Will our contribution be enough?

crazy_guy

Cor £3000 from my parents, that'd be nice!

I've been at uni and had a weekend job for the last 2 years (during summer i saved up enough money during summer to survive my final yr)

I've been pretty well off aswell, it has made me independent, i am now more financially aware than my parents and i am careful with my money....i'm infact glad that my parents said upfront they couldnt assist me. I've also been able to save my money and during my time at uni i have travelled to dominican republic, over europe and intend to go further this summer.

The people who were given loads of dosh by their parents, in my infinite wisdom (hmm) were generally lazy, had nothing to do most of the time and wasted their money on the latest clothes (i lived with 2 last year)

Sure give her some money if you wish, but you could always buy certain things for her such as her course books if you would like to help her out. Uni doesn't just give you a degree, its also a trial of real-life without mummy and daddy to wipe ya bum....

If her course is really demanding then as you say she can live off the money she earnt during summer. My parents are also not rich but not skint so i was given near enough a basic loan. I dont know what course shes doing, i'm doing law and coped - no reason she can't

Just read over what i wrote, bit of rant but theres my advice...enjoy

jrrowleyws

She will easily cope.I get my loan and £200 a month from my parents. I only spend my loan really though and save the rest.

IMO, unless her accomodation is very expensive and has to be paid up front, dont give it to her all at once, I know so many people who have blown the lot "just because they had the money"

LisaT186

It was a long time ago when I went to uni (graduated 1994) but I had no loans or grants, the one year I was entitled to anything I gave it to my parents and they continued to support me. I had £400 a month during term time for everything (no tuition fees) and if I required more I worked. I was on a course that required the most attendance at lectures but luckily wasn't sporty so worked Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, and I came out fine.

One thing that my Mum did to help (although probably at the time i didn't see it as help) was to line up jobs for the holidays for me before i got home so I went straight into work. No hunting around for the first week to earn money.

By the sounds of it you will making her life comfortable and giving her ample opportunity to study.

Katmc2k

hey

i couldn't work this year (final year of law degree/needed to dedicate time to MSE...) so i live off £100 a month that i get from my Daddy dearest (who has 4 other kids) i paid my rent and put money in a bills account at the start of the term from money i had earned over the summer and so i knew whatever i got was for food etc.

anyway what i'm trying to say is i think she will be fine! lots of my friends have more money than me but they are understanding, students are meant to be skint! and the less money she has the less she can go out drinking etc...! hee hee i stay in to study because I literally can't afford to go out.

plus there will be loads of jobs going if she wants to get one, i did for the past three years and really enjoyed them, now have more for my CV as well.

kr15snw

I'm living at home (well actually at my boyfriends but I havent moved in as he thinks were not ready for that yet, even though Ive not stayed at home for 3 months... Thats another story though) and get the full grant. I have to buy shopping (£20 a week) and pay for my car (works out at £40 - £50 a month is you include everything). Then theres bus fare, supplies, software etc etc.

I have a job of around £150 - £200 a month and I do manage, although there are no treats, not many nights out (if I do its a game to see how cheap we can make it).

I also havent touched my loan so far as to be honest I dont want to. I want to be able to pay it all back after I finish my course without any hassle.

So I have £2700 a year but dont pay for rent. I would imagine if your daughter got a part time job while she was at uni that she would be able to afford it. How about you offer to pay her rent? Im not sure on exact costs of this though.. Then she can use her loan to support herself, with of course her coming home every now and then with lots of washing and wanting a big meal and cut out meals to take home (or was this just my brother when he went away? lol).

Someone on my course doesnt get any grants as her parents income is high but as shes never got on with them they dont help atall. She lives off her loan and has a job. She struggles but she manages, just uses lots of money saving tips. Poor dear went home for two days at christmas and probably wont go home over summer. Luckily her halls dont shut till very very late! My mum nearly took her in over christmas, shes very mothering like that, but the friend said she didnt want to impose!

Skyhigh

£3k is definitely enough, probably even 'too much' in fact.
Like others say, with the loans - it will be more than enough.

Seemingly, less and less people appear to be working through summer, xmas and easter (or all through the year) to support themselves, even with the fee's going up. Or at least this seems to be the impression I've had over the past 4 years at Uni.

Anyhow, working over summer = £3k easily.

