I just bought a Ps3, 360, £2000 computer and a 40" plasma screen with my Uni grant!

Freeman

Freeman

Freeman

Soldato
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No, I didn't really.

But I'm planning on going to Uni next year. Working it all out I'll be in near enough 20 grands worth of debt by the end of it.

My question is, why do you hear so many people saying "I just bought a PS3 and a widescreen plasma with my Uni grant, wooop!" How do they afford this? Say they got 6k for the year, 3k for living, 3k for the course, how do they afford to spend hundreds/thousands on that type of equipment?

Is it simply because mummy and daddy are rich/they have a job so can afford to eat into their loan? Or am I missing something.
 
Because most students can actually survive on less cash than they get from the loan. So they have cash to 'spare'.
 
Usually they are just stupid with their money. The kind of people that spend spend spend to look good amongst their peers then have the face to complain when they get charged bank fees for going over their already enormous overdrafts.
 
fools and there money are easily parted :) dont think most people going to uni realise just what sort of debt they come out with (sure they know, but they dont realise how annoying it is once you've finished0

saying that though i must be a fool, just bought 2 sofas and a 42" TV and bought my dad a birthday present that i probably went a bit ott on spending on (he deserves it though) :p (not that ive been or going to uni, but ill have a mortgage as of the 31st of this month :eek: )
 
If you are really determined/stupid then you can live on very little, one of my mates never quite got the hang of budgeting properly and would frequently end the year living off 8p noodles and putting everything onto his credit card.

Most of the people who buy such expensive gear will probably find themselves in major debt and require someone to bail them out. That said the student loan is pretty much the best loan rate that you will ever receive in your life so it can, on occasion, make sense to spend it thus.
 
My mate gets given 2K each year as well as a bigger loan than me all because my parents have a bigger income, my parents can't afford to give me £2500 a year like the government thinks they should be able to. My loan doesnt even cover the cost of the rent let alone the bills, so ive had to work my butt off this summer so i can afford next year while my mate sat on his lazy ass and gets £180 a week to live on or something like that. :mad:

This makes me VERY VERY angry. :mad:
 
I get a £3000 loan and i dont need it so technically i can spend it on what i wish. I always seem to be broke though cos i didnt take the loan out last year
 
I have a well paying job so I've used bits of my maintenance loan and grant to pay for some things, if you have a job whilst at Uni then there's no reason why you can't live comfortably and still buy some of the things you want imo.
 
My rent is paid in advance, so its just money for living really. Its the cheapest rate to borrow at also, so may aswell enjoy it while you can.
 
Because they are stupid, just because you go to Uni does not make you Eisenstein over night, they are letting anybody in these days, they are just pushing up the country's debt.

Most of them don't have any life skills and have been living of mummy and daddy for to long.
 
Taking parents income into the equations is absolutely stupid, parents have no obligation to fund their kids through uni

the system should be simple, no grants and an equal loan available to all, the loan probably big enough to fund fees and basic living costs, extras can then be funded from a part time job
 
Rotty said:
Taking parents income into the equations is absolutely stupid, parents have no obligation to fund their kids through uni

the system should be simple, no grants and an equal loan available to all, the loan probably big enough to fund fees and basic living costs, extras can then be funded from a part time job
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I do think that people with parents who have a very low income should have a little bit of help like £400 a year or somthing like that but not £2k!!!!

And me only being given the minimum loan is really unfair and i agree that all loans to students should be equal, why should i get the smallest loan when it will be me paying it back not my parents.
 
I don't agree with there, £1000 is a huge amount of money while at uni, after when you have a job it's worth significantly less, as long as the debt is managable you should have a great time at uni, Seeing as student loans have to be paid back at about £5 a week you might as well make the most of it rather than just stay inside for the whole of uni and have no fun for the sake of saving a few quid.
 
My cousin just finished his stint at uni. He has all the things you mentioned - and a lot more. He also managed to just scrape through his degree even though he never had a part-time job.

His parents have informed the family that he now has 2 credit card bills maxed out, an overdraft, many loans and a few things on HP.

In total he owes around £23,000 (which includes his student loans) and his parents had already bailed him out of debt a few times before. All he has to show for his last 4 years spending are a few gadgets worth around a grand on ebay.

He now plans to take a year out travelling before he starts work :rolleyes:

I take it this is the norm these days. Or do some students actually understand how money & debt work ?
 
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how random said:
I do think that people with parents who have a very low income should have a little bit of help like £400 a year or somthing like that but not £2k!!!!
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parental income should have nothing to do with it, as I said parents have no obligation to fund their kids through uni and as such no assumption should be made to that effect
 
how random said:
My mate gets given 2K each year as well as a bigger loan than me all because my parents have a bigger income, my parents can't afford to give me £2500 a year like the government thinks they should be able to. My loan doesnt even cover the cost of the rent let alone the bills, so ive had to work my butt off this summer so i can afford next year while my mate sat on his lazy ass and gets £180 a week to live on or something like that. :mad:

This makes me VERY VERY angry. :mad:
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I totally agree with you and am in exactly the same position!

I get a loan which just about covers my fees, then a maintenance loan which doesn't actually cover the cost of my rent so looks like i will be starting and ending the year on 8p noodles :(

Whilst a friend who's parents own their own business can claim a full grant due to his parents not receiving a wage opting to pay themselves in dividends thus avoiding tax etc to a degree, granted i don;t know the exact details, but i know i am in dire need of money whilst others who get funded are less so, ohh well, thats life it seems like, i will be sure to make the most of my time at uni, money or not! :D
 
Rotty said:
parental income should have nothing to do with it, as I said parents have no obligation to fund their kids through uni and as such no assumption should be made to that effect
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I think a lot of parents will help their kids out if they can, i know mine do and three people who im sharing a house with next year their parents do, which is why i think people should be helped out a bit if their parents have low income.
 
Rotty said:
parental income should have nothing to do with it, as I said parents have no obligation to fund their kids through uni and as such no assumption should be made to that effect
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Completely true.

I have a friend at uni who's parents earn decent money so he gets the minimum loan and has to pay his fee's himself and his parents don't help him out at all so he's having to work nearly every hour spare to pay for uni and his living expenses. Then i have another friend who's parents don't earn much and he's getting maximum loan, fee's paid for him and a couple of grants and works 4 hours a week for a bit of spare cash.

Im in the same situation as my first friend but fortunately my dad has always said he would pay for anything to do with education. Had he refused to help i would have to work more than 1 day a week ;) :o
 
how random said:
I think a lot of parents will help their kids out if they can, i know mine do and three people who im sharing a house with next year their parents do, which is why i think people should be helped out a bit if their parents have low income.
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certainly they will but this should not be assumed
 
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