Saving for university costs: How much?

MrsCautious

atush wrote: »

I put one thru uni at Birmingham, first year was 8K on living costs incl books and travel home. Second and third years a bit cheaper.

I've now got twins at Uni. One at warwick, costing me around 7.5 ish, another at Chester costing me around 6500. This is first year, now. Dont know what next year will cost, but Warwick is looking like 6K ish next year. Wont know for sure for a whole yet, but i am budgeting for 6.5K as that doesn't include books and some other costs.

Hope this helps. Bham is further north but was more expensive than top 10 Warwick. Go figure lol.

I have a friend whose son is in final year at UCL, and it costs over 10K. So beware london unis lol.

If mine had gone to the same school. I would have bought a house or flat for them and others to live in.

PS, mine had bank accts opened when they were babies with around 2K in them (pocket money, bday xmas money etc, which they are spending as well (on going to footie games and concerts, nights out etc).

These are things I do not pay for, and expect them to work to fund when the money runs out (and the twins are going thru their a lot faster than their older brother did- his lasted 2 full years incl summers)

Thanks atush, I was hoping to consider the option ref a house/flat if they went to the same place, it's not looking likely for the time being.

They have savings accounts opened by their grandparents and they get a small pension following the death of their dad -- partly from Warwick university which is brilliant I know -- the university I mean not the fact they're getting a pension!I'd love them to go to Birmingham as it's close by and I still have a chip on my shoulder from not getting in.

Your figures are really useful thank you.

MrsCautious

Idiophreak wrote: »

Most students can manage by themselves, pretty much, if they're able to work in holidays and get a good amount of loan...Maybe just give them £200/term spending money or something - or just buy them shops / meals out when you see them.

Personally, I'd save the bigger numbers for when they want to buy a house or get married - these are the things people often struggle with on their own.

Thanks, I just don't want them to struggle as much as I did, I was knackered from working so much most of the time. I hope to help them without them feeling they should rely on me rather than making their own way -- I hope I can help them with the bigger things when it comes to it.

MrsCautious

poledancer49 wrote: »

Not all students can get work during term time or summer hols and it may not be enough to cover rent plus food. If you can get a good loan or even grant you may be ok but if both parents are working they will get less even though the parents debts are not taken into account when calculating loan.

I'm under the impression jobs are harder to come by these days than when I worked (bars/shops/old people's homes) alongside studying but I sincerely hope they can try their best and find one, they have their names down for a paper round at the moment, I hope they get to the top of it soon and get a taste of earning money for themselves.

I want to find out more about how much a student loan is affected by parents' income/savings so I can understand that better.

atush

Reue wrote: »

Amazing.. You are paying them thousands of pounds each year for Uni essentials and yet acknowledge they have spare cash of their own which they are currently wasting?

I didnt realise times had changed so much since I was at uni 5 years ago. I worked hard every weekend and school holiday since I was 16 to save up for uni, had part time jobs throughout uni and was never given a penny by my parents for uni.

I'd never dream of paying for my child's university whilst knowing they had spare money of their own and were wasting it on foodball games and concert tickets..

That is money did not allow them to spend for 18 years. All their friends had bank cards and access to their savings and most went to uni with very little as they spent it on cr*p. It is their money, they can spend it. This is why i did not allow then access before age 18.

I feel it is my job to bring up and educate my children. Leaving them with 0 debt to get on in life. If you want to saddle yours with debt, go right ahead. I am sure my children appreciate it. In fact son No1 is currently paying me rent (that I recycle to his brothers rent). I am paying for the roof over their heads, and the food in their mouths.

You parent how you want to, this is my strategy. Others buy their children nice cars (my 3 share one second hand peugeot because we live in a rural area) and give them deposits for their first house. I am hoping mine can afford to pay for these things themselves.

PS my twins were the youngest in their year. All their friends reached 16 first and snapped up any part time jobs in my area. They applied for many jobs in my small town, and haven't got any so far. Because there were sometimes 50-100 applicants for every job.

But they will have to take the bus (expensive) to try and work in a bigger town from this summer. As there are more jobs there.

Reue

atush wrote: »

I feel it is my job to bring up and educate my children. Leaving them with 0 debt to get on in life. If you want to saddle yours with debt, go right ahead. I am sure my children appreciate it.

I appreciate that, however do you not think maybe they might actually be better off if they had to work for their spending money instead? By paying for everything (it seems) they arnt going to get a real understanding of finances.

Also, SLC debt isnt real debt. If you wanted to help them financially it would surely make more sense to allow them to pay for uni themselves through the SLC student loans and instead gift them the money you would have spent for a house deposit when they graduated? Thus saving them far more in the long run on rent and mortgage repayment.

I wouldnt want to saddle my children with debt. I would want to saddle them with a sense of responsibility. And if I were going to fork out tens of thousands of pounds, it would be in the form of a house deposit after they had proven they could work for their money and were paying off the amazingly low interest rate loan from SLC.

atush

I was hoping they would be working by now, but as I said there were no jobs going in our town. If there are no jobs they cannot work. One has applied for jobs in Chester, the one in Law school doesn't have the time for a job in term (but will this summer) as he has too many classes/reading to do.

My children are not eligible for loans from SLC. And the rates on SLC loans from this year are much higher than you are paying.

I have been saving for 15+ years to pay for this so I can give my children their best start in life. As Mrs Cautious is attempting to do.

grey_gym_sock

while SLC debt is not exactly like normal debt, it's no longer so cheap that it's obviously worth taking on, if you have other options.

(as an aside: i suppose i would have profited by taking student loans, back in the early days of them, despite not needing the money. i didn't, though.)

Idiophreak

Reue wrote: »

I appreciate that, however do you not think maybe they might actually be better off if they had to work for their spending money instead? By paying for everything (it seems) they arnt going to get a real understanding of finances.

You read this all the time on these threads and it really is nonsense. My parents were very good to me at uni - they topped up my loan, not to a massive amount, but to a decent amount to live on. Paid my accommodation and even gave me a little money to spend. I worked in the holidays to give myself more money, but they never cut back the amount they gave me to compensate.

Did I turn out to be a complete financial idiot as a consequence of them helping me? No. I wasn't a child when I went to university, I understood the value of money, I felt extremely grateful to my parents for their help and consequently didn't squander their money.

I did, however, have an excellent time at university, with loads of life experience gained (which is largely the point) and left with levels of debt that were much lower than some of my friends.

Reue

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

while SLC debt is not exactly like normal debt, it's no longer so cheap that it's obviously worth taking on, if you have other options.

I was talking in comparison to future rent payments while saving for a house deposit.

The main point is; Is it better to

1. give your child £20k for university, them leave with 0 debt but need to rent for 5 years to save up a £20k house deposit.

2. give your child nothing for uni. they take £20k in student loans. Leave uni with £20k of debt repayable at inflation + (low % depending on income) but then not need to rent for 5 years to save the house deposit as you give them £20k for that instead.

Reue

Idiophreak wrote: »

You read this all the time on these threads and it really is nonsense. My parents were very good to me at uni - they topped up my loan, not to a massive amount, but to a decent amount to live on. Paid my accommodation and even gave me a little money to spend. I worked in the holidays to give myself more money, but they never cut back the amount they gave me to compensate.

Notice I said might be better off. Not will be.

Clearly you are a good example of an exception, although you did work yourself in the holidays so not exactly a match for the type of student I was discussing who has never been employed themselves.