I don't have time for a job whilst at Uni, since I have mostly 9-5 every day. But I sell things on ebay, various things - mostly I try and pick things up cheap to sell them on.
Example: Today I bought 3 Terry Pratchett hard back books for £17.
They're worth about £45-60 each.
Also Waterstones were selling off some text books for 99p! - the originaly cost being £42.99 - a quick look on Amazon and Play.com showed the cheapest 2nd hand seller at £37....so I'll be buying all 4 copies tomorrow

Effort in and time taken, I probably earn more that I would working a 'normal job' and it fits around my time. The only issue is that it can't really go on my CV.

Side-tracking even more - summer, xmas and easter work is important.
Any work, even if its not related to her degree/career. Students need to fill up their CV.
I've been interviewing for a lot of technology companies (IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, etc) and many people I meet have little or no experience on their CV - which gives them almost nothing to talk about to the interviewers who always ask for examples of:
showing initiative, taking control, showing leadership skills, coping with change, developing team skills, working with a manager and colleagues, etc.

Savvy_Sue

Alikay wrote: »

I guess what you're all saying is that £3000 from us is too generous? That's not what we're hearing from her!!! The little minx will be shown this thread later, as we're being told that everyone else (particularly the low-income ones who'll get the grants, bursaries and extra loans) will have lots more money than she will!

:rotfl:And what's that got to do with the price of fish? And have you not yet sussed "Everyone else's mother ..." - ever met "Everyone else's mother" who lets her child stay out till 3 am the night before an exam, hold parties when parents are away etc etc etc ...

Seriously, life is unfair, she needs to learn to deal with it. Yes, some of her friends will have more money than her, and some will have less. Some will have more because their parents are well off, and some because they're entitled to more in grants and bursaries. Has your daughter not met this basic level of unfairness at school?

Alikay wrote: »

We only want to make up the difference so she'll start off level with her peers.

IMPOSSIBLE! Give up now.

FWIW, we don't make up DS1's shortfall and he manages fine. But then he doesn't drink, doesn't do clubbing, and is generally sensible with his money. And he worked during 6th form, and continues to work during vacations. DS2 is following his example.

powerbase

Hi,

Just to say I think you are easily giving your daughter enough. I was in a similar position (high earning parents) but my parents did not give me money. I worked hard during my summers and had a part-time job during the year but still managed to get a first class honours degree and then onto my PhD. While it was not easy, I have an appreciation for money and for my education. May I note my parents did not support me financially for their own reasons but they did provide love and emotional support, something money cannot buy.

Many of my friends who got handouts either from the government or their parents had a bad attitude towards education, like it was a right and not something to be earned. Many of them ended up with 3rd class degrees and no appreciation for the value of anything. I’m not saying that all people who get handouts are like that but it was a trend I noticed.

One other thing I noticed when I came out into the real world I knew all about being financially independent, about my credit rating, saving, budgeting etc compared to my friends who are now looking to me for advice.

I got an excellent education, worked hard to pay for it and even managed to travel around Europe and to USA. There was a time when I was miffed at how easy people had it but that’s life and we have to deal with it. I didn’t want my life to be any easier; I wanted people to gain the experience I had.

I think you are being very generous and it’s good you are even worried about such a thing. Your daughter will learn valuable life skills during this time.

Good luck

jennifernil

We are in a similar situation. We give our daughter £250 per month for the 8 months she is at Uni, we pay for books as required, and we have purchased a flat that she shares with another student. Otherwise she would need another £250 per month for rent (x12). So a total of about £5250 per year.

She does not take any of the student loan, but she does work about 12 hours per week. This gets her about £70 per week which easily covers all her bills and going out etc.

We did not want her to work, but most students do, so as long as she feels it is not interfering with Uni we have left it up to her. She has quit in the run up to end of year exams, and uses her earned holidays to take extra time off when she feels under pressure.
In the summer she works full time and saves enough to put £3000 per year in her ISA for 2 years running. However she has given this back to us towards the cost of the flat. This year she has had to cut down on her hours, so nothing in the ISA this year.

A few of her friends have more money, but most have much less as their parents cannot or do not support them. Most have maximum loans. She will be lucky enough to leave Uni with no debt at all, I just hope she appreciates it!

kr15snw

Not knowing what your daughter is like personally this may not apply to her, but I know alot of students that when given a large sum of cash will blow it on nights out etc and then be skint and ask for more from parents.

Seeing as rent is normally around £3000 (well it was when I looked) so why not pay for that? Then she cant blow her money and will have to support herself!

Trust me if she thinks £3k is not enough then she needs a slap (well you know what I mean, im not being nasty honest). My parents couldnt help me atall so I have no choice but to live off the grant (which I know shes not getting). Bit I dont use the loan which she is getting.

Get her to support herself with you paying for the rent, shell soon realise she has to get a job and start saving!