College Living Expenses

L

LTL1234

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Our eldest is due to start Third Level in Cork. We will cover rent & fees & they will cover their social life from their own savings & part-time job.
Can I ask what allowance parents give to cover food & travel? I expect they will come home at least 2 weekends a month & we intend to send them back with food etc.. but I'm unsure about daily living costs for a student?
Any advice from parents already on this expensive journey would be appreciated!
 
Hi, Congratulations on getting this far. My son went to college in Cork. He lived in close proximity to the college (saved on travel time & costs). We sent him back with cereals, noodles, pasta, pasta sauces. On the weeks he came home lasagne, steak, bacon. Vacuum packed and frozen foods have a long shelf life. We drove down with him for his first weekend and brought a lot with us. Washing up liquid, toilet rolls etc., ( if sharing a kitty is a good idea). We gave him €100 per week for everything else.
 
Perfect opportunity to teach them budgeting and life skills. If your student doesn't have a massively heavy workload they should be well capable of shopping and meal prep. They may also want to share meals with housemates. No need to overdo the sending back food, just make sure they know how to shop and cook basic meals. Give them a budget, do a mock online shop to estimate how much their groceries should be and how to meal plan etc. Part of moving out for college is to learn and practice these skills. Same for laundry.
 
We gave our son €55 per week to cover food for the week and bus home for weekend. His social life was his responsibility to pay for. €30 in Aldi was enough to cover food for 4 days. A bag of pasta would do a couple of weeks depending on how many days he'd eat it, rice and chips the same. He'd bring cereal back with him on a Sunday. If he wanted takeaways we weren't funding them.
 
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