Weekly/Monthly budget for University

[Amber]

The loan would not cover rent for most students. We pay rent. But we do not give anything else on top at all as we believe, and this has been borne out not just by us but by many friends, that once you take out rent, the loan is perfectly adequate to live on. We also believe in encouraging independence and budgeting skills which won't be developed if we come along and pay for everything! Plus we have three children and not enough money to do it.

[doodles]

There is always more month than money Though I'm anticipating my food bill tumbling next week

[Loopyloulou]

How do you justify subsidising their motoring expenses? Most people do not take cars to uni ...

I presume that the figure of £10,700 arrived at by the university authorities does not include any allowance for the costs of car ownership. My children, however, do own cars so I think we should subsidise that on top.
We do make them pay for their own petrol though .

[Guest55]

LLL - that just isn't logical is it? You say you want to put them on par with everyone else then give them cars and insurance

Cars are a liability at uni btw ...

[2childmum]

We don't pay rent - rather we handed over the amount we had saved up over the years for DS going to university right at the beginning, and he has the minimum maintenance loan and we give him the pocket money he had before he left (£75 a month) We then told him it was up to him how he spent it - if he wanted some posh place to live, then he would have to budget accordingly. He has worked in the summers between each year, but not whilst at uni, and he seems to be budgeting very well.
I think the loan + the lump sum pretty much covers his rent, and a bit towards food (he spends £20-£25 a week) and the pocket money and money he earned pays for other stuff.
We may have to rethink in his last year,however, as he will probably go back into college, which is much more expensive, (although fully catered) and next summer he is hoping to find an internship which means he won't be able to work.

[Guest55]

If it's a proper internship it should be paid. There is a recommended rate for a year in industry and I would think an internship should be the same ...

[KS10]

DS gets about £4,500 but that doesn’t cover everything. We are not in a position to give him anything, but he’s lucky because my parents help out with the rent plus he gets pocket money from my parents and from my uncle. My in-laws send him money from time to time too. He works over the summer but hasn’t at any other point. He had accumulated some money - birthday / Christmas / Eid presents - and that has meant that he really hasn’t had to struggle. He will probably have to try to get a job over the Christmas break. It’s at times like these that I wish I hadn’t had all those years away from teaching.

[2childmum]

If it's a proper internship it should be paid. There is a recommended rate for a year in industry and I would think an internship should be the same ...

These are summer holiday placement, mainly based at university research facilities. Some are funded - they cover the cost of accommodation and food, and some at unis abroad fund travel costs too. He is hoping to get onto a funded one, but competition is tight and he may not have a choice. Even if he gets a funded place, that will only cover the cost of doing the placement - he won't then be able to work to earn money towards his 4th year.

[Guest55]

It is strongly recommended not to take unpaid internships - look at a proper year in industry placement.

[2childmum]

He isn't interested in industry, but in research. He isn't doing a degree with includes a year out in industry, so can't apply for a years placement even if he wanted to. He wants to go into research but wants to spend a few weeks in a research department to be sure that is the route he wants to take. The only way to do this is to apply for the summer placements on offer at a variety of unis, both here and abroad. This will also help when he applies for PHD places for after he graduates. He has researched all the option quite thoroughly and has a list of those he wants to apply to along with the application open and closing dates - he knows exactly what he wants to do.

My only point was that this would mean we may have to help him out a bit more in the 4th year as he won't be able to work next summer