Student MoneySaving: Funding, Borrowing & Living as a student Article Discussion Area

Wiggynut

mellymeep wrote: »

I'm totally lost at the minute, I lost my part time job a few months ago thanks to the company I work for cutting back on spending, and it turned out I wasn't needed anymore! I have tried to get through a year without a part time job before and it was actually impossible.

My loan is literally just for my rent and bills and my family are not in the financial situation to be supporting me either, contrary to the governments decision not to give me any help this year! and i'm in a situation where I may possibly be taken to court for the final bills in our last house! I've spoken to the Gas/Electric board and have organized a payment plan, but getting the money of my former flat-mates is most likely going to prove very difficult! There were 2 names on the bills originally, but for some reason the providers have now decided its all down to me to pay them, and are sending me all the bills/threatening letters.

I desperately need to find a job. I owe my boyfriend 150 quid as he's kindly been paying for food for me to live on. I was just wondering is going round the shops in town with CV's the best way to go about this? I spoke to my mam and she said that quite often CV's just get put away in a drawer and forgotten about, but these jobs aren't being advertised online and they don't have application forms so I don't see any other way of getting through to them!!

going around the shops/pubs etc is a good idea... I got my last part time job that way and I worked there for a year and a half! it was never advertised either.. they just took people on who looked responsible and capable!
just go in to places and ask... best to ask a manager etc and take a CV just in case as they might want that as they might need to check etc and they have your name and number on the CV to call you back. if they say no then try again a few weeks later or month... people tend not to stick with part time jobs so positions will come up again later.

also, contact the people who are trying to get money out of you and keep telling them that it's not totally your debt! they will contact you more as they know you responded... but the bills were in 2 names so I don't think they can charge you all of it (not totally sure best check that - legalities etc) try asking on the utilities boards on this site and see if anyone knows that.

got any stuff that you don't use.. sell it a car boot, gum tree, ebay etc - it might not feel much but it all helps!

there is also the hardship fund (called something else now) at your Uni - talk to them, I think they give out anything between £250 - £1,000 depending on your situation - also, ask them about the fact that you are paying the debt of someone else.. you never know they might know what to do - I'm sure they've had this happen loads of times! if that doesn't work try CAB

good luck


access to learning fund thread...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=179491

stars_bright

My son is in his 2nd year of Uni. Last year when we filled in the forms I phoned the advice line asking whether I should include in my income the maintenance that my ex husband pays. I was told not to The first year he got nearly the full maintenance grant based on my and my partners salarys. This year I was told that I should include the maintenance on the form, but it would not be included in the calculation. Now he is at uni he has just been told that he no longer qualifies for the uni bursary which was £1,250. On checking the calculations of what his grant is this year i have worked out that they must have included the ex husbands maintentance, on top of my and my partners income that takes our income to just above £29,000 which means he no longer qualifies for the £1,250 bursary and his grant is about a third of what he had last year. I have looked everywhere online but cannot find any mention of whether child maintenence is included as income. IS anyone else in this situation ? we had worked out his budget for the year and it was tight based on the figures we had, now that he has tis amount less he cannot cover his rent, elect, gas etc, let alone buy food.

DrsMummy

Hiya
Right, I'm now a qualified Doctor and getting PAID Yeah!!!!! BUT, I've just received a statement from the dreaded SLC telling me how much I owe, Boo!!!! The problem is they don't tell me if the monthly interest they have been adding stops now and I pay back what I owe or does the interest keep being added. Cos if my sums are right, the interest they add every month is actually £30 more than they expect me to pay back every month. Ok I'm a Doctor not a Banker so I'll fix your bones if you fix my finances...Please.

Oldernotwiser

DrsMummy wrote: »

Hiya
Right, I'm now a qualified Doctor and getting PAID Yeah!!!!! BUT, I've just received a statement from the dreaded SLC telling me how much I owe, Boo!!!! The problem is they don't tell me if the monthly interest they have been adding stops now and I pay back what I owe or does the interest keep being added. Cos if my sums are right, the interest they add every month is actually £30 more than they expect me to pay back every month. Ok I'm a Doctor not a Banker so I'll fix your bones if you fix my finances...Please.

