Not long till the final years installment. Where did your last student loan go?

I drank mine :clap:

How do you have any left over from rent and bills!

How do you have any left over from rent and bills!


I work, so that pays for my essentials.

Well yes, so do I. What I meant was that's where my loan went!

Everything else I have to pay for!

Strange how most of the rest of the adult population still think we get grants :rolleyes:

Oh sorry, I thought you was asking me :blush:

Ive got nothing to show for my last installment. It never went on rent or anything like that.

My loan went on tuition fees and the rest on rent. Even though I have a good job I don't have any spare money :( I could start up on a rant about the unfairness of the means testing system :rant: but it's a lovely sunny day outside and I'll just get myself really wound up!! :)

Some people do still get grants - I did, they're means tested.

Accomodation is expensive - my loan is £4195 a year, and my rent is £3100 of that, leaving about £300 a term (if my parents didn't help out with the rent)

Can't wait for the next installment :)

edit: and I won't disagree on the unfairness of the means testing system, since i'm not in the good position from next year :P

You're very lucky Alex! I got just over £3000 loan, £1200 of that was tuition fees, rent works out at about £2860... Food etc doesn't even come into that and I have course costs of things like books (I do English so these things are expensive!) I don't get any help from my parents either and it really does get me down that I can't afford to go out and have fun like students are supposed to... In fact I spend most of my time worrying about where my next meal is coming from :(

I spent most of it on my tuition fees but work also so much of my pay goes on food and networking :)

I do sympathise - I've just been on the student finance site and seen that loans next year are going up to £4300 maximum.

As it is, anyone with a parental income of below £22k doesn't pay anything, which sounds fair enough, the main problem with the system is that people with divorced parents incomes aren't counted on both incomes, just on one - which in some cases is how it should be, in others it isn't.

You could always marry another student - then you'd both be entitled to full loan and grant :)

I'm actually thinking of declaring myself financially independent next year in the hope that I might be entitled to some more help! My parents would love to help me, they just can't afford to as I'm not an only child! I don't quite know how I'd go about this or what documentation I'd have to provide (I live with my non-student partner who works full time). Any ideas??

Just drives me crazy when some of my friends get so much money from the government, don't pay fees, yet still get massive handouts from their parents.... And then moan about having no money!

I'm actually thinking of declaring myself financially independent next year in the hope that I might be entitled to some more help! My parents would love to help me, they just can't afford to as I'm not an only child! I don't quite know how I'd go about this or what documentation I'd have to provide (I live with my non-student partner who works full time). Any ideas??

Just drives me crazy when some of my friends get so much money from the government, don't pay fees, yet still get massive handouts from their parents.... And then moan about having no money!
Another suggestion, but have you tried contacting the university financial help place, I'm not sure how they'll help, but a few people I know (here, so possibly different policies) have got handouts from the 'hardship fund' of between £50 and £200

Mine goes on rent, got about £900 odd pounds in jan, £800 of it went straight to my landlord :(

I have a job too, but I prefer to use that money for things I like, such as shopping or going out, rather than my uni stuff.

I just wish they would make text books cheaper, Im expected to buy at least 3 a term, most of which are £40 each. How can I afford nearly £250 a year just for bloody bits of paper!

To people who think we students have it easy, they are sooo wrong. I'm currently in uni 3 days a week, at work 3 days, and any free time trying to figure out what the hell my lectures were about. So basically I'm doing a 6 day working week, and getting only minimum wage for half of it! Fair?? Easy?? I think not!!

Mostly on guitars...

I just wish they would make text books cheaper, Im expected to buy at least 3 a term, most of which are £40 each. How can I afford nearly £250 a year just for bloody bits of paper!


That's nothing ;) We're expected to pay around £5 per set text (of which there are around 8 for each module) plus textboooks (about £20 each) for each module. Works out at about £360 a year :loopy: There are cheaper ways of doing it though (Ebay; Amazon Marketplace etc, but some there are no ways around)

Unfortunately the uni won't help me at all because of what my parents earn and because I have a job :roll::huh: It's catch22 I'm afraid...

I might have to marry a student after all....

One whos not a millionaire remember :P

On the textbooks front, I've been surprised - the university has signed up to an ebook service, so everything in my department is online, for free - the only textbooks I've bought were for an (optional) Spanish module... I think a lot more universities might start doing it this way over the next few years

general living costs and stuff and things for house. I did buy books in first year but then realised that i never read any of them anyways so theres no point buying anymore

E-Books are a good idea :thumbsup: The other thing I've discovered is Audio CD's of certain novels that are on my course - saves both time and money as it's much easier to be read to than to read a 1000page novel in a week and they can be bought quite cheap on Ebay :)

Anyway I'm leaving this thread well alone now before I depress anyone else any more :thumbsup: