Renovations and Repayments.

newgirly

I guess it's a gamble either way, but one it's much easier to take if you don't come from a poorer background. My little brother is almost at the threshold after taking a degree that has not helped him find work or up his earnings.

One of the worst things I think is my friend's step daughter currently training to be a paramedic, out on the ambulances everyday at 19 running up a huge debt, no help from the government though, how can they not prioritise financing training people in the emergency services?

edinburgher

I guess it's a gamble either way, but one it's much easier to take if you don't come from a poorer background. My little brother is almost at the threshold after taking a degree that has not helped him find work or up his earnings.

That is a shame NG, did he choose something non-vocational for his degree? I have certainly had time to regret studying the arts over the years!

newgirly

Not the arts (like my Dd!) not sure exactly but very specialised for working with charities I believe, but he now works for us in the factory.

AlexLK

newgirly wrote: »

Morning Alex, it may be worth a look at Martins guide on student loans. If I recall it's something like 80% of students don't end up paying the full loan back over the term. So it's not just a case of not affording it and having to borrow, it may be a wise economical choice perhaps.
Ŵe would rather (and will be whether we move again or not!) put the extra money in the pot for their futures, a few very wealthy friends are also taking he loan when they don't need to.

Hi NG,

I am opposed to my son, one day, having a student loan because he has no need to. Perhaps it won't work out to be the best choice economically speaking but not everything we do in life is because it's economically the best thing to do. There needs to be a balance.

edinburgher wrote: »

I actually find the new student loans to be quite disturbing as the rates are akin to commercial borrowing. This makes it seem like we have morphed into the US, but without any of the flexibility (for example, student loan refinancing is perfectly common over there).

I have an income based student loan (the tranche before interest rates were hiked). I don't buy the arguments of 'it's not like a normal loan because it's only based on earnings and it doesn't affect x, y and z'. Yes, if earn less than the average, you may pay back nothing and yes, if you earn a fortune you'll pay it back relatively quickly.

My concern is for the people in the middle, the bright sparks who will probably make use of a university education but will never end up in 'elite' careers. For these people, it's a pernicious tax on their future that will burden them with an effective tax rate of 40% or more for potentially decades. For someone on £30k or so, it's equivalent to losing something like £67.50/month forever (based on the current interest rate, you would never repay).

It also creates some interesting marginal situations where (for example), someone seeing a pay rise from £20,999 (below the threshold) to £23,000 (10% or so above the threshold) would find their actual bump in salary quite unimpressive as they would start to repay.

I wouldn't say that I'm particularly career minded, but it's quite easy to end up in the £25-30k bracket for much of your adult working life. It's a good existence, but you are keenly aware of changes to tax etc.

Thanks for the information, Ed.

I don't have and never did have a student loan but my wife had one which she has cleared. However, had she studied under the new fees it would not be cleared yet I don't think and by Derbyshire standards, she earns a very good wage.

The main reason I'd rather keep my son out of debt is due to the fact student loans accrue interest and the potential for quite well-hidden and / or confusing legislation. I did have an idea that when my son goes to university his stipend could come from a first taste of property management: I'd buy a house close to the university, he can sublet 3 or so rooms to other students and take the income minus a "mortgage" and contingency fund he must build for the property. That way only the tuition fees would be coming from Bank of Mum and Dad and he'd, in effect, be earning the stipend part. No real risk on my part as it would be a company buy and if my son wished to keep the property after his studies as a first investment, he could pay the company back its money via the "mortgage".

Your comments about £25-30k earners, I think is very true for the vast majority of the teaching population. The majority are educated to postgraduate level but under the new fee system will never pay back their student loans. One think tank was proposing the idea of striking any debt accrued by teachers after seven years service.

newgirly wrote: »

I guess it's a gamble either way, but one it's much easier to take if you don't come from a poorer background. My little brother is almost at the threshold after taking a degree that has not helped him find work or up his earnings.

One of the worst things I think is my friend's step daughter currently training to be a paramedic, out on the ambulances everyday at 19 running up a huge debt, no help from the government though, how can they not prioritise financing training people in the emergency services?

Gaining an education should not be "a gamble" and should not be about what someone "does with it". However, I can understand why pupils from poorer backgrounds may choose to take a degree more directly related to a field of work.

