Nearly one third of parents are expecting to spend more than their monthly disposable income* to kit out their child’s university room, according to new research from Savebuckets.com – and this is in addition to all other university-related costs and rent.

As fresher’s week approaches, parents claim they will spend £751 on furnishing their child’s room – and this comes at a time when the average UK disposable income reaches only £705.*

Savebuckets.com questioned a GB representative sample of more than 2,000 people on the hidden cost associated with sending children to university, revealing that parents can expect to spend hefty sums in the coming weeks on university-related merchandise.

Expensive consumer electronics items top the table that parents expect to buy for students with new Laptops and the latest iPod models being the higher price items which can have the greatest potential savings by comparing prices and shopping online but hefty savings can also be made on more mundane products such as kitchen equipment, furniture and books.

Top 5 items parents are after to kit their child’s student room:

Laptop        42%
 
Kitchen utensils   42%
 
LCD TV      25%   
   
Shelves/book cases    25%
     
iPod and docker/DVD player   8%     

James Wenger, Marketing Manager of Savebuckets.com commented:

“The findings show that setting up their kids at university puts family budgets under even more pressure and many parents anticipate going over budget – this disregards rent, general living costs and tuition fees.

“At Savebuckets.com we offer our customers the opportunity to shop cleverly and avoid having to make sacrifices. People can easily compare prices and obtain products within their budget empowering ordinary families to control their living expenses. By shopping at Savebuckets.com parents can save themselves almost half of the anticipated hidden cost when buying university related merchandise (£300).”

Potential savings to be made at Savebuckets.com:

Item          Savebuckets.com suggestions    Savings on Savebuckets.com
 
Laptop          Samsung R60 Laptop       £120
 
Kitchen utensils    BREVILLE JK121 KETTLE       £10
(fridge and kettle)   Beko RA610W White Fridge     £6.13
 
TV          LG Electronics 19 LCD TV    £30.98
 
iPod         Apple iPod Touch 16GB       £96.76
 
DVD player      Toshiba SD280E DVD Player    £12.02
 
Speakers      Creative Inspire A200 Speakers    £4.10
 
Sofa bed      Chianti Sofa Bed       £21
 
Total Saving                   300.99

To save online visit www.savebuckets.com

*Disposable income' is defined as gross income minus taxes, social contributions and essential household expenditure on water, electricity, gas, fuels (solid, liquid, heat energy), food, health, transport, education, clothing/footwear, communication, TV license fees, insurance (see USwitch26th August 2008 at http://www.uswitch.com/Press-Room/Press-releases.aspx) and minus mortgage bills (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/article.html?in_article_id=416555&in_page_id=8)