From debt to freedom...

Faith76

Hi honeysucklelou2 bit of a lurker but have subscribed to your thread. Out of curiosity how much in initial savings have you saved for uni cost for DD4?Being nosey as have potentially my DD starting uni in Sept 2027. At this point don’t think she could move away and would have to live at home due to accommodation costs.

Honeysucklelou2

Hi Faith76 - unfortunately I haven’t been able to build up savings. Being a single parent for 9 years and financially a single parent for 12 years ( as in my ex husband didn’t contribute to bills for 3 years before we split up) has meant that every penny I earn goes to essential bills and living costs. Hence the 2 jobs continuing now. My older daughter lives at home and does her degree through OU which has been brilliant. If 2 were away at the same time I think I’d be bankrupt!!

Faith76

Honeysucklelou2 I have no savings either well £50.00 but that’s it. Had a chat with DD today weighing up staying at home verses going away for uni. My niece who has just finished her degree and lives in Dublin chose to stay at home but the prices there for accommodation are far far more expensive so it really wasn’t a choice for her. She had to travel 2 hrs each way to get to uni but she did it. Absolutely not expecting my DD to do that but certainly needs to weigh up the pro’s and con’s.

Spendless

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923440#Comment_81923440

Hi @Faith76

I'm in my 8th(!) consecutive year of supporting a Uni student offspring.

If your DD is going to live at home and commute to Uni then you are unlikely to need any start up costs. She will still get a maintainance loan (albeit a little smaller) and can use that for travel costs and any Uni expenses.

If your DD is going to live away, you either need a few £100 (IME) saved to pay for things needed like bedding, crockery, utensils, any clothes they need (specialist or just plugging needed gaps in her wardrobe), bag/rucksack, maybe laptop (or other digital device to do work on). Sometimes Ive found student rents (even halls) want a deposit to secure the place. If your DD can get a job during the sixth form years to help with these costs that would help.

Honeysucklelou2

Yesterday was a lovely day. Breakfast pancakes made for me by DD3 and a cup of tea made by DS3! My parents, MIL, DD1 and DSIL came round for lunch which DH and I did between us. I do love weekend mealtimes. I never quite know which combination of family I’ll have but it’s always good to have a full table.DS2 popped in as well which was lovely.

Today has been a NSD as was yesterday.

Spendless

Glad you enjoyed your day. I think re finances you have to do whatever suits your circs and household. You've got both a large and blended family, and an unsupportive ex. I was shocked to read he hadn't contributed to bills for 3 years before you split up! I didn't read your diary from the beginning so might have missed this. Am I correct in thinking youngest was also born during this time? So, you had 7 kids, a baby and was expected to financially fund everything too? Quite shocking. I'm glad you're out of it.

Years ago I had around a year left of a loan but I had circs where I couldn't afford it. I changed it to a 3 year one. Would someone financial have advised me to take that step? I doubt it very much. Did it work for me by making a payment negligible - yup and long term it meant I never needed another loan again and to this day (28 years later!) still havent.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless…yes you understood it correctly.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend I went to DD1’s and together we went to a course on making Spring wreaths. It was really interesting…I’ve never made one before so we started with covering the base frame with moss and tying in foliage before adding a primrose, narcissi bulb and violas. These plants and bulbs were wrapped in moss and tied into the wreath so it becomes a living wreath. The tutor did tell us the Japanese term for this type of floristry but I can’t remember it! Equally fascinating was the venue as it gave me hope and ideas for the allotment. The tutor sells cut flowers ( as I have done in the past) and plants and surplus vegetables.

This week has crushed me somewhat financially as DD4’s rent had to be paid. This time I’ve only had 4 weeks to find the money rather than the 2 months before. DH has helped as much as possible but it is so so tight and will be all month 😩

Spendless

Oh bless you. Was this due to the way the payments fell or just you didnt have enough money in the preceeding weeks to find the cash?

Can u stock up on the cheap Easter veg thats on offer at the min to help you through?

Is making wreaths to sell with your flowers a side hustle you could do?

Honeysucklelou2

Glad to have reached the Easter holidays with Job 1 and am trying to make sure I balance the time with Job 2. Allotment wise, the broad beans are planted out, the tomatoes have been potted on and will be ready soon to move to the greenhouse at the allotment. Am delighted to see some aubergine seedlings. I’ve not grown these before so am interested to see how they do. I have some cape gooseberry seeds to sow today…I’ve grown these once before and found them to be productive if they are treated like greenhouse tomatoes.

Honeysucklelou2

I did get frustrated with the electricity company this week. Back in December they wrote to me to say they had reviewed my direct debit and reduced it to £42 a month. This was a reduction of over £100 a month ( which had helped with DD’s rent) but when I checked the account it had dropped from a healthy £600 credit to a shocking £200 debt 😳😩. I have changed the direct debit manually on their app but am not impressed.