DD starting uni, what to do about money/accommodation?

[whatIforgottoday]

DD1 holds a conditional place to Durham for October and has had her maintenance loan confirmed at £5000.

Her accommodation is £7000 a year so DH and I assumed that the £5000 would cover her accommodation and then pay the extra £2000 needed, she would then live off a monthly allowance of £250 from her grandparents.

However DD feels the £250 a month is too little (accommodation is catered too) and wants to keep the maintenance loan for living (i.e. Clothes, going out) DD will probably get a job in the second year but would like to have a break from working in her first year (has worked every Saturday since the age of 14)

Would any of you mind telling us what you do regarding finance/are planning on doing so we can get a better idea?

Thanks

No fees here in Scotland either.

We have 2 sons at uni and they have the maintenance loan to live on ( minimum ) and we pay their accommodation . Halls in 1st year were £5200 pa self catered , private rented £80 per plus bills the following years .

DS1 loves nice clothes good food etc and spends every penny ! DS2 is veggie , likes to buy vintage clothes bargains and is generally more frugal / sensible and has money left over .

They both work hard in the holidays to pay for festivals , short breaks , gigs etc .

£3,800 goes towards the £6,000 catered accommodation fees and we make up the difference. I pay for toiletries and cleaning products and do a food shop whenever he comes home.

We also pay the mobile contract, gym membership, collect from and take back to uni whenever, tax MOT and insurance for car (and any repairs).

He saved money to use as spending money and has worked during the Christmas break and has picked up hours this holiday. He could get a job during term time but can't be bothered.

We are also grappling with these issues as DD hopefully will start uni in September. Self-catering accommodation costs £135 per week and the loan amount she is entitled to (approx. 4.5k per annum) does not fully cover this. We squirreled away £2000 for each of the three years so that will go towards it; we will also supplement her with £200 per month and then she will have to get a Saturday job. Her current one pays her £200 per month so if she gets something similar she should be ok. Just slightly worried about her budgeting skills ... she might spend more on make-ups than on food!

It is a 'how long is a piece of string?' question, but honestly £250 is masses.
ds is just finishing his 3 yrs. His loan covers his accommodation (halls in Yr 1 and shared house + bills in Yes 2 and 3) and - for him, it left him with £100 - £300 for the year.
We then gave him £35 a week from when he started in Sept to when he finished in June (he was living at home from June - Sept). That was to buy his food, toiletries, any travel, etc.
He worked (at home) through the Summer and at Christmas but struggled to find work at University until 3rd year. Socialising / travel / holidays are his responsibility out of what he earns. Because they have their own accommodation (not living with parents) then they can do a lot more of their "going out" without actually going out IYSWIM ~ parties in the accommodation.

The reason we gave him money weekly is just because he is a bit of a nightmare with money - that way, he wouldn't be going hungry at least. When my dd goes in Sept, she'll have hers either monthly or termly, whichever she prefers.

We are going to be in a muddle next year

DD worked each summer & saved up for her spending money but this summer she can work - she has 3 weeks of training right in the middle of the holiday plus a workshop this so she only have 3 individual weeks available. She is unlikely to get 3 single weeks of work so it's a nightmare.

She worked before and after Christmas but her work was sugffering so I made her give it up & she is back on an even keel now but still has loads fo catch up from what she missed when she wasn't on top form

She gets £10 a week from her grandma for spending & she allows herself £10 from her saved wages - that pays for spending plus phone
She has a bursary for £25 a week for food

So £45 a week all in (food, ent, phone but not travel home) but she now needs a pair of tap shoes - so there goes another £150!! - she can't oay that out of her spending money & neither can I - so it might be her grandma that helps out again

Janet We are the same, except I do not pay during the holidays, as ds is at home, and the £1500 saved in allowance over the summer helps towards rent for the next year. As we live abroad, I bung him some euros if he has made himself useful and mowed the lawn etc. He does have an internship for a month this summer which pays quite well.

As he has stayed at university this Easter holiday to write his dissertation, I have paid his allowance, but I do expect him to wade through his pasta supplies, so it doesn't all have to be carted home.

DS1 is going to university in September and we've agreed that for the first year, he's paying for his rent (in halls) out of money he's saved up, and we're paying for the compulsory "meal plan" that they have to sign up to while they're living in university accommodation.

Both work out to be roughly the same amount (the equivalent of around £3000 each.)

The meal plan where he's going is extremely flexible, though, and more like a bloody all inclusive resort, with "all you can eat" at anytime between 7am and 11pm, 7 days a week, and it's decent quality too. He loves his food and is concerned that he's going to have a willpower problem and pile on the weight while he's away!

It's probably going to cost us around double what he would cost to feed for a year at home, but we'll still sub him a bit extra for pocket money. He's not likely to need much cash because he's not into having new clothes all the time and won't be running a car. He's also only going to be 17 when he goes, and the legal drinking age over here is 19, so I'm naively hopefully that'll limit his boozing opportunities somewhat...

So, his first year expenses are going to be all paid either by us, or out of his own savings. He's paying for his own stupidly expensive text books too. He's hoping to not have to get a job until the summer break, but second year, onwards, he's definitely going to need to take out a student loan and get part time work. We'll give what we can spare, but it definitely won't be as much as in the first year.

Thanks everyone, it really is a 'peice of string' question! As far as I'm aware, all her meals are catered for so I think we will stick to our original plan and adjust it if we need to. Good luck to all those hoping to go to uni next year and that they all get their firm choice!

DS1 is in first year at uni self catering. He gets a weekly allowance so that over the year he has the same as full maximum loan.

Just to add to previous comments, DS says this last term was much cheaper than his first term. At the beginning of the year he had books to buy, society memberships, Freshers week, then Christmas at the end. Plus I think getting used to budgeting.

DS gets £70/week and that pays for food too. Thats plenty.

scary, I have contemplated whether to stop it in the holidays - their older siblings had the same deal except it was £100 a week not £150. I just the keep the standing order going. I suppose I pay it in holidays as I can afford to and now (upper sixth) I pay for things as they need them or top up their bank randomly so I reckon if instead everythign (other than rent in holidays and I suppose their food and heat) will have to come out of the £150 I won't be that much worse off or only a bit. I pay now for hair cuts and their few clothes, cinema etc as needed. Also the idea if start of term is expensive so I start the £150 in July so they can save it up mostly unspent for when they need it most in September. That's the theory. I won'#t change the amount in the year after when they will need to buy more food (won't then be in catered halls) but then I expect in year 1 they will have to buy plenty of food anyway as there are bound to be foods they don't eat - they both cook for themselves from scratch every day at home and one is vegan so the chances hall food is anything like the whole good fresh foods they both eat at home is very unlikely although I expect they will find something they like for some of the meals just to be sociable. They have some very very well off friends at school and actually I was terribly surprised but most of their friends at school have parents who will also be fully funding and no student loans. When my older children went I am sure many of their friends had loans so it's an interesting change that fees go up from £1m or £3k to £9k and more not fewer parents pay the fees!

I stop in the holidays because ds can only spend euros where we live! I bung him some euros every so often, but as he doesn't need to buy food, pay bills, use public transport etc then he doesn't need the money. This summer he has a job for a month where dh works, so will get paid quite well, and we can get it transferred to the UK for him. He seems to spend holidays raiding the fridge, glued to the PS4 or sleeping loads, and he isn't hugely into shopping, unless it's books or computer games.

We are lucky in that part of Dh's employment package is support for education til the child is 24, so we get quite a lot back, which mean s we can get him through a BA and an MA loan free. I have not been happy about the newer style loans, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole, and if we can avoid it for ds, then we will.

Both DDs get the minimum loan here which goes towards accommodation and we top it up. We then give DD1 £350 a month as she is uncatered and DD2 £250 a month as she is mainly catered (only brunch at weekends and 2 meals a day during week). We also pay their phone contract as that was a Xmas present. We do pay for some extras when needed e.g. Both have been on a society holiday which we paid for as their birthday presents. They will both hopefully have jobs in the summer so we won't pay an allowance then. They both have very busy social lives and are enjoying life but working hard.

scary DH was just saying last night that the proposed rate of interest for student loans is horrendous. That you could easily borrow the money much cheaper elsewhere.

Also, the fees are going up and the threshold before payment becomes due is likely to go down (again).

www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/11/student-loan-interest-rate-rise-uk-inflation-brexit Going up to 6.1% apparently. My daughters pay something like 3% and under 3% on mortgages and here are student loanst at nearly double. When those student loans first came out everyone said you'd be a fool not to take one even if you didn't need it because the interest rates were so low. Not now.

Janet Haircut QED. This is why we are funding ds in full. I fully expect that at some stage repayment will be mandatory, whatever your income is.

We are also funding the DC's HE in full. I never liked the idea of a student loan and we put money aside a while ago for their HE. I am not a borrower of money by nature.

Most parents cannot afford to pay the fees etc which of course those of us who earn enough to pay them understand. My first post on the thread was you pay what you can and what you choose to. Also even very rich people think (and this view I can perfectly understand) that an 18 year old will pick a sensible degree and pursue good work after if they are personally invested in it themselves rather having it handed to them on a plate by their mother. Both views are valid. So far my daughters were obhviously wise and lucky I funded them as they are lawyers in London so earn a fair bit. My older son even as a post man last year would have earned enough to repay the debt I think although I forget as we did not need to know it what people who were in the £3k a year fees time as he was start repaying at. He is now at home thinking about his next stage and will probably travel in the Autumn. In his case I suppose it is not as clear cut as he might not earn large amounts and he doesn't want to. Even so I am glad he doesn't have any debts at all.

DS is in Yr 1. We pay his accommodation (private shared flat at £340 per month) to ensure he has a roof over his head. His loan (£4500) is for food, social, etc but he has divided it out across 52 weeks as he is in a private flat. This amounts to £89 per week but he spends £75 and holds back £14 for bills. He pays petrol from the £75 but we pay car maintenance costs. His grandma tops up about £30 a month. This is working well for us.

DD is in first year. She gets the minimum maintenance loan which doesn't cover her self catered halls so we pay the balance on that (around £2500 I think it was). We than give her £220 per month by direct debit which she lives on. She pays her own phone, gym fees etc. The only extra is that sometimes if she has been home we do an online shopping order for her return to halls to fill up her food cupboard.

She has picked up some agency work and she uses that for luxuries - she is planning a trip to Rome with friends in the summer but will fund that herself.

DD gets minimum maintenance grant of £3,400 which pays for her accommodation, (we have to top up about £400)

We give her £300 a month to live on.
From this she buys all food, toiletries, train tickets, nights out, clothes etc.
She manages just fine.
All her friends get a similar amount.

How much are her books going to cost? It was some 25 yrs back for me... but I remember having to blow £500 every year on books, also spent a lot on paper and millions of pens would you believe... maybe a little extra at the start of each year for that?

Remember folks what was the maintenance grant is now a maintenance LOAN.