There is a saying that goes something like, to find your place in the sun you must first escape the shade of the family tree’.

But when you’re a student, all those hopeful delusions of independence and financial freedom will probably be shattered as, recovering from freshers’ week, you realise that all you have left is £19.63, an orange space hopper, one or two unidentifiable (and therefore inedible) items in the fridge and a pack of bic biros to last you the rest of term.

Depending on what your LEA gleans from your income assessment form, parents who are expected to top up your loan may well be expected to make further contributions towards your general living costs. But if they’ve already doled out said dosh and you’ve then cheerfully frittered it away on nights down the students union, and more posters and plants than your cube of a room can fit, you could find yourself paying them a little cap-in-hand visit.

Of course, some students are fortunate enough to have wealthy/generous/understanding/indulgent (delete as applicable) parents who’ll douse them with cash like a misanthropic power-shower in times of financial embarrassment (let alone genuine monetary misery). Even if you fall into this fortunate category, you wouldn’t want to take it for granted. You don’t miss the water until the well runs dry, as another saying goes.

And for every student who can rely on their parents for hand-outs, there are dozens whose parents can’t or (perhaps sensibly) won’t. If your parents are willing and able to help, borrowing rather than taking money from them seems like a sensible compromise and who better to borrow from than parents?

They’re not likely to charge you any interest, they won’t come round and kneecap you if you miss the odd repayment and, sometimes either deliberately or due to a touch of brain rot they may actually forget about the loan altogether.

As it happens, the majority of students get some kind of handout from their parents. However, a relatively small proportion only just over one in ten reckon they’re expected to pay the money back. So don’t expect your parents to bail you out all the time. You don’t want to be a scrounger all your life, do you?

Money management means learning to make your budget stretch, to economise wisely and to provide for yourself whenever you need extra cash. Failing that, it means at least facing up to the consequences for yourself.

And, if they do offer you a nice long-term interest-free loan, a churlish refusal during your spell as a cash-strapped student may be extremely poor timing. Especially if it means you’ll only have to borrow the money elsewhere and borrow it more expensively. Just take it gratefully and gracefully and pay them back when you can.

Repaying this debt will probably be lowest on your list of priorities, but it’s still a debt. Unless they have unequivocally reassured you that they don’...

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