student loan question

[Elmo]

just applied for my travel expenses, so should get about £200 in the next wee while to keep me going a bit longer *sigh*

[poindextermatic]

Are you at Glasgow uni Elmo?

[5lab]

bloomin scottash p*ssartists are still taking my money (grr)

they took £95 this month - thats a total of around £150 overpaid, and it'll be another £95 or so next month.

[javalord]

Your only doomed if you have no self control, which sounds like most of you

[tiggerai]

at the moment i stand at £1000 overdrawn and about £10k student loan and £100 on my CC

so i'm not TOO bad.

I've got £1800 overdraft £600 cc and £12k loan.

[magemanda]

And three years out of uni, I've only just paid off the last of my credit card, and managed to get my bank account into the black

It lasts forever!

[smtkr]

In the USA, owing a ton in university loans is not a bad thing. I really wish I had taken about 20,000 USD in loans. At least in my situation, where I never spent a dime until I started attending university and was able to obtain just enough scholarships that I could just break even paying for school with my own money, student loans would have been an extra source of cash for fun. The interest rates on student loans are lower than I can get from a savings account at a bank. Interest does not accrue until after you graduate and you don't have to pay until you graduate. If I had played my cards right, I would have taken the maximum amount of loans every year, made smart investments with the money and had two choices at the end:

1. Pay off the entire loan at graduation and keep the money I earned on top of it.

2. Pay the minimum amount every month for the rest of my life, knowing that the interest rate on the loan is much lower than what I make keeping the money.

Personally, I think that option 2 is perfect if you're not afraid of being in debt. It's just too bad I didn't think of this scheme my freshman year.

[Elmo]

Are you at Glasgow uni Elmo?

yes i was

[phunkygal]

Since we are discussing student loans, How does that £1000 student grant work? I heard they just giva ya a grand and u dont pay it back

i get this.... £330 the first two terms and £340 on the last. the lea also pay my tution fees (about £1200 i believe last year)!yay! your parents have to earn under 21k and my mum and step dad earn £0 and they are the ones who are looked at - luckily as my dad and step mum earn mega bucks.

cant you stop the payments from your account? also student loans have no interest ever so you shouldnt worry about having to pay more cos of the tax thingy.

[Elmo]

cant you stop the payments from your account? also student loans have no interest ever so you shouldnt worry about having to pay more cos of the tax thingy.

Oh how u'll get a shock when you get your balance around xmas time "no interest" is a lot more than you think when you see it written in black n white

[phunkygal]

how come?

[iMc]

You get charged interest at the rate of inflation iirc... it adds up trust me!

[Dougal]

You get charged interest at the rate of inflation iirc... it adds up trust me!

Studnet Loans don't charge interest anymore.

[5lab]

Studnet Loans don't charge interest anymore.

they really do, and they always will. its about 2.5-3% at the mo

[Dougal]

Damn.

We weren't told that:@

[DsW]

Yeah the rate is ever-so-slightly above inflation, but the bottom line is that it's pretty much the best loan rate you'll ever get (except completely interest free loans).

Also - you don't have to start paying it off until you hit the earnings threshold (around £18k at the moment, I think), and it doesn't show up on your credit score.

Basically no reason to pay it off early (unless you can't handle it hanging over you).

The day you get the letter to say you've finished paying it off is sweet!