£25000 loan... ARGH!

sali_mali

Thank you for your help and advice everyone, I just thought I'd clear a few things up for people.

Student finance won't give me much help as this is my second degree. They will give me a maintenence loan of just over £3k a year which obviously is nowhere near enough!

I can't take out lots of little loans because, as a student, my credit rating just isn't good enough (although it is very good for a student apparently). Also, what if somewhere down the line banks stop letting me have loans because of the looming recession? And this Professional Studies Loan allows me six months after graduation to get myself sorted before repayments start and there are no early repayment fines.

The interest I'll be paying on the loan won't be different whether I have it in a lump sum or in installments, because I'll have taken the loan out from September - the fact they are able to relase fractions of it to me at a time doesn't make a difference.

I'll take a look at that website Billy Two Speakers has posted and make another appointment with the bank for another chat. If anyone has any other advice or ideas, please do let me know, I'm just trying to think long term and make sure I can keep afloat after graduation! Thank you everyone, I'm really quite scared about it all :eek:

Gemmzie

If the interest is the same either way, take it now and keep it safe.

I'm sure you'll manage fine, you're an MSE-r, how could you not

pavlovs_dog

in that case sali, i'd second what gemmzie said - take it and keep it safe.

work out roughly how much of it you should need each year, lock what you can away for a year or so in a top account, preferably with a fixed rate. put the rest in a relatively easy access account with the best rate you can find. when working out your budget make sure you allow yourself a 'buffer' for any unforseen circumstances.

if the student loan company are offering you something, even if its only 3k, consider taking it. its going to be a very cheap loan compared to the PS one, and could ease the burden on you and your cabbage soup eating parents even if you save every penny of it and use it get yourself on your feet after graduation (your course is likely to be at least 3 years, so thats at least 9k) or pay off a chunk of the PS studies loan, it will be cheaper to pay back the SLC loan than it will the PS one.

dont forget that if you get a student account you should get a student overdraft as well (hopefully interest free). exhaust all these 'cheap' debt avenues first, and use credit card debt as a last resort.

if you dont currently use a credit card, get one if you can be disciplined enough to treat it like a debit card, clearing the balance in full each month. its a small act, but it will strengthen your credit rating - no rating is as bad if not worse than a poor rating.

finally - good luck

Careful_with_that_Axe

Sorry to take OT for a mo, but tis such a shame that the talented of the generations have to worry about whether they can afford to study to qualify in their dream career. Whatever happened to investing in our future?

If I've got anything left when I kick the bucket, you can have it, House

hattiefats

I don't know if this is of any help but I'm a nurse and lots of med students work bank shifts as support workers during their training to make some money (at least in the first two years anyway). The course is hardcore I know but a lot of them worked nights and weekends. I did this a student nurse and it made quite a difference. Good luck with your studies!

sali_mali

Thank you for the advice everyone, I will be making an appointment with the bank lady this week so will keep you updated

CWTA - where do you live again...? I may need to pay you a visit... :rotfl: