some spare cash to enjoy life.

Print out your post and stick it on the fridge door, and every time you feel a surge of self pity surfacing, read it out loud. You’re very (very!) lucky in what you have. Be thankful. Many don’t have a fraction of what you have.

If you save £200 a month for the next 12 years at 7% interest (in a stocks and shares ISA) you will have over £45000. It won't cover uni entirely but it's a decent start for a kid!

You are in a much better position than many, lots of equity, one dependent, savings and a good wage. Saving for uni at this stage is not needed, downsize or over pay the mortgage. And make sure you don’t go without food. We are a family of four with a wage of 44k and I consider us to be lucky and managing well

MSE has a good mortgage overpayment calculator. Have a play around with it. You might be surprised how much impact overpaying £200 a month would have. You can always downsize to fund uni as others have said, but plenty of students don't have parental help.

How much is your employer putting into your pension? When did you start paying in and what percentage of your salary?

Sounds like you’re doing pretty well?

You have a home you own. Only owe £190k. You have savings for dds uni or home or whatever. Salary is good.

The only bad thing that stood out to me was skipping meals, which you shouldn’t be doing!!! Absolutely no need for that whatsoever

£200 a month for the next 12 years at a 5% interest rate will give you almost £40k for her which is an incredible gift and far more than most people will give their child at 18. Assume you have it in an ISA so don’t need to pay tax on it.

I'm 46 and about a million times worse off than you. Please do take a look at how secure you really are, and be grateful.

I vaguely remember I had to cover about 50% after parental salary was taken into account. My parents were newly divorced and couldn't have given a toss what I was doing. I absolutely had no choice but to use my own savings and held down two jobs term time and one in the holidays. Just seems insane some parents feel they have to cover the difference.

I am assuming you are in the UK.

If/when DD is thinking about uni it is highly likely that student loans will still exist. The loan will cover fees (if applicable) and an amount towards maintenance.

The amount she will need for maintenance is normally needed week by week. You don't have to have it all saved up before she goes. Remember that when she is away she isn't eating at home.

I think the cost of uni has built up in your mind as a huge insurmountable mountain. You are panicking about it when you really don't need to.

You're big ridiculous. I'm 40 next year, do not own a house, have only in the last year started saving, nothing saved for dc. My dc will probably get an inheritance from my parents a ranction of the amount you currently have saved for a uni fund. I had a friend who pleaded poverty from her lovely home with a tiny mortgage furnished with very expensive furniture. She went without meals because she didn't want to use her savings. Her priorities were all wrong and I'm not sure she managed her income well at all and it got tiresome listening to her tales of woe about how little food she had that week then asking how her new haircut suited her. I've not eat because I couldn't afford to, I had to put bills on credit cards, walked miles as I couldn't justify the bus fare.

Op, stop saving and eat.

Plus, provided you can pay your mortgage without much pain and it will be paid off before you retire, the size of your mortgage is pretty irrelevant. Think of it the other way - when you retire you will have an asset worth at least 550k which you can then use to downsize and give you money to live on. You are making a good contribution to your pension. I’m really not too sure what you are worried about to be honest.

We earn a lot more than you, have 2 DC and don't save into a 'uni fund'. We do save for the kids but less than that. I'm fairly sure my kids will go to uni but we'd be expecting them to take out loans and work etc. It seems a shame to put your lives on hold and sacrifice things to put money aside for something which may not happen or if it does could be funded through other means.

You are on a normal good path. Paying mortgage, having a decent rain day fund.
The most important investment you can do for your DD just now is keeping yourself healthy so you will be there for her.
That means: don't save 200 for her, save a hundred and feed yourself properly for the rest.

You are building equity through your mortgage. If you manage now just fine, you can keep as you are doing and decide to downsize any time later.

Why are you choosing to go without meals when you have a substantial amount of equity and savings. That sounds a bit dramatic…..

Can you give a breakdown of income/expenditure?

I’m guessing you’re in London?

You’re extremely well off. You live in a half a million house (which I know in London probably isn’t amazing but elsewhere would be a beautiful large house in a scenic area). You have a large rainy day fund of 20k. A high salary.

I’ve just calculated that at your savings pace, DC would go to uni with 28.8k. Without accounting for interest. That’s more than most kids. Many kids get nothing from their parents for uni.

I would advise you stop saving for that and overpay your mortgage instead though - if the contract allows.

That may allow you to save more aggressively closer to time (new mortgage with lower payments/ better rate) or release equity.

If you are hand to mouth now, maybe reduce your pension payments for a year too to get cash in hand.

Sounds like you need a proper budget though. And maybe see a financial advisor.

You seem really worried about something 12 years down the line, and hypothetical. Change your budget now to eliminate your immediate worries. Many kids don’t get any money from their parents through uni and work FT in the summer holidays to get the spending money they need for each year. IMO these kids are already ahead by graduation time.

Why would uprooting her be cruel when you will be mortgage free and have far more disposable income. Do you even need to support her through uni. Have you checked if she would be eligible for any student finance if she decided to go?

You’re stressing about Uni and your dd is six years old? That seems a bit extreme.

With your salary, your equity and your savings you’re doing a lot better than many people.

I feel like I’m in a very good situation and I have far far less than you. And far more outstanding on the mortgage. As lots of others have said - perspective!

If you are going to save for her, open a long term savings account like a LISA where she gets 25% bonus in the money.
If you are doing OK don’t downsize until she’s ready to move to UNI, the house prices will increase for the value of money reduces.

£2500 plus £200 7% interest will give £48,000 in 12 years -

I think it’s a good idea to set them up and help them out, but not at the cost of not eating.

Check you suppliers for gas/electric,

Set up an account and find out where there’s leakage in your spending.

Well this is a bit odd, I think you have made your salary stretch really far so well done.

You need to reframe OP. You do not have 'no money left at the end of the month' when you have 20k in savings. You have 20k left at the end of the month. It's a bit of an insult to those who truly have no money. I assume your DD is not going without meals for three days a month because if she is, that's awful and abusive.

You're doing well money wise. You need to unpack these issues you have around security and money. You have my sympathy, I have some issues there myself, mainly from growing up low income.