Are all of you saving for children's university maintenance grant contributions?

[worldsworststepfordwife]

I’m not too late to the party am I? I have sort of heard Martin Lewis say on telly it’s not the course fees you need to be concerned about it’s the expected maintenance contribution that should concern you, but I’ve never really looked at what he’s talking about until I was talking to my 14yo on Sat luckily she’s my only Uni capable one as I discovered that if she was going to university this September the minimum we should give her is £450 a month.

Is that not a shit load of money??!! Also it nowhere near covers all her maintenance she would still rack up extra debt with maintenance loans then I read that there’s a general agreement that the minimum contribution plus maximum grant combined isn’t enough to live on, that there’s a shortfall of £170/month so a lot of parents contribute more!!

I gather as well that this whole situation is deliberately not publicised

But anyway I’ve got 4 years to save £20k lucky me

How are you all tackling this?

[FeltCarrot]

I used to divert £600 pm into a student fund at the start of every month including over holidays when we gave them pocket money so it would build up nicely to cover rent discrepancies at the start of the year. We often had to pay rent before the loan was paid if that makes sense
Both DC managed fine on what we gave them, if we had given DD more she would have only spent it on clothes and makeup, so start low, you can always top up if they need more, bit harder to reduce the amount once they are used to it!😄.

[rbe78]

I've got two DSC 11 & 13. We're not saving (don't know if their mum is); but as DH pays monthly maintenance to their mum it's already basically factored into our budget - if they go to uni he'll just pay a similar amount directly to them instead.

Mind you, we both work in higher education, and no one knows what the uni/funding landscape is going to look like in a year or two, let alone a decade, so it's hard to plan! But at the moment, the minimum loan won't cover rent in most halls - £4000 a year doesn't translate to £100 a week living money as some PPs have suggested. the extra has to come from somewhere, and the means-testing system means there is an expectation built in that higher-earning parents will give their kids substantial amounts of money.

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

We aren't in a position to save that kind of money so DC are aware they will either need to stay at home and commute (wide selection of universities within commuting distance) or work to save for rent (we'd pay for keep, whether at home or in halls or wait for a year until the mortgage is paid and we can divert that money to paying for uni.

I do think you miss out on some of the social side not living away from home, but it's not that uncommon where we are, and surely obtaining the degree is the main thing.

[Teddybear45]

A lot of students of Indian origin now live at home for the first and second years uni as it works out cheaper and more comfortable, then stay on campus (or near campus) for the final / gap years. The first year, as long as you join societies and make friends during lectures, you will make some good friends - the idea that you have to stay on campus to do that is a myth.

[LoafofSellotape]

But at the moment, the minimum loan won't cover rent in most halls - £4000 a year doesn't translate to £100 a week living money as some PPs have suggested

I'm probably being spectacularly dense and haven't had a coffee yet but if parents pay rent for halls and the student gets a minimum loan of just over £4k ,how does that not work out to £99 per week in a 42 week year? Sorry I can't rember the exact amount for minimum loan.

[Comefromaway]

Dd's budget is a bit like this

£130 per week rent (includes breakfast & evening meal)
£20 per week clothes & books (dance course so lots of specialist shoes etc)
£5 per week toiletries
£18 per week lunches
£10 per week travel & socialising
£15 per week part time job - will increase to £40 this year as she's managed to get a better paid job with more hours.

[worldsworststepfordwife]

Can I add another tangent to the mix? Elitism. We live in the NE in a city that’s a city in name only it has a small town mentality but more importantly it has v little opportunity, the amount of graduates working in call centres would amaze people from elsewhere

The program from a few weeks ago about the struggles of working class graduates acquiring good jobs really hit home and it made me feel like going to Uni here would be a complete waste of money and that we need to be a lot more savvy in terms of what she does and where she does it

As a couple we’re from working class backgrounds the first to go university and I suppose live a little more affluently more due to my oh salary. Most of the people we know doing well financially here have started at the bottom and worked they’re way up or are self employed, degrees level jobs I’ve no clue about, I need to find out what industries and locations they tend to happen in

I’d be interested on peoples opinion on that side of things

[raspberryrippleicecream]

I have 2 DC at uni currently. There are no unis within commuting distance so that was never an option. Mine are at unis in areas with cheaper living costs, purely by chance. They get just over 6k in loans and we top up 1k plus the odd supermarketshop. This does not cover wild social lives, they worked over the summer for that!

We also pay train fares home.

