Money is a very important element in making the students life a happy, stress-free one. Getting this element on a safe and sound footing can make life much easier for both the student and relatives back home.

MONEY

Consider opening a bank account with the bank that has a branch on campus or a branch nearby the university. This will give easy access to cash points that do not charge for withdrawals; but also those branches will be used to dealing with students and the type of problems that can arise. It might be wise to keep the home address as the permanent address which means correspondence and new cards & cheque books arrive to a secure address. Sadly it has been known for cheque books to disappear from post pigeon holes and fraud occur.

Budgeting can be really useful - working out a realistic weekly budget allowing for all those essentials rent, utility bills, food, books & stationery, as well as the "student essentials" of clothes, alcohol, snacks, entertainment and personal items. If this can be discussed ahead of time with your child it may ease the burden of debt encountered later, but do try to be realistic as some of the benefit of going to university is developing confidence and expanding their social skills! Occasionally sample budgets appear in the newspapers over the summer period (or in university handouts) which can be quite helpful.