Hey people lets get this Uni thang going...

Oldernotwiser

Dantheman1212 wrote: »

Oldernotwiser , It beggars belief that you cannot get it...My word you need to start worrying about your own life ma man. He is not repeat not getting me to pay his bills they are coming out of a direct debit plan in 3 quarterly term times so when he gets a student account this week from nat west he can then get uni to take them straight out of his account, at the minute he has not got an account but when and if he gets one he can sort it out all i said was i would pay it until its sorted to save him getting the first
loan and grant for about £2g and then forget to give it to uni , but he is sorting that out hopefully before he starts and the bank can get him a new account. .

That is not what you said originally, "ma man"!

"What I meen is when his accomodation is paid for is that when he gets his first loan and grant payment he will give me a cheque and i will put it in my account and pay off the first of 3 payments for his flat and then second payment and then 3rd so its all paid and he has no debts to worry about just living expenses"

Glad you've changed your mind now and are not treating your son like an idiot.

melancholly

Dantheman1212 wrote: »

O

All I ever asked was simple advice and I really appreciate those who wanted to help.

As for the rest you people you need to really take life a bit easier , the tough guy image is ok but honestly some of you were a bit over the top so what wonderful parents you must be. I am going to stop mollycoddling him , get him down the mines and earn his crust , put him to bed at 8pm everynight and , make sure he only speaks when he is spoken to... Some of you are so self righteous it was unbelievable.

So heres the last word , much appreciated everybody and no matter what you write back thats me finished and no more replys. Remember Its a jungle out there.

Dano.

sorry, are you the parent or a stroppy teenager?

bestpud

melancholly wrote: »

sorry, are you the parent or a stroppy teenager?

Lol I was wondering if the son is actually more mature and is perhaps just humouring his father!

crazy_saver22

Amanda65 wrote: »

My DD is going to Birmingham City University, none of their Halls are catered and we are currently waiting to find out where she has been allocated. Prices range from £85 pw - £104 pw and you pay for 41 weeks :eek:

count yourself lucky!!!!
there's really cheap compared to my halls were (just moved out this summer)...
i'm at Bath Spa...
i was in the lowest band of housing as it was all my parents could afford (my rents pay my rent and fees and i live off my loan - yes i'll admitt i'm probs really spoilt)...i paid £93 a week for mine.....i had a shower between around 16 of us as my block had baths only and a kitchen between 8 of us...the way it was set up meant everyone (all 60 of us) could wander in and out of every block.....it was for 45weeks.......

the dearest is off campus and is 118 for 48 weeks!! (unite!)

minerva_windsong

Honestly, I've got to agree with those who said that you've done too much for him. Although it's nice that you're helping him out, a big part of uni is learning to be independent, and in my view it's a good idea to get started on that as soon as possible. My parents supported me through uni, but I had to pay for all the pre-term expenses like books and my mobile and insurance (using holiday job money, as although my parents' approach was that uni was my job they didn't fund me when I was back home so I had to work to pay for what I wanted). The one exception was my laptop, but that was partly for passing A-levels and partly a birthday gift. I think what they did was a good compromise, as it meant that whilst I was there I could focus on my work but at the same time it taught me how to budget and meant that I didn't expect to get handouts all the time.

I've also got to say that I don't understand why he's paying the money to you for the rent and then you're paying it to the university - if you don't trust him not to spend it, can't he get his student account set with no overdraft and just give you the remainder from what his rent would cost?

But in answer to your original question, here's the breakdown of what I spent weekly (which is also when I got my money and is how I recommend giving it out if you are doing so - the one thing is be consistent with when you do it, I dipped into my overdraft a few times because my mum didn't put the money in my account on the same day every week):

Food - £25 (I spent about £15-20 most weeks though)
Going out - £30 (including travel to my internship, but I rarely spent all of that)
Bits and bobs (clothes, music, DVDs, toiletries etc) - £15

Anything left over went into my savings account. When I went into my shared house I got an extra £30 a week for bills which also went into the savings account until I needed it. I didn't have to pay rent until September either on my shared house even though we had it from July, but obviously that depends on the letting agent.

I was at York, which is probably the expensive end of cheap in terms of living costs (rent was quite expensive once I left halls), so this may well vary depending what the typical living costs in Birmingham are like.

ultimatedingbat

I have to say from personal experience I think you're barmy!

As a first year student, while I consulted my parents on thingsI was unsure about i did the leg work:

1) New mobile phone contract on a pay monthly budget I could afford
2) Home Insurance with Endsleigh - paid and sorted before I got there
3) New Laptop - Chose it, confirmed it's suitability with Dad and BANG my new laptop bought and paid for by me
4) Rent - I was also concerned about this. I borrowed the money from my parents for the first installment and paid them back as thi was due pre student loan. For the rest I asked my accom provider if I could pay early aka when I got my money through in the Sept/Oct i paid Nov's. Most providers dont mind this you just have to ask.
5) Budget - Magic way to do this. I got an excel file and wrote everything in it, how much money I had, how much I budgeted for food etc and BANG once more. i had a budget of around £50 inc a food shop of £10-£20 depending on whether I needed toiliteries as well.

It's all simple stuff you son needs to learn to. I',m a third year and I'm so glad I got to grip with it all on my own to start with with just a bit of guidance looking over my shoulder while I worked it out. Turns out I didn't need much help at all

7891368

I think most 'kids' are more capable than their parents think.
Note I did say most, some of the people I met last year did make me wonder if they were 9 not 18.

ultimatedingbat

7891368 wrote: »

I think most 'kids' are more capable than their parents think.
Note I did say most, some of the people I met last year did make me wonder if they were 9 not 18.

Agree. I had a case example in my house mate i nfirst year who couldn't work out how to do his own laundry or wash up. I had to teach him how to use the hoover :S

minerva_windsong

Oh God yes, I knew some really dopey people when I was at uni. A particularly memorable moment is a girl on my corridor setting fire to a baked potato because she got 'paper for the microwave, foil for the oven' the wrong way round. I'm just glad it didn't involve sparks and explosions.

ultimatedingbat

minerva_windsong wrote: »

Oh God yes, I knew some really dopey people when I was at uni. A particularly memorable moment is a girl on my corridor setting fire to a baked potato because she got 'paper for the microwave, foil for the oven' the wrong way round. I'm just glad it didn't involve sparks and explosions.

Classic. My house mate did similar when he thought he could cook popcorn and left the plastic wrapper on the packet when he put it in the microwave!