parental support

atypical

MarzipanFish wrote: »

Groceries: £5

£5 on groceries a week?! That barely covers the staples let alone food for dinner

I spend about £15 a week.

Lokolo

atypical wrote: »

£5 on groceries a week?! That barely covers the staples let alone food for dinner

I spend about £15 a week.

He/She spends more on alcohol than food.....

MarzipanFish

Lokolo wrote: »

He/She spends more on alcohol than food.....

It's not the only food in there (the total food's £11) but i went out to restaurants/pub meals sometimes
3 meals of tuna pasta for exaple used to cost about 65p (500g pasta 25p, chopped tomatoes 15p, tuna 30p) so i don't see how you think it's that unreasonable As i said, i wasnt even trying to not spend much, it just worked out like that. If anyone desires to know just how someone lives on that i'll make a 1 or 2 week grocery list (2006/07 prices of food as that's when my first year was)

and no, that section covered all entertainment - entry to clubs, gigs, cinema, snowboarding, overpriced end of year balls etc...

atypical

Now (approx.) pasta 75p, tuna 80p, chopped tomatoes 45p which is £2. Have food prices really over trebled in 3 years?

I'm not attacking you; if that's what you spent and didn't go hungry, that's what you spent. I just can't believe it!

Surfbabe

We let our DS (& DD from the Autumn) have an allowance of £35 a week term time only. Student Loan just covers accomodation and they have both worked to build up savings. No credit cards but have a student O/d of £1k at 0% interest but they have money to cover that. Very littel on way of work for holidays around here or during term time at Uni. They manage !!!

MarzipanFish

atypical wrote: »

Now (approx.) pasta 75p, tuna 80p, chopped tomatoes 45p which is £2. Have food prices really over trebled in 3 years?

I'm not attacking you; if that's what you spent and didn't go hungry, that's what you spent. I just can't believe it!

Apologies, I didn't mean to sound so defensive, i was a bit riled up by Lokolo's comment which came across as being very catty and unnecessary (and incorrect)

My money recording was very geeky and i can honestly say that i spent an average of £5.06 on groceries a week (discounting weeks i spend at home) though my parents bought me some cupboard stuff like herbs & spices before i left home. It was about £15 every 4 weeks and top ups inbetween.

tesco value is a bit cheaper and i get 6 meals from 500g pasta so i'd say it'd be about £1. Tuna's gone up from 30p to about 60p and pasta from 19p to 40ish since 06 I know it's not the kind of food / level of preparation some people would be happy with and i completely understand spending more, but i could make 3 decent meals a day for about £7 a week nowadays.

Something that might be useful for the OP's son or other students:
I make a bit of extra cash working for the university as a 'student ambassador'. I did a 45min-1 hour tour each week for £10 a time in first year and still do some other things like open days (£50 a day) and schools outreach stuff. The pay is very good, they seem to let anyone who wants to sign up and is done by signing up to individual events when you want to work. It is fairly seasonal though. I would imagine most universities run similar schemes.

lotties_mum

Thank you all for your great advice.DS is working at the moment so he will be able to save some to take with him.As he is the first in the family to go to uni it is all new to us .so i do appreciate it when people break down their expenses as marzipan fish has,Please don't take any notice of negative posters because your advice is really valuable. thanks

thatpip

lotties_mum wrote: »

My son will be going to uni in sept, His accomodation will be paid with his maintenence loan with not much change (£300) approx. he has some summer work lined up and hopes to find work when he goes down to uni but has already been informed that this is scarce. how much money do you give your sons/daughters to live off? Any ideas would be appreciated. We don't want him to go into an overdraft

Hi there, I am student and thought I may be able to help. I financially support myself and I know it can be difficult sometimes to get by at Uni. I would recommend that your sun finds out if his University or student's union has a 'jobshop' basically a service run by the university that will help students find part time employment whilst they study.

This can be a lifesaver when you get to the end of your loan at term time. Also he should make enquiries as to whether the university itself hires students during term time, as this is what I did when I started uni. I have worked for my university in their Undergraduate Recruitment division since I started as a 'student ambassador’, which means I talk new students on tours, work on open days and represent the university at events throughout the year. Every University should have some sort of student recruitment division or student support, so I would say find that department and find out if they are hiring. My job is so flexible as the university obviously understands the pressures of studies and exams and it pays well.

Also as other people have posted on this forum there is financial support available should your son run out of money whilst at university. In my University it's called the hardship fund but the name may vary from university to university, basically from what I can gather if you are in financial trouble you can apply for some money from the university to pay rent/additional course costs/certain debts providing you meet their criteria - search the forums for more info as others know a lot more about it that I do.

Hope that helps!

yummy_earwigs

My parents give me £350 a month. All of my student loan goes on accommodation (minus bills) so my parents' money stops me using my overdraft!

Awec

lotties_mum wrote: »

My son will be going to uni in sept, His accomodation will be paid with his maintenence loan with not much change (£300) approx. he has some summer work lined up and hopes to find work when he goes down to uni but has already been informed that this is scarce. how much money do you give your sons/daughters to live off? Any ideas would be appreciated. We don't want him to go into an overdraft

That £300 will probably be swallowed up by other costs.

You are talking at least £50 a week, probably more.