How do low-paid or unemployed students afford expensive lifestyles?

[ByAmusedJadeFish]

How on earth do people have lifestyles if they are low-paid?
I know some students at uni with designer gear, expensive dining habits etc. and to my knowledge they are unemployed.
My theories are

1. rich parents
2. rich bfs
3. sugar daddies
4. illegal/undeclared cash flow e.g. crime, sex work

To summarise for my own benefit really as I’ve not worked it out this way before, it’s costing me £83 a week to pay my daughters maintenance and uni loans and housing. She has over 8k in savings she doesn’t need to touch, and she has £250-£300 a week spending money between her loan and her job. And we’re both on minimum wage.

On the Never never I assume, like most people I know who have expensive cars or designer clothes and are on minimum wage.

This happened in our family. A few elderly relatives leapfrogged us and left everything to DC. It left us in the weird position of watching DC buy their own homes in their early twenties, mortgage free, buy themselves designer clothes and goods, live in nice accommodation during their student years, never once worry about money, and still have a chunk of savings.

DH and I meanwhile were still paying off the mortgage, have cheap android phones, scruffy home we can;t afford to remodel and have never owned a designer item of clothing in our lives. I don't begrudge DC this. It was a pressure off us, that these things were paid for, but it still feels odd that they are much richer than we are or have ever been. They mix with quite wealthy friends and we are definitely the poorest parents by a long way.

I don’t get your first bit. How did you get to 26k without knowing how many hours I’m working? That comes to a standard 9-5 40 hour week with entire weekends off. Like I stated, I’m a carer. My shift changes weekly but my shortest days are 12 hours and we work weekends. I’ve already said I almost paid my first mortgage off when my dd was little so I don’t have 2 mortgages. The mortgage on the apartment is in my name. I have a 30 year mortgage to answer your question. This is just one persons situation. Can you really not imagine how tens of thousands of people manage it? Maybe Google can help you with that…

Generous parents.

Rich families- my friend’s cousin is an oversees Pakistani student currently studying at LSE and his rich dad sends him £4000 every month from Pakistan- I earn just a little over that as a highly qualified professional with a title! Also, Pakistan is a poor country so how his dad earns that makes me wonder…

I am quite shocked at what the “normal” lifestyle is for many students compared to what it used to be. Lots have cars, travel to parties around the country, special outfits for special nights out, citybreaks , holidays abroad. Often funded through loans that probably won’t be fully paid back. I had a frugal time in university!

Oh festivals too!

A colleague of mine complained that it was unfair her children were leaving uni with around 16k in debt (this was when fees were relatively new and much lower than now). It turned out that she had paid their tuition, accommodation and a decent allowance. They took loans and had a lifestyle that none of my friends had at uni. For some I guess that’s normal.

Yes, that's like my daughter.
Designer bags, holidays car etc but she works all summer and I dont charge her rent as shes college .
Had maybe 7000 from birthdays, christening or similar saved while at school and gets maybe 500 for birthday and 500 for Christmas from extended family

My son has just finished uni (commuted) and also worked PT earning about £10k a year tax free. Add to that Christmas/birthday money from family he probably had £1k a month disposable income.

He doesn’t spend much on clothes, mostly socialising, eating out/ takeaways and 1-2 cheap holidays abroad each year.

I had a relative by marriage from Pakistan at LSE last year. I don’t know how much he receives but it would probably be significant and he didn’t need rent as they own a property in London. He certainly wouldn’t have to worry about money and he had friends also studying here with similar backgrounds. They can fly home or somewhere else every holiday if they want. Most poor countries do have very significantly wealthy people. Business owners, landowners and the dodgy.

Have you not seen the threads on here about how much parents give their student DC? It’s astonishing compared to when I was at uni!

I hope he left uni with no debt! I also worked part time during uni but wouldn’t have dreamt of wasting money on takeaways and holidays! The money went towards minimising student debt.

We are in Scotland so no tuition fees, and as he commuted (free buses)/stayed at home and worked PT, yes he left uni debt free.

Mines just started. He gets at £8k loan which will cover halls with £2k left over.

We are giving him £150 a week. Hoping that’s enough and he won’t need to get a job but if he wants one for extra money he can.

Scotland so no fees.