How much per month to help daughter?

JAZ63

Apologies if this has been covered already !!

my daughter is leaving home for the first time this September to start uni
Accommodation is organised and is inclusive of bills, which she will pay for with her student loan.
As parents we want to help her out ,by giving her some money each month to live off.
we expect this to pay for her food ( and transport home when she decides her washing needs doing lol ) her uni is a 5 minute walk away from her house ,so she wont have daily bus fares to pay for.
we do live a 4 hour rail journey away ,so dont envisage her popping home too often, and we will pack her off with as much food as we possibly can, so she will only need to buy fresh things etc for a while.
we are quite frugal at home ,but were thinking of a figure of about £200 / month . is this too generous ? or about right ?
please be gentle with me , this is a new experience for us.
all suggestions welcome

regards Jazz

niceday999

can you afford more ? if you can let her have more..they have worked hard to get where they are.my son is going away too.we are paying his fees and accomodation and hopefully he has enough to see him through the year for food and prob drink:beer:if he needs it i will top up his account online. will she work herself this year?

Minxz

Hi,
I have 2 at Uni, and as they both started at the same time, it was expensive!
I kitted them out with what they needed, some came from charity shops, some new, some value range- bedding, pots pans, plates, iron(lol) etc!
Then I bought them both all their Freshers tickets, new warm clothes for the winter, their student cards & a laptop.

( I saved for 2 years to do this for both of them, we are not a well off family!)
Once there, they had to pay for almost everything themselves. I sent them a grocery ( ie, Tescos) giftcard now and then for about £40, bought most their books , and that was it. When they came home I'd pop some cash in their pocket when they went and pay train fares back, as I used to drive them but I can't really as it's too far and have to get someone to look after my 5 year old.

They do know of many that get a monthly allowance, some who had rent paid, but with 2 that I had to treat the same i couldn't, so I'd say that's very generous of you, and she's a lucky student xxx

Minxz

niceday999 wrote: »

can you afford more ? if you can let her have more..they have worked hard to get where they are.my son is going away too.we are paying his fees and accomodation and hopefully he has enough to see him through the year for food and prob drink:beer:if he needs it i will top up his account online. will she work herself this year?

Fees and accommodation?!
Wow, that's one lucky child you have, who will love being able to spend all his cash on booze!!

Yes, they work hard to get there, but they will reap the benefits when they leave, and they choose to go. They are maturing into adults, so need to learn independence- I believe independence also includes taking responsibility for your own finances.

angelicalacewing

about 4 yrs ago I used to give my daughter £30 a week and told her it was emergency money as there couldn't be any more ( single parent) she never asked for more but I used to give her more when I felt she needed it. she did have a part time job as well as I do feel its important that its not just free money to go to the pub.

niceday999

Minxz wrote: »

Fees and accommodation?!
Wow, that's one lucky child you have, who will love being able to spend all his cash on booze!!

Yes, they work hard to get there, but they will reap the benefits when they leave, and they choose to go. They are maturing into adults, so need to learn independence- I believe independence also includes taking responsibility for your own finances.

he has worked so hard and his father and I didnt go to university and i have been budgeting hard for it for 5 years....
my older child got the same and says they were the best years for her life....you'd hate them to be away from home and be skint!!!!!!!
thats a fantastic idea about a tesco gift card........never thought of that....

devildog

I guess if you can afford it and it includes food then it sounds ok. You haven't mentioned what 'free' money she will have left over from maintenance loans(grants/bursary if any)after she has paid for accomodation. If it works out that she has around £50 pw 'spare' and you then top up with another £50pw I honestly think that will be too much.
TBH I started at £200 pm for my eldest and after two months they turned around to me and said I think you are giving me too much, I don't need it all lol(how proud was I that they were honest enough to say that)
Had to laugh at them though and said you do realise what this means...... and money was cut. It seems like a punishment for them being honest but they know full well that if things get tight we will step in, but believe me they haven't gone without in the slightest(they even managed an overseas holiday) which is more than we had!!!

Lokolo

Yep £200 a month is plenty to live off, would be spending around £80-100 on food, the rest is obviously for drinking down the drain.

JAZ63

Thanks everyone so far,

Niceday999, to be honest I dont think we can afford much more than £200 per month. my daughter would like to get a part time job if it is possible ,but wants to see how intensive the course is first before she commits herself to any job.
Devildog, the funding she will get will only just cover her accommodation ( and fees of course) as we have to pay for private accommodation for 11 months . Halls isnt really an option at her uni due to very limited places ,and priority being given to overseas students. there are no bursary available ,just the maintenance grant.which after rent is taken out will leave about £300 per year to live off.

Jazz

Minxz, thanks for your valued advice, you seem to have planned things well . we plan to do much as you have done,except we will give some sort of monthly allowance for food etc. my daughter isnt much of a drinker (at the moment ) and is quite frugal when it comes to spending her own money !! and we want to get the right balance . I dont want her starving and really struggling, but at the same time I dont want to be funding a mega social life .

devildog

Don't forget when she does venture home, book her train ticket in advance, travelling off peak times and if she has one, use the railcard too-travel can work out really cheaply this way.

JAZ63

Hi devildog,

due to this fantastic website, my daughter is now switched onto split ticketing and railcards ,but thanks for the reminder .
as they say every little helps ......

Jazz