how do you live off student loans if it all goes on rent

kelloggs36

Rikki wrote: »

I do feel guilty that I'm not my sons safety net while at university, but I hope the money education I have given him will enable him to budget and get through without creating unnecessary debt.

I agree. My daughter has really struggled this past year and has no safety net to fall back on if she doesn't get herself a job as soon as she goes back. She won't even be able to feed herself due to her being a bit behind in her halls fees this year - she is paying them back, but has to pay the rent on her house aswell, pushing her budget even further. Her overdraft of 1k is maxed out so she can't get any more. She went to the bank and they just said that they can't help her so that was a waste of time! If she doesn't get a job I fear she will have to give up the course and return home and try and find a full-time job.

silvercar

It seems so unfair that students who don't receive grants and whose parents don't support them are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The state is assuming that parents will offer support (at least to the amount that they give in grants to students from less well off families), if the parents don't provide that support then they are really stuffed.

Samba_2

I am starting Uni this year, and (possibly luckily) my parents income is under £25K, so I am entitled to the full loan, grant and bursary available. My parents cannot support me but this will hopefully not be a problem as -thanks to MSE! - I am going to try to budget. I feel though that if your parents are earning considerably more than this, say over the £60K mark, they are going to have some money they could you to support their child through uni if needed, even if they simply loaned it to them. School leavers in particular who will be leaving home for the first time would have been supported by their parents through food and likely no rent etc, if they are away at uni their parents costs at home will go down (I know my parents water bill will decrease!) so they could simply use this to aid their child. I also cannot see why someone with a higher income would have more outgoings to take into consideration than a low income family, we also have 2 cars, a mortgage etc and whilst it may not be such a large amount in value per month, it would I imagine be a similar percentage of income used to pay bills etc.

It is harder for low income familes to be a financial safety net for their child, and much more plausible for those with a high income to support theirs, which is why the system is as it is.

kelloggs36

Samba wrote: »

I am starting Uni this year, and (possibly luckily) my parents income is under £25K, so I am entitled to the full loan, grant and bursary available. My parents cannot support me but this will hopefully not be a problem as -thanks to MSE! - I am going to try to budget. I feel though that if your parents are earning considerably more than this, say over the £60K mark, they are going to have some money they could you to support their child through uni if needed, even if they simply loaned it to them. School leavers in particular who will be leaving home for the first time would have been supported by their parents through food and likely no rent etc, if they are away at uni their parents costs at home will go down (I know my parents water bill will decrease!) so they could simply use this to aid their child. I also cannot see why someone with a higher income would have more outgoings to take into consideration than a low income family, we also have 2 cars, a mortgage etc and whilst it may not be such a large amount in value per month, it would I imagine be a similar percentage of income used to pay bills etc.

It is harder for low income familes to be a financial safety net for their child, and much more plausible for those with a high income to support theirs, which is why the system is as it is.

Costs don't go down that much! You lose child benefit and any child tax credits that you would have got whilst they were at school, plus you end up supporting them in full when they return during the holidays - our water rates aren't dependant on usage, so no savings there.

Higher income usually means a higher mortgage and this is certainly true in geographical areas - we live in the South East, which is almost as expensive as London to live, but we get none of the extra money, but as they only take the gross figure for income into account, then it takes you out of the assessment before you even start - yet you may have the same amount of disposable income left over. So no, it cannot be assumed that a higher gross income means a higher disposable income.

silvercar

When I was a student (1980s!) most of us got grants and no tuition fees. If you were careful you finished uni without much of an overdraft.

What was interesting, in retrospect, was that there were some students whose family were really suffering financially (year long miners strike hit somehard I recall). Some of these students would send money out of their grants home each month to help their families out.

Imagine if the government, instead of saying we are giving less grant to higher income families, took the amount of grant off peoples wages. Call it negative tax credits or tax debits. Turns the tables a bit; now parents who haven't budgeted for supporting their children as the government seems to expect, would actually have to ask their children nicely if they could have some of their grant back to pay household bills!

kelloggs36

Trouble is, you can't conjure up money to budget for higher education from nowhere!! Especially now, and especially now that we are finding those students paying back their own loans having to find more money to support their own children through university, with the pressure to save for a pension, pay ever higher living costs such as council tax and fuel which increase way over the rate of inflation. For many, such budgeting is simply impossible. The Government seem to think that middle income earners have a never ending pot of money to dip into - we don't!!!!

RachelRa

I found out what I'm getting for the first third. I have to pay rent for holidays, so the term is 18 weeks.. after I've paid that I've got £150 left... for 18 weeks. hah... oh god.

melancholly

RachelRa wrote: »

I found out what I'm getting for the first third. I have to pay rent for holidays, so the term is 18 weeks.. after I've paid that I've got £150 left... for 18 weeks. hah... oh god.

you know what, the important thing is that you're thinking about this now. so many students get into financial trouble because they just spend spend spend until it runs out, and then they have a long time left without any money. i know that doesn't help, but you have your interest free overdraft, and if you combine it with a holiday or term time job, it should be just about manageable. i hope it will be anyway.

digsby202

My daughter is at Cambridge , living there as a student in a college is fairly cheap and you can remain in college accommodation for the whole of your course. However, any type of part time work during term time is frowned upon, the terms are short (8 weeks) and the work load is huge so it would be impossible to benefit from the education the university has to offer and hold down a part time job. She does work durung the holidays, but the work that is available , to benefit you CV and future prospects , are unpaid.
The lifestyle of Cambridge is still expensive, with Balls at Christmas and during May ( tickets can cost £150.00 each) plus there is the inevitable ballgowns, this year my daughter spent £400 plus on tickets for various may week events. But I believe this is all part and parcel of being lucky enough to study there and be involved in what will be a life-changing experience.
I returned to work, at 56, to pay for it all and I'm sure lots of other Mum ( and Dads) would do the same. As far as I'm concerned she has worked incredibly hard to get there and its money well spent.
I'm just grateful she isn't going to Uni in America , because financially you are talking real money.

Love D x

Pink_Eyes

silvercar wrote: »

It seems so unfair that students who don't receive grants and whose parents don't support them are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The state is assuming that parents will offer support (at least to the amount that they give in grants to students from less well off families), if the parents don't provide that support then they are really stuffed.

But what else is the government to do? They don't have a never ending pot of money, so have to give it to the people who need it the most - people from low income families.