How am I going to be able to fund 2 DDs through university?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

Just realised this is going to be expected in 6 years from now!
How do i do it? do i start saving into some sort of account? if so which one?
and DD1 has decided she wants to be a doctor which means 7 years studying!!!!!
what on earth do i do?

"A degree from somewhere like middlesex ex polytechnic is hardly worth having compared to Bristol or Oxford"

That's not true at all. Getting a first or a 2.1 from a "new" uni is definitely worth having, especially if you've done the extra curric stuff (and done it well), and can put a great CV together as a result.

Not that I'm denying the elite HEIs don't confer considerable advantage on grads. They most definitely do.

But to say they all but negate what a grad can gain from studying at other - even the least reputable HEIs - is just plain wrong. And not a little snobbish, imo.

Some employers really only recruit from 10 - 20 institutions and all I am saying is make sure your children know which those are. Certainly yo'ure better off with your degree from middlesex than no GCSEs of course.

Xenia, would you really not mind if your dd wanted to go off and milk cows for a living? Have no issue with any of your posts but that just doesn't ring true

Oh god, I haven't begun to think about uni fees, we are still hoping ds passes the 11+ so we don't have to pay for secondary.

what is 11+ please?

"Some employers really only recruit from 10 - 20 institutions and all I am saying is make sure your children know which those are. Certainly yo'ure better off with your degree from middlesex than no GCSEs of course."

Perhaps you should've gone to Middlesex yourself, then you'd know how to spell "you're".

In a sense my wealth and earnings has bought them a better CV.

You see that rather pisses me off that my child may well be more intelligent than yours but you have bought them a leg up.
I was married to a complete twat who's parents did the same and yes he got the job, but I out earned him by 50% in a mere sales role, god did that wind him and his parents up

Yes, but the world is full of inequalities. I choose to buy the children a good education. Other parents choose not to work and to spend time with them educating them that way. Others choose a clever good looking sporty husband and procure their children a great genetic legacy that way. Others make things hard at univesrity for their children so they appreciate it more and work harder. All different advantages we can give children.

In some ways the best thing I give the children is lack of pressure. Just look on in amusement at the pressure other parents put on children. Perhaps I don't put enough on at all but we all

Would I mind if they milk cows? When my sister opted out, cult etc I did think it was a legitimate life choice and that following a straight jacket cult like existence of 9 - 5 work or traditional housewife life is just as much a cult/conditioning as less conventional ways of living.

My second daughter has just picked a career and I suppose I'm relieved she's picked something and it's something sensible. SO probably my preference is that they pick work they enjoy which enables them to keep themselves in the style to which they're accustomed or choose whatever financial level that might be.

(11+ is an exam you can do in some parts of the country to go to a state grammar school - most areas do not have that system).

"in the style to which they're accustomed"

The nineteenth century phoned - they want their ludicrous turn of phrase back right away please.

oh xenia sometimes i do wonder whether you are actually one of the hoi polloi and you allude to wealth but actually have sweet fa

what bollocks

It's so difficult to know what to do for the best.
DD is not a go-getter. I am not keen on paying for her to mess around for 3 years (not) doing basket weaving so I have told her that she has to fund herself, in the hope that it might concentrate her mind. However, in reality I am planning to do the surprise paying-off-the-loan-after-graduation trick.

The problem is that she is intending working during her gap year to build up funds. So she is going to be doing menial jobs for minimum wage instead of travelling and enjoying a carefree, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don't know what to do for the best - when do they stop being DC and when do they start being adults who are responsible for their own lives?

care to elaborate noddy or do you just want to feel the noize and stroke yer sideburns?

In my experience GAP years certainly aren't once in a life time opporunities, I studied, got my degree, worked for three years so my CV looked decent then got an international company to sponsor me on a 4 year work visa to Australia.
I had a flat on the beach in Melbourne, my mates came out to stay, I earnt shed loads and then at the end of 3.5 years I spent 6 months travelling staying in back packers hostels when i wanted and staying 5 star hotels when it suited too.
I never had to go without food or beer, i went to a doctor or a dentist when i needed to unlike some back packers i met and i had my ticket home again unlike some i met along the way.
There is nothing that you have to do when you're young if you want it you'll find a way.

IADIY is DD Gap year pre or post studying?could dd have a gap year job related to her chosen subject? i pretty much think once you are starting a course,meeting friends,being more independent that is when as a parent to ease off. it allows experiential learning (hey we all learn to budget after blowing all your money too quickly and being hungry!)
make friends
date
fall in love
fall out of love
stewdent life

My oldest is having a gap year after university which I think is probably right for her and she has a job to come back to next year.

My brother got engaged on his gap year when he was 18 (although he did break it off but only after university) and he enjoyed that year. I haven't had my gap year yet. May be in 10 years when the youngest two are going to university I'll get one when |I'm 55 although that won't pay the mortgage.

I think I had a gap decade. Or maybe two...

We planned to save for dd from birth but it has not happened at all. Not a penny. Still, she's only 3, there's still time, hopefully (hopes for financial miracle).

I'd like to be able to at least help out - say pay 50%. I got a government grant (yes I'm that old) for my first degree and I'm very thankful for that.

I want to her to do something that interests her, whatever that is.

We also started saving when our dd was born for her future along with the government money they are given, weve also started a savings fund for ds and hes got over £100 in it and hes only 13wks old. Like someone else said if they choose not to use it for uni then they'll need a good helping hand towards getting a house deposit together or their first car. I will also be encouraging them to get part time jobs for their own personal money when they are old enough, i got my first part time job at 15 and had a part time job right through uni. I was lucky though uni was free when i went.