DS gets £150 per week but runs out of money

[Laundryandtoil]

DS is a fresher in Cardiff (we are England). He gets the minimum maintenance loan which we top up so that he can pay for his halls accommodation. We then send him £150 a week, every Monday. I thought this was ample but he rang yesterday saying all his friends were going out to lunch and he had run out of money so could I transfer an extra £20 so he could join them. I did but was a bit surprised as I thought £150 a week would be plenty?

He needs to learn to budget. It's hard when they first go to uni. Could he look for a part time job?. I'd imagine once reality starts rolling in he'll learn how to budget and have house party's instead of going out.

Usually there are more expenses at the start of the year and the start of term.

He may have bought textbooks - they are very expensive. They can be sold again next year but it's still an expense.

Joining societies - eg the physics society or engineering society is also usually a yearly or termly expense.

Oh the whole £150 is plenty to live on.

I think he is going to need to learn to budget/get a part time job.

What is the £150 expected to cover?

£150 a week is a very ample amount of money to have to spend on just food and leisure each week. If he's struggling he needs to learn how to budget better or get a job to top up his income not ask you for more money.

I bet all his friends going out to lunch are whinging about being skint, too.

Point out to him that if he were out of work and on Universal Credit he would be given £311.68 a MONTH. That would be expected to cover all his bills as well as food. I genuinely don't know how people manage.

He'll have to skip lunch out with his mates if he hasn't budgeted for it, rather than just expecting Mum to hand out more cash.

I gave dd about half that. But covered the cost of materials, memberships, sports trips and other one off charges etc separately. She then used savings from working in the holidays to top up.

Won't he get a part time job? That's what my two did.

He needs to learn to budget then... How much does he have to live on annually? For comparison we give DS £150 per month. The rest of his expenses are covered by a maintenance loan of about £5,500 (off the top of my head) and his own savings.

I think you are very generous and your DS is going to need to learn to budget better. Eating out was a rarity when I was at uni! Maybe transfer this time but say that is it and maybe he could look at getting a job.

I would have thought that should be plenty to live on, and £20 for a student lunch sounds pricey to me. There are obviously upfront costs he may have had and would ask how it's being spent just to make sure it's not textbooks/start up costs but imagine it's socialising and lack of budgeting thinking bank of Mum and Dad will pay out.

It's more than enough, no need for students to pay £20 for lunch either- plenty of cheaper options in student towns! If it was for something specific ie a textbook then cool, but if you don't draw some sort of line it'll be continuous.

He’s pulling your plonker. I know families that survive on less than £150 a week for food and leisure.

I think you need to get an idea of what it’s gone on. If he had initial upfront costs for books/store cupboard basis/ membership fees/ items for his room etc then I could see him running out quickly at the start if he gets money each week.
maybe giving him money monthly is better and easier for him to budget with.
he does need to learn to budget better and he can’t just go for lunch whenever he wants though. It’s a learning curve

Sounds like he is having a very expensive social life, which you’re paying for!

As others have said, £150pw is very generous for a single man just to spend on his weekly shop and leisure. He's taking the piss asking you to bail him out for lunch.
He needs a reality check and to learn how to either live within his means or to earn more money.

He's a new student and I'd bet a lot of that £150 is being spent on booze/nights out. You can soon get through it with the cost of alcohol in pubs. He needs to reign it in and learn to budget. That's a lot of money, he's lucky.

Admittedly this was a few years ago, but I got £100 a month from my parents (which I was very grateful for). I then had to get a part time job to boost my income.

Agree that teaching him to budget is a smart move, my thoughts would be if you give him another £20 now then what happens next week when he asks for another £20 top up? I also think context is important - yes, he's a fresher so I'm sure is wanting to fit in and find his friendship group... But realistically he's going to need to either find a way to fund meals out or learn to say he can't go this time. If he'd messaged you saying he had no food in the cupboards I think I'd feel differently, but eating lunch out is a luxury for most of us these days!

Agree with pp about learning to budget. And get a pt job.

dd is at uni in an expensive city. She has £100/week after accommodation. She’s budgeting well; makes her own lunches mainly. Manages to keep
in budget for socialising.

I think the key is drinking money. That will really add up.

Tell him to stay home & have some super noodles! I think £150 should be well enough to live on.

Don't send him the extra.

If you do he'll always think he can phone you for more.

My DS has the same in London per week and hasn't asked for more.

Yep, budgeting is an important skill to learn. He's spent his money on other stuff so now can't go out for lunch. That's the trade-off we all make in life. He won't be able to afford everything and that's okay.

He's probably been maxing the socialising in the early weeks and it will calm down. But he really does need to budget, that's a generous amount.

If he’s got £150 after rent is paid that’s plenty.

After rent/bills, I give DC £500 + phone + travel + big shop at beginning of term + occasional food top ups + odd treat 🙄

i also give them a bit extra at start of year to pay for clubs/books/supplies etc.

eldest DC once in 2nd year admitted it was plenty.