Parental contribution for DS at university - are we giving enough?

[Cloudcuckoo50]

DS is just about to start his second year. He qualifies for the minimum maintenance loan of approx 3,700 per year, (due to parental income) plus of course his tuition fees loan.

This maintenance loan more or less covers his accommodation costs (non-catered). We then give him £300 per month for living costs - food, socialising etc. He does not work whilst away at uni but has a bar job when he is home which he uses to fund festivals and holidays with friends.

He has mentioned that he finds £300 quite tight to live on and others seem to have a lot more money than him. The obvious thing is for him to get a job but his degree is quite intense so we don't want to insist on this.

His uni location is in South Wales.

Can I ask parents in a similar situation what they contribute to their DCs as I would like to check that we are contributing a fair amount?

I must say when you spread it over a month, and have to buy food, I don't think £300 would go far.
Maybe he should save up some of his summer earnings to help cover costs as it cannot be easy for you.

DSs have minimum maintenance loans. We give them £50 a week each. DS1 works 1 long bar shift when away and occasional bar work at a sporting arena when he's home.

We have told both DCs that there is a lump sum in an account that they can call on if/when they need to. They have rarely done so because they would prefer to use it to fund the more expensive field trips their courses offer than piss it up against the wall.

We often remind them that they should make the most of the years at uni and not stint on socialising. They assure us that they're fine.

They were both in catered in their first years and didn't come home with anything much in the way of overdrafts.

But I think a lot will depend on your DS's friendship groups tbh. If they go out to pubs/clubs a lot, then he will need more money.

DD just about to start uni, she also gets minimum loan which would not cover her halls. She has to have 36 meals per term in college so we are paying for both and she will have her loan to live off for the year.

Oh and just to add, DS's know that what's left of the lump sum will be handed over to them when they graduate so maybe that's an incentive not to dip into it.

We also give our DS £300 per month. The maintenance loan doesn't quite cover his rent (uncatered) so he tops up the rent and pays for all food & day-to-day living expenses. He has no catering facilities, so has to buy prepared food in college or elsewhere. On top of that, he is not allowed to get a job!

However, he is not a great socialite and always seems to have more than enough money. He came home for the summer with quite a surplus, in fact.

That is what i gave DD1 when she was at uni. It is plenty. This was for food, toiletries, books, socialising etc. I did however break it down into small amounts regularly at DD's request. She got £50 on a Monday so she could get her essentials in then £25 on a Friday so she would have enough to have a fairly pleasant weekend.

DD1 is a bit different as she got the maximum maintenance loan and grant. Between them they cover her accommodation and then she has £55 per week to live on (£220 per month in a 4 week month). That is the only money she will have as we can't afford to give her anything extra.
Her living costs include food, socialising etc.

I think it sounds a reasonable amount, he could easily save some of the money he earns in the holidays and maybe cut down on festivals and holidays rather than expect you to subsidise his social life.
Perhaps ask him to go through his budget with you and find out how much he is spending on food/essential study stuff/drinking etc and then come to a decision?

Its a lesson that we all have to learn that some people have more money than us and others have a lot less.

We are transferring £80 per week into dd account rather than give DD a lump sum to last a month, that way she has to budget weekly and can't over spend next weeks allowance. Her train journey home will be £50 we plan to give her that if she decides shes coming home which is more likely at Xmas. She won't have any extra from maintenance loan or grant as that never covered her rent. However, we've deposited £400 into her account for the first week as she will be needing a bit more for joining clubs and societies going out and buying a annual bus pass that alone is £175 plus any bits and bobs we might have forgotten to take down.

Mine got £75 weekly allowance, plus I paid for their flights home a couple of times a year.

University is like school. There is always someone who gets more than your DC. This might help.
personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/compare-current-accounts/student-account/student-living-index.html

My dad is in London starting year 3. Last two years her loan covered rent plus 600 per term. We gave her 35 a week, increasing to 50 a week last year when she was in rented rather than halls. This year, loan doesn't cover rent, so will top that up and give her 300 a month. She has a term time job that she gets 120 for 2 shifts a week. There are always people with more money or less money.

How much would your son have if he had the maximum maintenance loan? When I went to Uni (years ago) my parents very kindly gave me the same I was would have received if had I been eligible for a maintenance grant.

OP, could you perhaps organise some Tesco food deliveries occasionally? That way you could get his toiletries/groceries every now and again also.
when I was training as a nurse 100 miles from home, my folks paid most of my rent. rent was £150 pm, they paid £120. My bursary was £345 pm.
But we had quite a bit of travelling that involved taxis-shifts often too early for the buses.
No way could I have lived on that, so I supplemented it with an agency night shift once or twice a month,or as needed. I usually did them on my half day if I was then off for two days. So finished my shift as a student nurse at 1.45pm. Went home and slept a bit. Went to work again at 8.30pm until 8am, then had that day and the next to recover.
I do think a weekly allowance is easier to manage, is this an option?

We pay dd's accommodation and she lives on her loan-I think that works out at about 70 quid a week over the year.

Dd not dad!

We made our DS's income up to what he would have been eligible for if in loans and grants, it wasn't for our income. It worked out about £400-£500 pm from us, he was in a more expensive area though.

But parents can only do what they can afford, particularly if you have other DCs

We pay for our DD's accommodation also give her £250 a month.
She also gets minimum grant, we let her use it to top up the money we give her.
It works out around 6700 per year so about £550 a month to live on. She comes home a lot & takes back lots of food etc from my cupboards too.
I am hoping she will get a job soon.

DS managed on £85 per week for food, socialising etc. In addition we paid for fares to and from uni at end of term, as he was so far away. He is very good with "big" money but does waste money on stuff like take aways etc. He never went into the red at any time and often had a small surplus at the end of term.

I think it doesn't sound very much.

My parents used to give me £250 a month, twenty years ago, plus I had £100 a month from my grandparents, and mum and dad would buy my books on top of that.

I then worked during the holidays to top up my account and fund any socialising that I wanted to do while I was at home.

I think it's not right for him to spend all his own money on holidays but expect you to pay for everything else. His holiday job should go towards helping out with his own expenses. I think 200 is enough.

My ds is in catered halls. His maintenance loan is the minimum and doesnt cover cost of accomodation. I am topping that up and giving 200 per month.

I go to uni in south wales and do a 8-5 course and have about £250 a month to live off which is plenty tbh, most people have around £60 a week to live off unless they have a job. And most will top up loans etc. With a summer job on intensive courses. £300 a month is about 75 a week which should be plenty to cover nights out and food

Sorry should have added that as soon as ds has got his timetable sorted he plans to look for work so he can meet some of his own costs. I dont really want him to but ilI think its nice that his mindset is to contribute.

I think it depends on how much spare money you have. We are comfortably off so my son gets £450 although that may be reduced later in the year, he's just moved in to accom and there are a lot of costs in the first couple of months re setting up wifi/ utilities/ paying full comm charge until the discount goes through plus more books to buy etc. His course is also fairly full on so not much time to work on an evening plus I want him to have a social life and have fun. If we were skint he'd get less.

Mine gets £300 per month from us plus the minimum maintenance loan, OP but that is in London and she has no rent as she is in our flat. If you can't afford it then don't give it but if you can, why not? They should be able to budget monthly - they would have to in a graduate job. I guess my DD has a social life but I don't want her to be a hermit . She saves to buy nice things she wants. We buy more expensive clothes and holidays. As long as she attends her course and gets good marks i am happy. If she works she keeps the money for herself.