Financial trouble

[DistantCousinOfTheRevelation]

Anybody have trouble making ends meet up here? The student loan we get doesnt seem to stretch very far, and Im not talking about having enough money to go out every friday, I mean enough money to buy food and essentials. I may just have burnt through my loan too quickly this semester, but I'm honestly not someone who pisses it away on booze either (how come those kind of people always seem to have money anyway?).

I've tried going down to the jobcentre, but have been turned down by a couple of the people I applied for. I can't even get a cleaning job in this town!

Any advice or stories about your own money worries? How do you get by and still have a fulfilling University experience?

[beeny]

I've worked a part time job since the beginning of my second year in this town. My loan is ridiculously small (£87 a month) and without parental support in my first year I would have floundered. I still get parental support now (£87 barely stretches ya know) but I make around £150 a week at my job working 2-3 shifts a week. It's good for covering food and drink money and for any recreation or shopping. This then leaves me the money I still get from my parents (I'm honestly not a yah, just barely supported by the Scottish Government :p) to pay for bills etc.

IMHO I would start looking around bars, shops etc for any help wanted notices. I've seen a few in shop windows recently. Make it clear that you're a student so naturally uni work is your priority but that you could happily fit in hours around your timetable. It's a good way of feeling more integrated into the town too. A lot of bad feeling from locals is for students who breeze through the town and never help out at all, just live off mummy and daddy's bank balance (i'm such a hypocrite...) and treat the town as their playground.

I would not suggest going through the jobcentre route - thats more for full-time jobs, not people in full-time education.

[hr]

'But what do I know? I'm a bear; I suck the heads off fish.'

[munchingfoo]

Quoting DistantCousinOfTheRevelation from 14:47, 12th Mar 2008
(how come those kind of people always seem to have money anyway?).

They're considerably - richer - than yeouh! (in an liverpool meets essex accent)

[hr]

“Argue with an idiot long enough and people will fail to see the difference”

[Griggsy]

You could always turn to prostitution

[hr]

'I run wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures.'

[JM]

Joyce in student support may be able to give you a grant or a loan if you go see her.

[hr]

"Life can be full of many problems"; this can be translated into "tormenting you is how the big man gets his jollies"

[SchizophrenicCabbage]

I think I saw a sign in The Ardgowan/one of the pubs downhill from the Pilmour Links townhouses saying they were looking for bar staff.

[trouble]

Quoting Griggsy from 17:30, 13th Mar 2008
You could always turn to prostitution

[hr]

Aye, you're sitting on a veritable fortune...

My loan is the same, teeny tiny,and I get little in the way of parental support. See if you can find yourself a job, learn to love it, and speak to student support services.

The staff are lovely and try to treat each case as individual, appreciating your own circumstances. They can help you with either the hardship fund (sounds awful, but that's what it's there for) or a small loan of a few hundred quid to get you by. Hope you find the help you need

EDIT: I work 2-3 shifts a week, and I did have a very fulfilling university experience until my dissertation took over my life

[hr]

"Let's play master and servant."

http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37100566

[Guest]

Getting a job here is easier if you know someone already working, I've had three jobs here and each of them I've got because I know someone already working there. It's not much help if you don't know anyone, but ask around your friends as well, someone will know someone. One of the places I used to work in was swamped with cvs - every third customer seemed to be handing one in, and most of them went straight into the bin (by my boss, not me!). He'd check for experience, when they could start and how many hours a week they could do, anything else; education, interests etc he couldn't give a stuff about, so don't waste too much time on that if you are handing out cvs, and put work experience first above education.

Hope thats of some help.

[DistantCousinOfTheRevelation]

Cheers. Might start looking around for bar work then, sounds like an honest wage and I've done it before.
Might need a little short-term cash tho, so any ladies want a discreet shag? £40 an hour? lol
Seriously, I don't think I could stomach asking for a "hardship fund", I guess I could ask the parents for support, I don't know which one's harder!

