Financial Support For Your Student Child The Stress-Free Way

Parents often want to help their children out financially through university. Concerns can arise about the temptation to overspend but there are a number of ways to provide support for their day to day spending without that risk.

These days more than ever being a student is expensive. With rising tuition fees and the general cost of living going up, day to day life at university is costly. Many parents are happy to support their children financially through their studies such as paying fees or accommodation costs. These are measurable and predictable costs. Daily expenses, however, such as food, travel or calling home can add up and, particularly those students on time intensive courses such as medicine are unlikely to be able to fund these themselves through part time working. Daily costs are not quite so predictable for a parent wanting to manage a budget but there are ways to make them more so available.

Credit Cards Which Are Prepaid
It is not surprising that the thought of providing your teenager with a credit card may be just a little daunting. Fear not as there is a new breed of credit card that can alleviate concerns and ensure you stay in control. Prepaid credit cards are exactly as their name suggests. You can add a regular monthly amount to the card and once it is spent, it is spent. If you decide to go for one of these, then look for one that allows you to make bank transfers onto the card as some require the card to be used to top up and can charge a fee for each top up.

Prepaid Mobile Phones
Being away from home, you want to know that you can reach your child when you need to. Mobile phones are the obvious means but bills can easily get out of control. Prepaid or pay-as-you-go mobile phones have been an option for quite some time but a good choice for ensuring that your child can't run up enormous phone bills even by accident. As with prepaid credit cards you can add a balance. For your peace of mind, even if they do spend to their prepaid limit, they can still receive calls.

Supermarket Vouchers
Making sure they are eating well is always a concern but providing cash isn't always the best option. Supermarket vouchers are one option that will limit the possibility of your hard earned cash being spent on other items, or, even better, online shop and drop is the perfect way to ensure that your child is eating well. Simply agree a weekly shopping list and you can organise and pay for delivery to your child's student digs. The traditional food parcel from home can be a thing of the past with the help of the supermarket chain of your choice.

The first time your child moves away from home to start living semi-independently it can be a daunting prospect for both of you. There are plenty of ways to help out financially whilst ensuring your offspring sticks to a budget that you can both be confident about.