Worried about second year (living out) finances.

[harbingerofdoom]

They don't have a clue!

We will have to up our contribution this year. How much did you up it after year one?

Any tips? Suddenly hitting home with both DCs (both yr 2) but at different universities.

My DD1 found it slightly cheaper living out of halls! Generally private rent is cheaper than university halls , especially if a group sharing sort the bills between them.. last year (2nd yr) DD1 shared with 4 others and they did a joint account where they all did a direct debit for their share or rent and a an amount for bills..they worked out roughly what to put in.

I was only able to send £30 a week for food (everything else she managed from her loan and worked in the hols) and she managed fine.. it will be the same again this year. I haven't upped it..and as DD2 is off this year too I'm not going to be able to!

I wouldn't expect to have to contribute more.. halls are by far the most expensive way to live..now they just need to learn to budget :D

The rent alone for DD2 is £440 pcm and for DD1 £360.
What on earth do we do?

Their student loans will just cover that I would think? DD1 has the standard student loan and her 'grant' bit of it comes to a whopping £150 a term.. (we are typical middle earners... earn just over the limit needed for a bursary but not enough to manage )

DD2 has a different system as she is on an NHS degree but her loan will just cover her rent (£403 a month) and we will send her £30 a week to eat.

Do they have jobs? Most students have to find p/t work to manage..sad but a fact of our system now. They also need to budget.. really budget. My DD1 is a medicine student and there are a very high number of wealthy kids in her cohort (kids of doctors ) and their parents pay all their rent so they live happily of their loans. DD1 doesn't have that sadly, but has supplemented her money by working in the holidays etc and alsobyt going for the cheapest accommodation she could find.

£440 sounds quite a lot for a student rent.. is she in London? DD1 is paying £70 a week plus share of bills (approx £20 last year)in private housing. She has NOTHING left over.. we help with books and food but anything else she has to earn herself (not easy as med students are full time) DD2 has already lined up a job where she is going (transferred in the retail chain she works p/t for) and will also have to survive.

have you sat down with the details of their loan for the year, and outgoings? SOmetimes it helps to see it written down..

DS about to share a house with 7 others. They have set up a house bank account with 2 of them taking responsibility for it. Private rents are expensive where he is as a shortage of accommodation so you have to get in early. As he got a discount off of halls last year it's probably not much cheaper, if any, and of course that's assuming everyone is responsible about using utilities!
Can't afford to give him anything additional this year so he'll have to budget well. Unfortunately no bursaries for his cohort regardless of need

Thank you for your replies.
DD1 not London but in a very sought after town.
I know what you are all saying but their bills and rent will cost more than ours I think.

I was being a bit mean by 'they havn't got a clue'. DD1 is 'house mistress' , bank and utilities.
DD2 has horrendous rent.
What I really mean is that this (440+330) is bigger than our mortgage.

harbinger I totally understand what you are saying as we are in the same position.

For us, the years out cost about the same as halls - but £440 PCM is a lot of money! Our highest rent so far has been £373 per month for 12 months.

On that basis, we found it cost about the same, so we carried on with the same contribution over the year, just phased differently. For each of our kids ( so far) we have paid their rent directly and they manage with the loan for everything else. The £1000 or so they earned each over the summer each time also helped, of course.

But now the eldest has graduated, I must admit the cash flow looks a bit better for us this next year. I do sympathise, OP, two lots of rent at once is a lot (if that's the arrangement you go for)

When DD1 and DD2 were in halls we paid their whole rent which included all utility bills. When they lived out we actually contributed less as they paid some of their rent and had to pay the bills. They actually both learned to budget more in the 2nd year and DD2 even started telling one of her housemates of for not turning his Xbox off when he wasn't playing on it.. They did both have part time jobs some of the time.

Unfortunately,(for our bank balance) they are both second year students and are living out.
The £440 rent is for 11 months. The £360 for a year (that started on 1st July [ ]

£440 is Oxford,DD2,£360 is S'ton,DD1. Muddled DDs up,up thread.
Doesn't matter who's doing what and where it still leaves us skint!

My DS had higher rent the second year, but he had a summer job to cover it.

We got the emergency call around March, where he gave us a carefully prepared budget to see him through the rest of the year.

....perhaps this is just in the SE England where private rents are rocketing.

....might have been cheaper in Hull or Middlesborough. (No offence to people in those towns.)

Was the emergency call when the winter gas/electricity bill came in?

Not sure , but probably.

Are your DCs taking their maximum student loans? Mine are, and we only have a small top up, assuming they make 2 - 3000 over the summer. We give them £30pw.

To offset the high winter bills my DC pay by direct debit so it is spread over the year. Plus companies such as EDF give a reduction for direct debit and of course paperless billing.

know certainly my DC claim to the maximum allowed but sadly that is the minimum loan. So their finances are negative before they even start the year.

going ditto re the loan.