help.. supporting 2 kids at uni

skintmumof3

i have one son already at uni and my daughter is going in september.
we still have our youngest at home (13yrs) and mortgage and bills etc.
but it is going to be financially crippling to support two kids at uni.
last year my sons` maintenence loan/grant only covered his rent so we supported him financially.
are their any allowances made for the parents when supporting two kids????
thanks
skint

Lokolo

Nope don't think so. Do they not have part time jobs? What do they do in the summer?

I get support from my grandparents, none from my mum, she can't exactly afford it. I worked in the summer and earnt £1700, I also have a partime job which gives me around £100-£200 a month.

How much do you give them?

skintmumof3

my daughter is working hard to save as much as she can befroe she goes.
my son is hoping to get a summer job, but with the recession they will be like gold dust. i know that tescos isn`t employing anyone at the mo and that is where he worked last summer...
on average i gave my son £150 per month, as all the money he saved went on his books and he had two field trips which came nearly £400 and that cleared him out....

MrsManda

One of the questions on the application form - the part where the parents fill in their financial information, is about how many dependents you have and how many are at university so it is taken into account when they are assessing how much to award in student finance.

Jobs may be harder to come by but there are a lot of seasonal jobs available if you look hard enough - one place I've usually managed to get a job through is local council - most councils run summer schools during the holidays which need quite a lot of staff. Temp agencies, local parks often are looking for litter pickers, park wardens etc...
And being under 21 is a bonus as they don't have to pay you as much

I'm surprised that your son's accommodation cost so much, did he go for the higher end? (en-suite, catered...).

One thing which may be useful is to sit down and write a budget seeing what has to be spent and what is really just luxuries.

skintmumof3

his accomodation cost over 5,000 and he had an ensuite but not catered.....

Oldernotwiser

skintmumof3 wrote: »

his accomodation cost over 5,000 and he had an ensuite but not catered.....

If money's tight it's not a good idea to go for the more expensive, ensuite accommodation, however much you might prefer it!

skintmumof3

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If money's tight it's not a good idea to go for the more expensive, ensuite accommodation, however much you might prefer it!

hi,
he had no choice as that was the cost of every room on campus. he was at uwe in bristol and its a brand new purpose built campus and he didn`t want to live off campus in his first year.
but hopeful next year his shared house may work out cheaper.

nearlyrich

I was in the same position as you a few years ago, I was liable for two lots of fees and they only got 75% of student loan based on my income which included the value of my company car. I don't have a younger one but it was tough at the time. My two had to work through their uni times both had bar jobs which gave them some money to live on as the loan just about paid for accommodation too.

Oldernotwiser

skintmumof3 wrote: »

hi,
he had no choice as that was the cost of every room on campus. he was at uwe in bristol and its a brand new purpose built campus and he didn`t want to live off campus in his first year.
but hopeful next year his shared house may work out cheaper.

Thanks for the explanation; I can see he didn't have much choice.

However, it is true that many hard up students choose the best accommodation at other universities where there is a choice. In fact, I believe that the dearest accommodation is usually picked first and the cheapest places are left til the end!

Oldernotwiser

nearlyrich wrote: »

I was in the same position as you a few years ago, I was liable for two lots of fees and they only got 75% of student loan based on my income which included the value of my company car. I don't have a younger one but it was tough at the time. My two had to work through their uni times both had bar jobs which gave them some money to live on as the loan just about paid for accommodation too.

But don't forget that nowadays students don't pay fees upfront so that this is far less of a burden on parents.

batbaby

maybe they can DIY somethings, then sell these items on ebay. hope it helps! Good luck!