How much per month to help daughter?

kerri_gt

btw, my mum bought me this book before I left http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Boil-Egg-Jan-Arkless/dp/0716022206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313508905&sr=8-1

Even now (and I left uni a number of years ago) it's still my most used cook book

Blobby8_2

JAZ63 wrote: »

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 .

Your daughter will be able to get a free overdraft, and many students HAVE to manage with no help from their parents.
You say she is capable of living frugally, which is obviously good, I suspect that many students (like many adults) live to their income, so I suggest you tell her you will give her a free loan of £100 a month if she starts to find she needs it.
If she can manage on that then you could continue to put the other hundred/month in reserve, if she convinces you she is in dire need you can go up to £150 or even £200, if you start at £200 you have nowhere to go.

Lokolo

JAZ63 wrote: »

Hi lokolo,
didnt want you to think I was stalking you ha ha ha ,

its just that we live in staffs too , so your post on a previous thread stood out to me a year or so back.

CONGRATULATIONS and well done on your graduation ,what was your subject ?

Jazz

Ha no worries. Thanks. I studied Computer Games Programming..... was fun, but not the career I want, so am going to be working as a Software Engineer at a company in London

Making the most of my free time before my working life though, off to football tonight.

2 of my close friends at university have jobs in Stone and Uttoxeter so Staffs won't be forgotten!

btw, my mum bought me this book before I left http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Boil-Egg...3508905&sr=8-1

Even now (and I left uni a number of years ago) it's still my most used cook book

Cookbooks are always useful! I don't tend to use the books (as I tend to ruin them in the kitchen!) but use BBC Recipes and print off a page which can be thrown out afterwards.

melancholly

JAZ63 wrote: »

M
Melancholly, when you commented about food going missing ,as being a common cause of rows with flatmates,it reminded me of a friends daughter who on returning back to halls found her beloved Nutella jar missing . she was not (or should I say NUT) a happy bunny ..... excuse me for sounding really green, but why do you need extra money for freshers week ? is it for drink ? or do you need money to join clubs etc

i'd keep nutella close, that's for sure! (it's not always people in your flat/near you in halls; at the start of Easter, as in pancake day, about 5 frying pans went missing near us one year, never to return!)

freshers week is about societies but also about socalising in general. it's a week when they'll be out perhaps more than any other apart from graduation. so i guess some will be for drink - but could also be charity shop trips for fancy dress outfits for bar crawls! so in a sense you would just be funding her lifestyle in general, but it's one week where a lot of friendships get made and certainly not a model for how i'd recommend students spending the rest of their time! it can also help to have students distracted while they settle in as it helps with homesickness. but it's only if you have an extra £20 to spare - if not, then she can have tap water and still go out and have fun!

JAZ63

Melancholly ,
thanks for that, will encourage daughter to keep said Nutella under her bed .... dont want another Nutellagate scandal on our hands lol ,
might give her a few extra pounds to fund freshers week then , thanks again.

Jazz

bouncydog1

Forgot to add that I have started a collection for DD - freezer bags, cling film, toiletries, loo rolls, coffee, small steamer, pots and pans, bedding etc - all the stuff that is just in the cupboards but you don't necessarilly remember to buy until you need it! When we deliver her, we will stock up cupboards with what she needs so she will then only have to top up.

It's hard living away from home for the first time and trying to organise everything so any help we can give in making the process easier, we are happy to provide.

We have also taught her to cook over the past few years - an enterprising friend made a little extra, cooking for other students to make a bit of extra cash.

Blobby8_2

bouncyd!!! wrote: »

Forgot to add that I have started a collection for DD - freezer bags, cling film, toiletries, loo rolls, coffee, small steamer, pots and pans, bedding etc - all the stuff that is just in the cupboards but you don't necessarilly remember to buy until you need it! When we deliver her, we will stock up cupboards with what she needs so she will then only have to top up.

It's hard living away from home for the first time and trying to organise everything so any help we can give in making the process easier, we are happy to provide.

We have also taught her to cook over the past few years - an enterprising friend made a little extra, cooking for other students to make a bit of extra cash.

Very "nice" of you, do you expect this to encourage independance ?

Lokolo

Blobby8 wrote: »

Very "nice" of you, do you expect this to encourage independance ?

Some do not need encouraging to be independent but find the extra help supportive, which is what a parents job is, isn't it?

lorietta

I think it's a relatively decent amount, depending on where she is going. If she is going to a London uni then she might struggle a bit as everything is a lot more expensive in London in general (in my experience, anyway). It's very nice of you to give her anything at all of course, though. I know someone who lives for £40 a week in Bradford, but he struggles a bit and can rarely come home (it is to Plymouth though, which obviously costs a lot).

If you can afford to give her a lump sum to see her through the first weeks, and buying textbooks, which can be in excess of £100 even when bought second hand this would probably be more helpful than buying her a lot of food she will have nowhere to keep. In my first year accomadation, I had 2 cupboards (one which got filled up with saucepans and plates, so no room for food), one shelf in a freezer, and whatever space I could get in a fridge (2 in a flat of 7 people). A big bag of pasta, and another of rice is a good idea though. During freshers week, most societies are quite cheap to join, but the events can be expensive. However, the university will usually send details of these before hand, and you can buy tickets online before ariving.

I wouldn't get an overdraft straight away, in my experience, several people just spent it and viewed it as "free money" and are going to have to find £800 or so to pay it back when they graduate next year. They can be opened pretty quickly in case of emergancy though, so if she really needs some extra cash, e.g. if something vital like a mobile breaks, this could be an option.

The only thing I would say on the jobs front is most studenty jobs (e.g. bar work, saturday retail, etc.) do get snapped up pretty quickly, normally by the second and third years, so she may not be able to find one straight away if she needs one. However there are often oppourtunities at christmas time (Royal mail is usually a good one, as are high street shops). Last December I earnt about £400 in 3 weeks working nights at a Royal Mail sorting office, which can be used to pay for extras such as new clothes.

Hope everything goes well for her.

Blobby8_2

Lokolo wrote: »

Some do not need encouraging to be independent but find the extra help supportive, which is what a parents job is, isn't it?

Kids are all different and need differing support, some need a kick up the arris, some need easing along, and some are plain lazy.
I do believe some parents are reluctant to cut the apron strings hence 30 year olds incapable of ironing, I am currently in discussions about one of mine who is heading for a KUTA.