Your outstanding balance will accrue interest until it's paid off. The amount you owe may well rise until you're earning more but you'll never be asked to repay more than 9% of anything you earn over £15,000. Don't worry about it and don't overpay it.

zeniah

Hi there, I just got my Annual Statement from the Student Loans Company, and since my last tuition fee payment went through in May 2008, I am racking up over £50 interest a month. Is this correct?
I understand I should be paying interest linked to inflation, however, at this rate, I'll never be able to be in a position to pay it all back.

The longer I leave it, the more this balance will increase (obviously) but I read on the student loans page here that its best not to pay it off as quick as possible.

Does the rate of interest I'm paying seem correct? :eek:
Thanks.

rb10

Yes, that rate's about right zeniah. Until 31st August 2008, the annual interest rate was 4.8%, so if your loan is around £12500, then £50/month is correct.

The good news is that between 1st September 2008 and 31st August 2009, the rate is fixed at 3.8%, so the interest should be slightly less.

The reason why it is better not to pay it off is that, if you have spare money that could be used to pay it off, you have two options:

(1): Pay off your student loan; or
(2): Keep the student loan, accumulating interest at £50-ish/month AND save the money in a high-interest savings account. As long as you can get a savings account with a rate higher than the loan rate, you'll be earning more interest from the savings account than you're paying on the loan.

E.g., my student loan is in a Halifax Guaranteed Saver Reward, opened in the summer of this year, fixed at 6.25% for a year. As the loan rate is 3.8% now, I'm effectively making 2.45% of my student loan in profit. I wouldn't make this if I'd paid it off.

So, to keep the numbers simple, imagine my student loan started the year at £10,000. After the year was up, I'd owe the SLC £10,380 (as it's 3.8% interest), BUT in my savings account I'd have £10,625 (as I've got 6.25% on savings). So I am in profit by keeping it, rather than if I'd paid it all off at the start of the year.

So, the thing to aim for is to always have a savings interest rate higher than the loan rate. Unfortunately, with all the falling interest rates, this is very hard at the moment.

randomways

Hi

I've got a big problem with going to uni and the loans, my dad earns around £24,000 a year which put me in for some of the loans and the grants and would conformity live through uni, but my arrogant father has taken it upon him self to say "I'm not going to send any financial details to the student loan's company, your 21 and should be able to pay for your self, they shouldn't ask me for any details because your a adult" and there is no moving him as I've argued with him many times about it and he just says he not going to do it on moral grounds.

s you can guess this has really messed me up for going to university as I don't think they will even pay my tuition fee's if he doesn't, my mother lives with my father but is unemployed and they are separated which just makes things worse.

is there anything I can do other then just simply disown my father and move into a friends? because looking at the student finance website even to do that you have to disown him for 12 months and the financial forms will be done in February and I have no idea what to do!

Mike1989

You might be able to get them to class you as an independent student, but, I can't remember what information they want from you. I just remember seeing the questions on the application form, I answered no to each question which meant I was a dependent student, if you answered yes to these questions you were classed as an independent.

Have you been supporting yourself, via a job for a year or up to three years, if so that might help your case as an independent student.

Lokolo

Why can't you just go non income assessed and get the basic loans?

You don't need parents finance info to get a student loan

randomways

Lokolo wrote: »

Why can't you just go non income assessed and get the basic loans?

You don't need parents finance info to get a student loan

You get £3,470 a year in Maintenance that's about £75 a week for rent and food and clothes and any other basic needs. I don't think that will be feasible. I would get a job when I move to university but I doubt I'll be able to find one with all the shops going under.

and mike I do have a part time job of 12 hours a week and have had jobs in the past 3 years, but the income is tiny as last P60 I had said i earn £800 for the last year. I don't know if that's really enough to be classed as financially independent.