Help with my son's Uni money
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wozzza72
Posts: 90 Forumite
Hi
I am concerned with my son's money situation at Uni. He has used his mothers wage from last year as a base for what grant he would get, apparently she earned a decent wage in 2017 and he got very nearly the lowest grant available which just covers his accommodation.
His mother gives him a small contribution every month towards food but it's not much. I am not in a position to help him financially. He has already used his student overdraft to live through his first term so he is maxed out on that. Next year he will base his grant on my wages so he should get a much better grant.
What can he do to sort this current situation out? Is there any help available for him? He is looking for a job but I don't think a few evenings a week will help him out that much.
I am concerned with my son's money situation at Uni. He has used his mothers wage from last year as a base for what grant he would get, apparently she earned a decent wage in 2017 and he got very nearly the lowest grant available which just covers his accommodation.
His mother gives him a small contribution every month towards food but it's not much. I am not in a position to help him financially. He has already used his student overdraft to live through his first term so he is maxed out on that. Next year he will base his grant on my wages so he should get a much better grant.
What can he do to sort this current situation out? Is there any help available for him? He is looking for a job but I don't think a few evenings a week will help him out that much.
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Comments
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Its pretty much par for the course. You end up in debt if you dont work and your parents dont pay for you.
The help available will be through loans and grants so i suspect those options have been looked at and are either being used or not available.
Theres emergency funds at Unis which can sometimes be dipped in to but theres nothign from what youve put that is out of the ordinary. Student goes to uni with no job, only has expenses, builds up debt, parents dont want to pay for child so debt builds.
I spent my student overdraft in freshers week (£2k) and spent the rest of uni life trying to make sure i had enough money and that was working 20-30 hrs a week too.
Working 10 hours a week on minimum wage will give him an extra £4k a year. £0 to £4k will be a massive help. And in summer he should be able to work full time for an extra grand or two.0 -
I would really recommend he start doing tutoring for GCSE or A level students - There are plenty of great websites (SuperProf etc) that allow you to create a profile and you get lesson requests through there - I started teaching A level economics in my 2nd year of Uni, with a starting rate of £10 per hour. I'm now in 3rd year and charge £15 per hour, which really helps as some easy income that is flexible around my lectures!
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What can he do to sort this current situation out? Is there any help available for him? He is looking for a job but I don't think a few evenings a week will help him out that much.
I've got a daughter at uni so I appreciate it's not easy to find the money, but if he based his student loan application on his mum's salary, then the expectation is that his mum will be contributing the amount needed to bring him up to the level of a full loan. So technically yes, there is help available for him - his mum. I agree, the minimum loan isn't enough to expect him to live on.0 -
Have to say I strongly disagree with basing Students maintenance loans on parents salaries. Just because someone earns a certain amount doesn't mean they have anymore disposable income than those earning less. There are lots of variables that affect household expenditure.0
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Cat_Loving_Lady wrote: »Have to say I strongly disagree with basing Students maintenance loans on parents salaries. Just because someone earns a certain amount doesn't mean they have anymore disposable income than those earning less. There are lots of variables that affect household expenditure.
Just because you disagree with it you can’t ignore it. Due to the high number of students going t university, there is no way the government is going to pay full loan to everyone, so the situation isn’t likely to change. Parents need to budget for this in the same way that students will have to budget when they get to uni.I'm a Forum Ambassador on The Coronavirus Boards as well as the housing, mortgages and student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
When I did my degree I became a student mentor and student ambassador through the university and did about 12 hours a week and they paid more than NMW as it included holiday pay.
Alongside this I did a 4 hour shift on a Saturday and a 6 hour shift on a Sunday in a local shop, again NMW.
So was great bringing in the extra.
I also then recommend increasing this to full time in holidays too especially Summer and saving some up.
As a top up too maybe try some of the survey sites, Qmee is a good one, I rack up about £60 to £80 a month through that now.0
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