Student loan! what should i buy?

Soldato
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i might put it towards a stint of travelling.

I pay enough back too, but Uni was well worth it. You are too young to worry about saving it for X, Y ,Z.

Enjoy yourself at uni, it is your last horrah in childhood. Spend it on whatever youneed to give you the best time there or travelling as you have said.

Worry about the boring old stuff after uni, I certainly wouldnt do it any other way!!
 
Soldato
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I like this !!

Oh hey look, I was given a loan from the bank, where do I blow it all off!!!

It's not a grant..it's a loan. You have to pay it back! If you don't need it, how about putting it in a bank account until you have to pay it back?

Sense?
Because it's a very cheap loan at a time when even if you have got your rent covered etc you're not likely to have much spare dollar knocking about. I see absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying it, so long as you're aware you will pay it back over time then there won't be any surprises, like I say I don't notice mine being taken out at all.
 
Soldato
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Sorry you seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder and are a bit cynical but I'm sure my degree will be worth something. I'm working at IBM on my placement next year and will hopefully come out with a graduate job offer...thanks.
£20 a month will not eat up any £16k+ a year earnings!!

Some people run into difficulties managing their money/debt, some don't, lets leave it at that.

I think you have the chip/shoulder problem mate, I was referring to the OP, not you.

...but if you think it does apply to you then that's fine and your weak self-justifications have been duly noted.

:)
 
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Associate
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For me, I work out how much rent I'm supposed to pay untill I get my next payment then I pay into my rent account. That way I've always got a roof over my head. The rest of the cash is mine, I still have to budget for food and partying etc but I dont spend that much. Hell I ended up with over £150 left at the end of last time when everyone else was eating 3p noodles from Asda.

I didnt get any money during the first term thnanks to Student Finance's mess up so I had to live on £10 a week.

This term I'm looking at buying a HDTV :D
 
Soldato
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Stuff all the plonkers that are telling you to ISA it. Just dont go and buy a 52" plasma or anything. Use it for nights out, many of them.

I had max load for 4 years, now own almost 20k but i have the best 4 years of my life. Plus I even managed to save 10k up and went travelling for 8 months, 1 year after i finished uni. Happy times!
 
Associate
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Stuff all the plonkers that are telling you to ISA it. Just dont go and buy a 52" plasma or anything. Use it for nights out, many of them.

I had max load for 4 years, now own almost 20k but i have the best 4 years of my life. Plus I even managed to save 10k up and went travelling for 8 months, 1 year after i finished uni. Happy times!

indeed, spend it, have fun, these are probs gonna be the best years of your life, just go for it, buy what you want!
 
Soldato
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I spent mine on a Thunderbird 2000 XP fresh build + ram + gfx card, with a Juno full size tower from OCUK counter. Direct from the traitorous short feller who shall remain nameless who was like a son to Spie :p

This was around 10 years ago though.

Edit: This was at Stafford Uni - so its not like there was a night life to spend it on.
 
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Soldato
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Stuff all the plonkers that are telling you to ISA it. Just dont go and buy a 52" plasma or anything. Use it for nights out, many of them.

You will feel a lot worse when you have £5 in the bank and you have just realised you have spend god knows how much ruining your kidneys and liver, something that you will see come out of your pay packet month by month 5-10 years down the line when your repaying your loan.

Save it and put it in an ISA, or If you really must buy something, buy something that you will actually be able to enjoy for years to come, and if extra possible, something that has a low depretiation rate just incase you have to sell it to bury your head out of debt.
 
Man of Honour
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indeed, spend it, have fun, these are probs gonna be the best years of your life, just go for it, buy what you want!

Or he could listen to people who have been there and done that. :)

You will feel a lot worse when you have £5 in the bank and you have just realised you have spend god knows how much ruining your kidneys and liver, something that you will see come out of your pay packet month by month 5-10 years down the line when your repaying your loan.

Save it and put it in an ISA, or If you really must buy something, buy something that you will actually be able to enjoy for years to come, and if extra possible, something that has a low depretiation rate just incase you have to sell it to bury your head out of debt.

Indeed.

Hindsight is a great thing.

I'm not saying don't enjoy yourself or spend some money, just don't waste it - invest it and if you fall short, draw from it.

Don't clock yourself up with debts before you can even afford to pay them off.
 
Soldato
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I'm not saying don't enjoy yourself or spend some money, just don't waste it - invest it and if you fall short, draw from it.

Don't clock yourself up with debts before you can even afford to pay them off.

So, enjoy yourself by not wasting money and investing it :confused: Unless you get off on watching your bank statement or stocks and shares i dont think this is possible

Most people who go to uni dont have a 50k a year job lined up so they can pay their student loans off.

As already said, dont buy stupid things you dont need, go out and have fun with it like everyone else and spend it on normal things like clothes. Nights out out can be done cheaply at uni, drink in, straight out to a club or an all you can drink place

Dont bother buying books either. Thats what the library and the internet is for. The only book i bought in 4 years was a project management course. I ended up getting 23% on the course work. Luckily I pulled it back to a dead pass (40%) with a half decent mark in my exam
 
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Soldato
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I'm using my last payment to get rid of pre uni debt (started uni at 24) as the interest you pay on the student loan at the end is vastly better than 19.9% apr which i currently have to put up with lol.

Any space cash after course resources next student year (so sept onwards) will most likely go into an ISA for future traveling or purchases.
 
Associate
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Been at year for 3 years, didnt get a maintenance loan in the first year and paid my first year off straight away so i owe 12k all in all. Out of the 6k which is the maintenance I have paid for 3 years of car tax which probbaly comes to about 2k to 2.5. Maintaining the car its broken down so many times and new tires, a holiday, books for uni and then petrol aswell as food, rent etc. :( bad times lol by the looks of things tho my 12k loan is a small amount compared to some.
 
Soldato
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However, since you still get a large amount of the loan now when the term is almost finished then I can see why people would want to "waste" it on something.

But you need it to survive the summer? I suppose you can work full time over summer, but I want to enjoy the climate and stick to part time! So I had to stick to budget over summer aswell.
 
Soldato
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Also, if you are really skint, in your final year you can apply for a hardship loan. Its not even a loan, they just asses you and its free money you dont have to pay back. I never got this because obviously i had enough (saved a few k before i went to uni from working). A few of my mates got about £600 - £1000 though!

My housemates letter was outstanding. It read something like "I get ill all the time but cannot afford medicine" and "I have a weekend job when not at university but cannot afford to pay for petrol" He wasnt joking either, i took a picture of it because i neally wet myself when i read it. He came to uni at 18 and already had racked up something like 3k on credit cards and was paying them back all throughout uni. Think he had about 10 accounts at one point
 
Soldato
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Unless your parents are unemployed and you get a full loan, grant and usually a bursary. Puts people on more than most part time workers are on. :mad:

why angry ? why should people be denied a good quality education just because there family is less well off ?

even the maximum amount would be a struggle to get by on if you have no other income and dont have your parents helping out
 
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