If your DC are going into Y12 this is the tax year that counts for the maintenance assessment for the first year at uni!

[MyDcAreMarvel]

We aren't in a position to save that kind of money so DC are aware they will either need to stay at home and commute (wide selection of universities within commuting distance) or work to save for rent (we'd pay for keep, whether at home or in halls or wait for a year until the mortgage is paid and we can divert that money to paying for uni.
If your dc are not eligible for the maximum loan then you earn enough to pay the difference.
It’s not just a vague suggestion that you top your kids up!
You need to cut your cloth accordingly not spend your dc money on yourself.

[Youmadorwhat]

I feel very lucky the PIL’s have created accounts for all of their grandchildren for college/house savings. It takes a HUGE weight of my mind. My two are only under 10 and have 3k each so far.

[MamaGee09]

Ds starts uni this year, thankfully it’s a 30 minute bus journey away, all his friends are staying home to go to uni too. Out of his full year who have just left school only a handful are moving to go to uni, it’s so expensive and we have dd hoping to go down the route of college/uni in 2 years time so there is no way we could afford two to live away from home.

[ShanghaiDiva]

the days of no fee and a full grant are long gone.

The days of full grant regardless of parental income never existed
@titchy

I didn't say the grant was not means tested. The key difference is that it didn't have to be repaid and it was therefore possible to graduate with no debt and no parental contributions.

[Skittlenommer]

I got a part-time job as soon as I was able, worked every hour under the sun, saved up a chunk of money and funded myself. Also got a part-time job within 2 days of starting University (different city).

I think it’s absurd to pay their rent. It’s such a great opportunity for young people to learn how to budget and be adults. If Mum and Dad are paying everything they’ll finish uni as dependent as they started it.

[Needmoresleep]

The amount DC spend seems to vary a lot, and it is not necessarily related to parental wealth. Frugal kids spend less. it is a good habit to get into.

DD spends relatively little but has been labelled "rich" because despite us giving her less than the normal top up she always has money in her account. The parents of one of her friends must really struggle to help him, but he has a huge overdraft, was eating up to four take aways a week, and was too disorganised to apply for work this summer.

As well as saving my tips would be:

1. encourage your kids to gain domestic skills, including shopping for store cupboard items from Lidl and then cooking with them, and including substituting veg for meat. Get them a debit card and put pocket money into it, having them buy things rather than you buy for them.

1. Get them used to working in order to afford personal expenditure. Even if like mine, it was earning small amounts helping me with rental properties. Get them on their own phone contracts etc, not least to start a credit record, and have them used to shopping around for best buys. Whilst parents may have to fund necessities I don't think parents should scrimp and save so their children have going out money.

1. Consider a gap year. There are plenty of travel and working options, or a chance to gain useful work experience, plus save a little. And perhaps have a vacation job to go back to. The discipline gained from work is very valuable when at University.

1. Mentor your DC when it comes to renting. Read the contract carefully. It is surprising how much is saved by paying attention to the detail. Check the inventory and report discrepancies in writing. Check best buy websites for utilities and broadband (the good credit record is useful for the latter), and make sure you give proper notice to the broadband supplier at the end of the tenancy. Make sure that you leave the flat in the same condition that it was at the start of the year, and make clear to the letting agent that you want your full deposit back or you will go to arbitration. Apply for Council tax exemption. Identify the long lost relative with a garage who might allow a week's storage between tenancies.

1. Look at alternative routes, fares and journey times to University. Coaches are usually cheaper but not always. Train split can deliver astonishing savings. (Sometimes even in first class with free breakfast.) One example, the direct train from Waterloo to Bristol takes longer, unless there is maintenance on the Paddington Bristol line, but can be cheaper, and can save students from the South East humping heavy suitcases across London. Get a student rail card.

1. A bit of behavioural economics, but get them used to saving for things, and looking forward to things. Buying a ticket for a big night out and looking forward to it, and having friends round for pasta suppers the rest of the time gives more pleasure than going out two or three times a week. Spending per se, does not buy satisfaction. The charity shop find can be as good as something from ASOS. Try out Lidl and Aldi cosmetics till you find something you like, etc.

[SauvignonBlanche]

Oh God, I wish I’d started saving for this years ago.
DS graduated a year ago and is now financially independent.
We did most things wrong with him, I paid his extortionate rent in his first year as everything was a bit of a panic, getting him accommodation at his insurance place. I soon realised he had more disposable income than me so swapped to only paying part in years 2 & 3 hoping this would encourage part time work but as he has ASD he doesn’t cope well with change and couldn’t manage this so was just very frugal

Thursday’s results dependant DD should start this year and I want to do things better, perhaps being lesss generous in her first year to increase the likelihood of a part time job, there’s no way she’ll change her spending habits much!

