Living below your means

Galtizz

Nope, but Squeeky's post in that one jogged my memory. Thanks.

It was the store cupboard challenge which will help with the not spending anything.

crana999

its a bit misleading to say "having to live on 4k a year" though if you don't have to pay for things like rent (housing benefit), dental care, prescriptions, council tax, school meals etc.. (obviously not everyone on benefits gets all of these).

the government oh-so-kindly gives me £3070 a year, out of which i immediately have to pay £1125 back in fees. That leaves me with £1945 to support myself for half the year - less than 1/2 * 4k, plus I have to pay for rent out of that - that's another £1695 gone, so that leaves me with less than £10 a week to pay all my bills, food, course costs, and everything else. Assuming my parents pay for me and let me stay at home free during the holidays.

Then the real kicker is that I have to pay all that back when I finish!!

They say "Your parents will give you money" but there is absolutely no way your parents can be forced to give you any money if they don't want to. They say "You can get a part-time job" but my uni doesn't let you work during termtime (although I do anyway) and you are strongly discouraged from working during Xmas or Easter. If you can't manage to find a job in any case then it's tough! I don't know how we are all meant to magically find jobs we can fit around our studies etc. when so many people are unemployed for years on end, but we are.

squeaky

Housing benefit - yes.

So, since I live in a house I also have Electricity biils, Gas bills, Water Bills, Phone bills, minor repairs and decorating... just like everyone else...

Then there's trying to set money aside to cover repair bills for assorted household goods (most of mine are over twenty years old and are getting harder to keep) that will eventually need replacing... just like everyone else...

Believe me - my £4K ain't just "pocket money" either.

jazzyjustlaw

crana999 wrote:

its a bit misleading to say "having to live on 4k a year" though if you don't have to pay for things like rent (housing benefit), dental care, prescriptions, council tax, school meals etc.. (obviously not everyone on benefits gets all of these).

the government oh-so-kindly gives me £3070 a year, out of which i immediately have to pay £1125 back in fees. That leaves me with £1945 to support myself for half the year - less than 1/2 * 4k, plus I have to pay for rent out of that - that's another £1695 gone, so that leaves me with less than £10 a week to pay all my bills, food, course costs, and everything else. Assuming my parents pay for me and let me stay at home free during the holidays.

Then the real kicker is that I have to pay all that back when I finish!!

They say "Your parents will give you money" but there is absolutely no way your parents can be forced to give you any money if they don't want to. They say "You can get a part-time job" but my uni doesn't let you work during termtime (although I do anyway) and you are strongly discouraged from working during Xmas or Easter. If you can't manage to find a job in any case then it's tough! I don't know how we are all meant to magically find jobs we can fit around our studies etc. when so many people are unemployed for years on end, but we are.

Oh yes and you risk getting lower marks then those that receive money from their parents because you are working instead of studying. I remember getting into lots of financial trouble as a full-time student which is why I study from home and work now.

crana999

squeaky wrote:

Housing benefit - yes.

So, since I live in a house I also have Electricity biils, Gas bills, Water Bills, Phone bills, minor repairs and decorating... just like everyone else...

Then there's trying to set money aside to cover repair bills for assorted household goods (most of mine are over twenty years old and are getting harder to keep) that will eventually need replacing... just like everyone else...

Believe me - my £4K ain't just "pocket money" either.

Well, of course it isn't pocket money, I wasn't trying to say it was. It just annoys me that the government seem to think I can magic money from thin air and I somehow need less to live on than what they deem the minimum amount someone on benefits can live on, and that, for example, we can all find part time jobs in the blink of an eye.

And I pay bills too, some of them are included in my rent and some I pay separately. I don't get a house for my rent - I share my bathroom with 11 other people.

Queenie

crana999 & Squeaky - I suggest .........


























...... come down to mine for a weekend and I'll send you both home with a food parcel, a HM quilt to keep your toesies warm (been flipping windy around here lately!) some hm bath oil and .... a bottle of vinegar thrown in for free

crana999

jazzyjustlaw wrote:

Oh yes and you risk getting lower marks then those that receive money from their parents because you are working instead of studying. I remember getting into lots of financial trouble as a full-time student which is why I study from home and work now.

My parents do give me money, but I feel bad about taking it because they already let me live at home free for half the year etc. If they didn't and I didn't have savings (I started saving almost all my wages, xmas money etc since I got my first job when I was 12) I really don't know how it would be possible to cope.

I mean obviously some people get higher loans, don't pay fees, get rent rebates etc. but if you don't qualify for those because of your parents' income, and they don't give you any money, you are up the creek without a paddle.

I think the system is deeply unfair - since you pay it back after you graduate I think everyone should get the same amount of help rather than it being based on your parents' income.

If you're over 18 and you want to claim benefits or whatever they don't look at your parents' income (I haven't checked for all of them, but I know they didn't when my boyfriend was on JSA), they don't expect your parents to support you once you are over 18. But if your child wants to go to uni that's different all together.........?!

I did think about going with the OU route and working instead, but if you get an offer to go and study at one of the best unis in the country, you can't really turn that down (although I often wish I had done).

Curry_Queen

crana999 wrote:

And I pay bills too, some of them are included in my rent and some I pay separately. I don't get a house for my rent - I share my bathroom with 11 other people.

But you presumably live in either HOR or furnished shared accommodation. It's not quite the same as maintaining your own household. I know cost of living is high where you are but those of us on benefits still have to pay those prices too and we don't have parents helping us out in "holidays" or providing food parcels at the start of term

squeaky

Yeah - I did say either because so many people seem to think that that's all a student grant IS.

When I did physics I was recommended to buy "any two or three" from a long list of books for each course.

I was actually doing thirteen separate courses PER TERM and if I'd bought books for all of them I'd have spent more than my entire grant!

As it was I finished up (after books) living on six quid a week which, to help put things in comparitve terms, would have bought me twelve pints of beer back then.

And in those days, thank goodness, we never had to pay it back! As it was, my overdraft took a while to clear.

That's waht makes this site so good - lots of varied experiences and perpectives coming to bear on the problems of managing your money

crana999

Queenie wrote:

...... come down to mine for a weekend and I'll send you both home with a food parcel, a HM quilt to keep your toesies warm (been flipping windy around here lately!) some hm bath oil and .... a bottle of vinegar thrown in for free

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

My grandma sent me a book of stamps today! I was slightly confused, I'm not sure she meant to send it!!