Going Backwards at 24 !!

DEBT_23

thanks everyone. no i dont have anything saved. i intend of getting a part time job to cover accomadation and 'going out' student style . lol
I have also sold my much loved RenaultSport 172 and got myself a cheaper car for petrol etc.


also when i completed my UCAS form online i had to pay a fee of £15 is that correct ?? just to senda form online ?!

Lokolo

Yes lol its lame. Very very lame.

Northern_girl_2

DEBT_23 wrote: »

Can anyone advise me if its possible to survive uni on a part time wage and saving grants /loans etc..
Do you all save it or spend it.. as most of you are getting your payments you are students you will know better than me if its possable. .
thanks

Well, that very much depends on your lifestyle and location.

If you're in a relatively cheap studenty location then yes it is theoretically possible. Accommodation is usually the biggest cost and you said you have found somewhere cheapish. You will hopefully be able to get a part time job that pays more than the average student bar job given you have experience etc.

I was in Newcastle so relatively cheap and I had friends who managed to live just on what they could earn p/t during term and f/t in the holidays. However, I also knew people whose parent's paid their rent , bills and food, gave them £200+ a month 'pocket money' who also spent their full loan and got into other types of debt. Mind, I don't think they had a 'better' time as a student but definitely a more expensive one!

Most of my friends had to budget tightly and it certainly helps if you're are all in the same boat. My friends understood that a pot of change could be a good night out if you could scrape enough together for a couple of drinks. However, the temptation to get into massive debt if your friends are the post student type that I would overhear talking about visiting daddy in Hong Kong, polo matches during the summer etc.

Good luck!

Northern_girl_2

PS. My advice would be budget carefully and if you can put some of your student loans into savings then do so. BUT make sure you enjoy yourself too and take advantage of the opportunities that University offers.

I was perhaps too cautious. I wish now I had spent the extra £200 of my overdraft to hitch hike to Morocco etc that some my friends did. Spend it on experiences you will never forget though...not status symbols, material things that you can live without.

anewman

Ouch, I never paid UCAS anything, but I think they had loads of advertising on all their stuff which presumably makes them money.

Oldernotwiser

DEBT_23 wrote: »

also when i completed my UCAS form online i had to pay a fee of £15 is that correct ?? just to senda form online ?!

UCAS has to print out applications, send them out to universities and organise offers/rejections etc. £15 is quite reasonable for the amount of work that can be involved.

DEBT_23

with regards to the ucas. i rang bolton up today ( uni) and they said i have applied directly and not bother with ucas, i have been offered a place on the course and just have to attend the open day this saturday with my form.

with regards to blowing money with status symbols i totally agree thants the main reason im selling my car and down grading to a cheaper one..if one at all ! - ant decided that bit yet. I plan to use my money on experiances that uni life offer. .. even holidays in the summer holidays
or just random hitch hikes etc lol aint had fun like that for years.. way before i got a mortgage. :eek:

thanks all for advice. Im totally excited and cant wait for student life... should of done this at 18

since i was 18 i have been sensible and boring going to work, paying mortgage etc. grown up alot quiker than i should have done.. i now plan to be young and live life .as well as study ofcourse.
I feel a weight has been lifted of my shoulders already..and i havnt even started student life with no responabliltys/ties etc.

lilysgarden

I was a mature student too and worried about blowing the loans as soon as they came in. I opened a seperate savings account alongside my normal bank account which was a student account. All of my bursaries and loans were paid into the savings account and my wages from part time work went into my student account. I simply transferred money from the savings account into my student account as and when I needed to. That way, it was as easily accessible and it gained some interest while it was in the savings account! Good luck!