I thought students studying Medicine and related courses had their fees paid for by the NHS, to be honest.

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

That is a shame NG, did he choose something non-vocational for his degree? I have certainly had time to regret studying the arts over the years!

newgirly wrote: »

Not the arts (like my Dd!) not sure exactly but very specialised for working with charities I believe, but he now works for us in the factory.

Arts subjects get a lot of flak these days which I find incredibly sad. To me, subjects such as Classics, History, History of Art, Music and Philosophy have just as much value and give students a lot more room for independent thought at undergraduate level than Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Chemistry and Maths or other so-called STEM subjects.

AlexLK

April Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Make a decision re. bathroom / holiday / potential debt.
Total Grocery Spend: £340/ £400. Should not go up too much more before May's budget kicks in. Hoping to have a spare £50 to put into the surplus money pot.
Surplus Money: £380 / £800.
Bed before 11.30pm: 9 / 31.
Meditation: 13 / 31.
De-clutter and sell 3 / 5 items.
New Recipes: 1 / 4.
Books (to read for pleasure):1 / 3.

Had a busy few days, including my parents arriving back from Spain. Today I was there for the whole time my son was at school. :mad: They expected me to go back after picking my son up but I couldn't face another few hours there. Sounds terrible, I know.

maman

AlexLK wrote: »

Had a busy few days, including my parents arriving back from Spain. Today I was there for the whole time my son was at school. :mad: They expected me to go back after picking my son up but I couldn't face another few hours there. Sounds terrible, I know.

Doesn't sound terrible at all. You can have too much of a good thing!:rotfl:

AlexLK

April Targets:
And so we say goodbye to another month. Not sure where the time is going.

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Make a decision re. bathroom / holiday / potential debt.
Total Grocery Spend: £340/ £400. Should not go up too much more before May's budget kicks in. Hoping to have a spare £50 to put into the surplus money pot.
Surplus Money: £380 / £800.
Bed before 11.30pm: 9 / 31.
Meditation: 14 / 31.
De-clutter and sell 3 / 5 items.
New Recipes: 1 / 4.
Books (to read for pleasure):1 / 3.

Surplus money isn't too bad this month to say I'd forgotten to budget for our council tax bill and we had a night away. Eating out budget which was non-existent has been spectacularly blown this month too. On the positive side, I've done really well with my spreadsheet and with fine tuning it a little. This is the first month I've kept it 100% up to date.

My wife and I are going to start some work on prepping the bathroom over the coming month. Unfortunately, we won't be having the copper bath but this should mean the project should not go over budget.

Today my parents have really annoyed my wife (and I, if I'm honest). They can fend for themselves in Spain without the need for anyone but today I've been around there to cook their breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I told them I had to go straight after lunch because my wife, son and I were going out, my father tells me they will be "here" long after he and my mother are. I did lose my temper a little so at dinner they refused to speak to me at all.

maman wrote: »

Doesn't sound terrible at all. You can have too much of a good thing!:rotfl:

:rotfl:, indeed.

kelpie35

Today my parents have really annoyed my wife (and I, if I'm honest). They can fend for themselves in Spain without the need for anyone but today I've been around there to cook their breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I told them I had to go straight after lunch because my wife, son and I were going out, my father tells me they will be "here" long after he and my mother are. I did lose my temper a little so at dinner they refused to speak to me at all.

I think your wife and you have every reason to be angry.

As you say they have managed perfectly well when away, and in my opinion, what your father said to you is utterly wrong. They are just acting like spoiled children.

I think you, Mrs K and your son need to take a firm stand on this and not allow them to interrupt your plans.

You are a family of 3 and with all you have been through you seem to be heading in the right direction. :T

Please DO NOT allow your parents to interfere with all the progress you have all made with becoming a happy family.

Take care

maman

AlexLK wrote: »

Today my parents have really annoyed my wife (and I, if I'm honest). They can fend for themselves in Spain without the need for anyone but today I've been around there to cook their breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I told them I had to go straight after lunch because my wife, son and I were going out, my father tells me they will be "here" long after he and my mother are. I did lose my temper a little so at dinner they refused to speak to me .

I don't understand why you went back to cook dinner.
It seems that consciously or otherwise they want to reestablish the situation that existed previously when you were cooking for them. This can't happen or you'll be back to square one.
Tomorrow you must focus on your wife and son.