[Frank]

There is, of course, also the alternative of getting/extending an overdraft with the bank. Student Bank accounts are there, in my eyes, for people who don't want to work whilst at Uni. Personally, I'm seriously inclined to always consider extending my overdraft before going for the harship fund.

Also, parents are usually helpful enough in a tight spot. Provided they're not under immense financial constraints, then they might well be able to forward you a £200 to help prop up your budget. But, as you say, it's always a bit difficult/dubious seeking your parents' aid. Overdraft, therefore, is my first port of call.

(NB- I can't manage work-time and academic-work-time, and I don't want th risk of failing at trying to do it better, so I always avoided getting a job whilst here...)

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."
Also, some years later:
"here we are arguing about a few uppity troublemakers with a bee in their bonnet and a conspiracy theory."

[munchingfoo]

YOu can't get the hardship fund unless your overdraft is max'ed out

[hr]

“Argue with an idiot long enough and people will fail to see the difference”

[fluffy]

i work twenty hours a week, am in third year and manage okay. I guess i wouldn't have to work so much if i wasn't so bad at spending.. it means losing out on social time a little, and studying in various blocks, but it works well for me. and it means that if i want something, i can have it, rather than surviving purely on overdraft. also i make sure i save money that i earned over the summer to put towards living costs at uni.
i found that i got my job, which is amazing, by sending out cvs before everyone came back in september. i sent them out in july, and got the job straight off. maybe that's something to think about for next year, even if it's a bit late for this year.
anyway, doesn't student loan come through next month?

[hr]

dev ksereis, alla eimai trella erotebmevei mazi sou..

[Mr_Big_Dave]

.....

[rob 'f*ck off' wine boy]

Also working in halls can get you flexible hours for a decent amount over minimum wage. Given the work is pretty monotonous, but you're doing it for the cash so...
Also, the banter can be alright. I know that Sallies will more than likely be looking for more people for next year (most temp staff are 4th years atm)

[taal]

I think it is difficult here, though. I have the maximum student loan and grant as well as a part-time job, and I'm still struggling to pay for flights for job interviews! I know they reimburse you, but that's afterwards.

[El Rey Rojo]

If you don't think you could "stomach" asking for a hardship fund, you can't really be in dire straits in my opinion. It is designed for exactly this situation and entirely funded by the government. If they don't consider you to be in need, they won't help or they will offer a loan instead. Either way, your pride is misplaced.

[beeny]

Quoting El Rey Rojo from 20:16, 14th Mar 2008
Either way, your pride is misplaced.

I think it's a bit unfair to jump on someone for having a sense of pride in his own financial situation. I personally admire the OP for asking for other routes to get money before taking what I can only assume is a last resort.

[hr]

'But what do I know? I'm a bear; I suck the heads off fish.'

[DistantCousinOfTheRevelation]

Cheers.
I wouldnt have posted if the situation wasnt fairly dire, I'm sort of sitting on my overdraft limit at the moment, living off what I have in my change jar!
The problem only began about a month ago when my rent came out earlier than I had forseen, I didnt realise and continued spending trying to keep up mostly with society events and gym dues, only to realise a couple of weeks later frugality should have been the flavour of the month instead. Nevertheless a couple of unavoidable expenditures followed, leaving me pretty much in my present state.

Extending my overdraft past the limit until I can get home might be the path of least resistance here, if it's possible, or a loan from student support if they can manage it.
Thanks for your advice anyway, I have more options than I thought I had.

[El Rey Rojo]

Hardship loans are exactly for this kind of situation. Might feel like the dole but its not

[kas48]

The Rule still needs staff. Get an application form at the Westport if you have previous bar experience.

[hr]

The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law. It is driven by it knows not what to impale itself, and die singing. At the very instant that the thorn enters there is no awareness in it of the dying to come; it simply sings and sings until there is not the life left to sing another note. But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We know and still we do it. Still we do it.