With the cost of living still on the rise and parents struggling to stay afloat, worrying about how to help a child who is going off to uni when they run low on funds is a concern for many.
These days, just having a Saturday job and doing the odd evening shift at the local supermarket just won’t provide enough money that will stretch far enough to live in even the most modest student digs. So just how can you help your kids stay afloat while living out at uni?
On Motherswhowork.co.uk, we are fans of passive income streams, and multiple income streams, and the message is no different when it comes to our children.
Turning technology into cash
Most teenagers these days have a smartphone – that’s one thing the recent riots taught us! They know how to use it to do just about everything bar the washing and cleaning, so why not use it to make money?
Basic things like completing online surveys from their mobile phones won’t make them the next Richard Branson, but it could cover the cost of their mobile phone l and social life.
Direct selling
If your child hates being stuck behind a till for eight hours and likes to get out and about, then direct selling is a great way for them to make money.
The great thing about opportunities like Kleenez is that it is very flexible, so there is no pressure on going out to work from anyone during exam time, or after a late night socialising…
Plus, if your child is a social butterfly, he could also recruit other student friends into the business, and start to make a passive income from their sales, too, taking the pressure from having to work long hours when the time could be better spent studying.
Selling online
Selling online can be done from a smartphone, too. The likes of eBay and Amazon all have mobile phone apps, which make selling so easy.
In the final weeks leading up to starting uni, help your child find a drop shipping company who will do all the deliveries for them – it’s like a halfway house between buying wholesale and being a supplier, in that you ‘buy’ the products online when it sells on eBay, for example, and the drop shipper posts it out to the buyer.
So, if your child decides to sell iPad cases on eBay, for example, and sells them for £5 on eBay, but pay the drop shipper say £1, when the buyer lays £5 (plus postage and packaging), your child pockets £4 gross, and then pays eBay the nominal listing fee and commission and pockets the difference.
This is a little more complex than buying things wholesale, but reduces the risk – if the products don’t sell, there is no worry about having to shift them, for example.
