Advice!

astheniaxgirl

Hi, I’m a 17 year old As/A level student and I was really after some advice on finance (like everyone else) for when I go to University.

Basically, my parents are on around £32,000 so this means that while they are earning enough to put me over certain brackets in terms of the amount of financial support I can receive, its not enough for my parents to be able to help me out due to their financial restrictions.

What I plan on doing is taking everything I can possibly get (in terms of support, loans etc.) then give my parents everything (except what I need to pay for my first semesters accommodation up front) then get them to invest it in a ISA then drip feed it to me. I also hope to try and at least raise £1,500 by the time I go to Uni next year. But being only a Saturday girl in town I’m going to find it hard to raise any more. I’ve already volunteered for working every imaginable holiday from now to then. I’m even asking for Argos and Ikea vouchers for birthdays, Christmas, Easter and after exam presents to save on buying essentials. Basically I was asking for some advice on what to do? Is the £1,500 enough?

I’m totally stuck as the last thing I want to do is come out of University with stacks of debt!!

Also I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so work more really isn’t a option as I need time to rest. A friend though happened to mention that I may be able to receive something from the University or government in terms of support, if anyone has experience with this then it would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance.

needstoknow

debt and uni go hand in hand, be sensible dont spend when u dont need to and get hardship funds when u can!

Gem_

There is no reason why you should give the money to your parents to "drip feed" it back to you, unless you cannot be trusted to budget for yourself. I would presume you are not going to have the energy to work yourself over the personal tax allowance £5100 ~ if that is the case then you would be better off putting the money in a high rate savings account in your own name (many of these pay higher rates than an ISA and you dont need an ISA if you are not paying tax). I used to give myself 1/12 of my savings per month to live on in order to budget this out (would be about 1/9 if you are going home for the summer).

£1500 is a fantastic start, I had about £1000 i think when I went to uni and it certainly made life easier for me.

It is worth thinking about finding a job that pays a higher hourly rate, working in a call centre for example can pay £7 per hour (even in customer care rather than the horror of sales )

Hope some of that helps

Gem

sockospice

Also considerations as to where you want to go to uni and what you want to study: if you live at home it can often work out cheaper (although some feel you miss out on parts of uni life), and also some courses attract bursaries.

beckyboopboop

i'm going to uni this year, again getting all the loans and support thats possible (parents income is fairly similar to yours astheniaxgirl). Going to put loans into high interest accounts, parents are going to give me money to live on when I need it (i am very good at budgeting!), but coming out with debts is inevitable.

Skyhigh

Debt is a fact of life when you go to Uni, unless you are well off (of have savings).

The total cost will depend on where you study.
I study at Hull (yes, through choice), my rents about £35 a week (£2200 ish a year) for a good house INCLUDING bills, tuition fee's are £1175, I spend about £10 a week on food.

A friend down south pays the same tuition fee's, spends about £30 on food and has to pay £70 a week in rent....excluding bills.

Basically South = expensive.


When you apply for a student loan (from student finance direct) ensure you have it Income Assessed, I know some people that have chosen not to -assuming they will get the maximum amount.....yes it silly, but mistakes are easy!

You'll be paying extra tuition fee's from this year forward, the goverment has introduced an extra loan that you can apply for to help you out.
Yes it means more debt, but it also means you'll be able to attend Uni.

Find out about all the grants you can, hardship, departmental and others, apply for as many as possible even if you think you may not get them, you never know.
- Think about applying for grants later in the year (see the other post on this board about applying for grants later in the year...)
In your case you may also be eligible for disability grants/services, this may include a financial grant or even the use of a laptop.
(This is especially true if you have severe vision problems)

Sometimes its impossible to hold down a job while at Uni, my course demands about 40 hours a week of labs and lectures, and on top of that theres research, work, coursework, revision, exams and more....
Some people cannot hold down full time or part time jobs for whatever reason.
The answer really is online selling.
Anything is better than nothing.

What to sell?
Anything, liquidate your assets (not all of them!), stuff you don't use anymore or won't use, why keep them?
You could also consider buying in 'stock' to sell, such as eBooks or even stamps*.
Where to sell? Well, amazon, ebay, local newspapers, noticeboards....car boots...

*(I don't collect stamps, but I decided to deal in them this year, they don't appeal to me, but this week I sold one for £130 on ebay which cost me £30 earlier in the year. Like I said - somethings better than nothing).
I needed a financial boost this week, so I sold a few on ebay, including the £130 I took £260 this week on ebay with my initial outlay cost coming to £80, including listing fee's, paypal fee's, final valuation fee's and postage fee's.


If you do buy/sell online, don't ever over-buy anything you cannot afford.
I find setting aside X amount cash for buying/selling/financial purposes is helpful to help keep the costs in check.

Note:
If you go over the £4k limit then you have to do your taxes!


If you have a skill, use it!
Speak another language? register with a translation service - often pay is on term/contract basis and quite good.
Don't mind writing up articles? Offer a typing service to other students. etc etc


Work out how much you think it will all cost and budget for the year, tedious but helpful.
Take into account your weekly/monthly/yearly cost for:
tuition fee's
food
housing fee's
extras (going out, drinking, computer, broadband etc)



Finally a great tip on how to save money.
Don't go out, don't drink, don't join a gym, etc.

Although fun, socialising costs - ALOT!
Entry fee's to clubs, drinks, later night food, take aways the lot costs the most.
So you may have to learn not to (unless of course you can afford it, possible via earning a bit of cash as I said above! ) ).

Obviously, everyone needs to go out, so its almost impossible to just 'stop', but you have to consider it when budgeting for it.
You will find, towards the end of your degree there won't be much time to go out, so really enjoy your first year!


If you end up in real (financial) trouble, never be afraid to ask for help.
I know for a fact that I can:
Ask the Uni to offset my tuition fee or housing fee payments to later in the year.
Apply for emergency monetary/support grants (if required)
Go to the Sutdent Advice service in my Union building for help.
Flog some of my prized posessions....or rather those that are worth anything.
Ask for help on the forum ;o)

:!:

robhammond

Hi,

This website may be of use...

http://www.aimhigher.ac.uk/student_finance/index.cfm

All the best,

Rob