She really needs to learn to budget so whilst I was planning on paying her rent and leaving the minimum loan for her to live off I now think there may be better ways to do this, I just don’t know what!

[Reallybadidea]

Personally I prefer not to pay the rent but to give a set amount per year (in monthly chunks). This meant that ds had to budget his whole income and it gave him the opportunity to work out what his priorities were. He chose to stay in a cheaper hall and have more disposable income, others might prefer all mod cons and have less money for social stuff. I think that's quite an important lesson really. Being financially dependent on your parents as an adult is quite infantilising in some ways and we wanted to mitigate that as much as possible.

In terms of budgeting - well yes, you cut your cloth. We have chosen not to move house, drive old cars, have less fancy holidays etc.

[Reallybadidea]

I do appreciate though that it's not as simple as just having cheaper holidays for lots of people though!

[Xenia]

If you have a very low family income you get much higher loans - more like £8k than £4k. That's the issue. My twins' hall fees at Bristol were about £7500 a year (including 2 meals a day) (they don't have student loans as I pay). So in that case the rent alone is more than the £4k a year maintenance loan they could have taken out. This is what Martin Lewis is talking about.

When I went to university it was very similar - I got the "minimum grant" which was about £50 a year and my parents chose to make it up to the full grant of £900 a year. Just like now they had no obligation to do so and children of those not very well off got the full grant anyway.

A poster above mentioned opportunities for children and that TV programme etc - it is definitely something to consider, I moved from the NE and this family has always done better financially by moving (indeed in the 1800s family members moved to the booming NE where industry and coal provided better jobs and now it is the other way round).

So it may be a better use of parents' money to help keep a child at one of the academically better universities if the teenager can get into them which might lead to better jobs in due course.

[Needmoresleep]

If you are low income it is worth checking whether the University offers bursaries. Some can be generous. Some also offer 'scholarships' in the form of fee reductions for students with very good A levels.

[titchy]

I didn't say the grant was not means tested. The key difference is that it didn't have to be repaid and it was therefore possible to graduate with no debt and no parental contributions.

OP is talking about saving because her household income means they are expected to contribute. My point is that this is nothing new. Parents with a reasonable household income have always been expected to contribute. Nothing has changed in that respect, and so many posters, not just OP, don't seem to realise that even in the good old days of no fees and grants, that full grants were only given to those from the very lowest of incomes - which is the same now - full maintenance loans with no expectation of parental contribution are still available. Most parents had to fund their kids.

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

@MyDcAreMarvel 'You need to cut your cloth accordingly not spend DC money on yourself'

Bit of a stretch that assumption. We have never been able to afford a holiday abroad and some years not in the UK either. We have one, old, secondhand car which we will run until it doesn't go any more. Our money is predominantly spent on our mortgage, house maintenance (you know, like fixing a leaking roof) and on the DC (clothing and feeding them, mainly, although we do make sure they can have things like swimming lessons and some fun days out). So please don't make unfounded assumptions about what we do with our money. Luckily we live in a great city with choice of several excellent universities (and don't pay tuition fees) so don't worry, our DC will not lose out by studying within commuting distance of home.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm lucky that dd decided to go to home town uni. So we're not having to top anything up. Obviously she will get free board and lodging here.

[MustStop]

No, of course not, you need money to be able to do that.
Luckily we won't have to contribute. Sometimes it's good to be poor
We will manage driving lessons, and the opportunity to stay at home, as the best H.E college is only 20 miles away.
Oh, maybe train fares until driving.
That's the lot for ours.

[MustStop]

But anyway I’ve got 4 years to save £20k lucky me

Surely you mean lucky dc, who should be managing to contribute to this through working.

[Wolfff]

We didn’t save, but pay £800 cash a month (£400 for each child) for our two children at Uni who get the minimum maintenance loan. They also work. We also pay for phones (sim only now) and car insurance/parking permit for DD1 who needs the car for veterinary placements - we also use it sometimes.

Another thing to bear in mind are accommodation deposits and things like equipment and books which you have to pay for upfront before the loans come in.

There are some students who are graduates with no loans on DD1s course who self support and work all weekend and holidays. It is doable but very hard and grades suffer.