Paying my student fees - but i've no money!

gilly41

Hi Joe13
At the time my son was assessed I wasnt working(just taken a part time job) and hubby brings home about £1580 per month-which is about 22K a year(based on his basic).They do take in to account his pension I believe(I cant remember) but it would be worth you checking it out. The highest income is about £32K- if you earn over this full fees have to be paid and then it goes down in steps. They also took in to account that my daughter was at uni so you get a small allowance for this.
You should look in to the amount you are paying- it does sound VERY HIGH!!!They made a mistake the first year with us and when i got it reviewed it was about £100 over (not a lot but every bit helps).
Take care
xx

gilly41

Hi again Joe
Just a thought- they would also take in to account how much your hubby had earned in that year prior to him being made redundant- that is maybe why it is £700 as it would have been all your income and the amount hubby had earned to date(as last years was based on the tax year 2004-2005- April to April.)
Hope this helps- but still do check it out!!
xx

nearlyrich

As a parent I would be devastated if either of my children thought they had to get through something like this without my help and support. Both my children are away at uni, I help them as much as I can financially, pay the fees etc and a contribution towards their living expenses as they are both on full fees and minimum student loan. I know they think I do enough and they don't ask for more but if they were in the position of the OP I would want to know and to help.

To the OP, please tell your parents, nothing is too bad they will still love you and will no doubt try to help. I agree you should try to pay the debt off yourself but you might need some help in the short term. If nothing else you have learned that betting is a mug's game and hopefully you will have deleted all the gambling sites etc from your pc.

Good luck, keep posting and if you want to share your budget I am almost sure we can help you to cut down or suggest ways to increase your income.

kathfisch

I would echo everyone else in saying that is really could be the best possible thing to tell your parents, although we don't know your situation etc. You will definitely not get any help from the uni until you have taken out the full loan amount available to you. This will probably involve your parents knowing.

Having said that, my parents earn over the highest threshold so they never had to fill anything in and theoretically I could have done the whole thing without telling them. This means you will only get the minimum loan though. You can opt to only take the minimum and not have your parent's income assessed, even if they earn under the threshold (IYSWIM). One thing to bear in mind, though, is that the student loan company will only use your home address to correspond with you, they will never accept your term time address (if you live away from home) because these things change so much and they don't want to lose track of you! Your parents would be bound to find out eventually.

I hope that your relationship with your girlfriend is strong and maybe you can tell her first and have her support to tell your parents.

Best of luck

Kath

bettingmark

OK guys, many thanks to all who gave me feedback. I appriciate it all.

At the moment I'm going to take the following action:

1) Attend a GA meeting - but not in the local area as I want to avoid being recognised

2) Manage my accounts on a day-to-day basis

3) Talk to financial advisor/welfare office at uni (i know all these people personally which i'll find it dificult to confide in them but know its for the best)

4) not talk to my parents or gf about problems yet....

Re: point 4 - i know this will have the majority rolling their eyes or sighing at their computer screens but im determined to get through this on my own and know that im capable of doing so without having to hurt anyone in the process.

---

On a seperate note, Im going to let my card settle (the halifax one with the £1000 overdraft) I think im at the max, but because of transactions over the last week im not sure exactly how much is there. To let this settle I dont intend to use the card over the next 5 days.

As I outlined at the start I have £210.00 ready in cheques to put into an account. I'd like to put this into a completely new account - any tips for this or should I put it into the halifax account - i worry if i do that, im susceptible to start spending it again!- actually no, i wont - i know the position im in and i cant afford to mess about now!

Thanks and hope im not annoying people by being one-minded about talking to people such as my parents/gf

(oh and happy birthday Kath - as I spotted in another post!)

bettingmark

Forgot to mention... im in my 2nd year of study of a 3 year course although im hoping to go on and do a masters

gilly41

Hi again
As i mentioned before you may not even have to pay the fees if you are living with your parents- not sure if you dont want to say where you live.I understand if you dont want to but hope I have been some help
xx

bettingmark

Still living at home but i know with the current house income, fees will still have to be paid. My dad was between jobs for a short time and during that time we did apply for aid with my fees - but they came back saying that my first option was to take out a student loan.... but i still dont want to do that, and neither do my parents.

sashacat

your fees are directly related to your parents income...but only in the sense that if their income is low (ie below a certain threshold which the uni welfare people or union will tell you). Above this benchmark you have to pay the fees regardless of whether you live at home or not.
In order to get the welfare payment you have to show bank statements ( or at least they are supposed to ask for them). The Uni are not allowed to give the welfare payment to you if you have not taken out the student loan....and the loan is a good deal...both my kids have them.
If you go to a second bank they will ask you about your other/ previous bank and will check with them or the uni.
I think asking them to defer the fees could well work...they may be reluctant but it is within their power to do it. You could ask them to let youpay by installments but I think they will bwe reluctant because you have not taken out the loan.

Bunnyhop

bettingmark wrote:

Re: point 4 - i know this will have the majority rolling their eyes or sighing at their computer screens but im determined to get through this on my own and know that im capable of doing so without having to hurt anyone in the process.

First off I want to say that I totally understand where you're coming from as I have been there myself. As far as I was concerned my money problems were my own fault and therefore I should sort it out myself. I also wanted to prove that I could do it on my own and most of all I didn't want to worry anyone or hurt them.

Unfortunately it did come out, as someone else has said these things always do, and I have caused so much more hurt by keeping things hidden than if I'd just talked about it originally. My Dad thinks I don't trust him and that I don't feel able to talk to him which hurt him deeply, his partner does not trust me at all and will no longer have anything to do with me, the whole thing has been awful and will continue to be for a long time to come.

Mine is a pretty extreme situation for a number of reasons but the basic point that the parents on this board have made is one to take to heart. Your parents love you whatever you do, even if you mess up, and it hurts them a lot to know you've been in any kind of trouble and haven't felt able to tell them. It broke my heart to hear my Dad question what he'd done wrong that meant I couldn't talk to him, I don't think I'll ever be able to make him understand that it wasn't his fault and it was my own stupid pride.

You don't have to tell them and expect them to fix it, you can still sort it out on your own, all they'll really want to do is be able to listen if you feel like you need to talk.

Sorry if any of this sounds like I am preaching at you, I don't mean it that way at all, I just read your post and cried because I wish so badly that I'd known about this place back then and that someone had made me realise that talking to my parents was the best thing I could have done.