Introduction To Student Finances |
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| By: Matt Greene | ||||
While all students are entitled to a minimum level of state support for their education, the amounts can vary quite considerably, depending on household income and whether you live at home while studying. But there are additional means of financial help for both full and part time students. It's critical to apply as early as possible (which can now be done online via Student Finance England) whether or not you have been offered a place on a course. Tuition fees charged to UK undergraduates who are studying in England are capped at 3,290 a year for 2010/11. Students may be entitled to Tuition Fee Loans which will cover this completely, as well a Maintenance Loan (worth up to 4,950 if you live away from home) and possibly a Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant (worth up to 2,906). Recent government statistics suggest that it costs around 11,000 per year to be a student in the UK. If you are a student, you may be thinking: 'wow, I could do some serious damage with all that money'. However, once you take away rent, basic living essentials like food and, of course, tuition fees, then you realise that you don't have quite as much as you thought. You'll need to budget if you want to get a good balance between study and social life. Most importantly, don't secret your money away under your bed, put it into a building society or bank. The thing is: which bank to choose? All the banks are vying to get their hands on this year's new student loans, grants and support from generous parents. But which incentives will be most attractive to students - the most the largest interest-free overdrafts or the free gifts like railcards, discounts on mobile phones, laptops and travel insurance? Now that is behind you, the next step is to calculate your costs of living. Basically, all you do is calculate your 'income and 'expenses'. Take the money coming in from parents, grants, loans, maybe a job and then you need to take a look at what is going out. Rent is one of the major ongoing expenses, so it can be a real help to put money to cover this into a separate account. This way you'll know what you have left to play with each month. Well, after you've budgeted for food, books, laundry and perhaps travel costs! Students can keep spending to a minimum by learning to cook and by taking advantage of special student discounts in shops, pubs and cinemas. Being a student is all about learning new things, and while student finances are definitely low on the list of cool things to care about, if you are sensible about your finances, you won't need to be a poor student. |
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| Article Source: http://yourfinance.co.za | ||||
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