Talking Money

Hi I'm Aaron and i'm a 3rd year fine-art student from Byrm Shaw school of art. I'm in my 3rd year at the moment and there's quite a lot of work going on with dissertations and assessments coming up and before I know it it'll all be over!

The best things about being at university are you're with people who share the same interests and are like minded.

I think one of the most memorable moments, or funniest.. depending on how your mind works, at university was that once me and a friend ended up at a wake my mistake.. and they had a free buffet so we stayed for the food... (laughter)

Getting a shared house part 1

Aaron: In the second year I moved to a shared house which gave you more freedom to have parties and not have er...I don't know...

The experience of living in a shared house is very different to halls, you're weren't controlled by not having to make noise at a certain time, you had your access to your own washing machine. I think with halls that you kinda have a tendency maybe to stay in your cell-like room, within a house it's sort of open planned and you can walk around and meet people in the kitchen and living room without having to invade their privacy.

Getting a shared house part 2

Aaron: Paying bills in halls doesn't really happen, because they're included in your accommodation rent.

Alex: There is always things that you don't think about when you moving into a new place, Utilities, electricity, gas, but also things like insurance as well. Things that you don't always think about, they always mount up.

Aaron: When it comes to living in a shared house again, probably understand that you might be forced one day that you might have to pay a water bill that you thought you know you you had paid all of. Or you might have an electricity bill coming in the next few months so unless you don't want to be sitting in the dark, make sure you take that into account.

Travelling, travelling

Aaron: I spend probably about £60 on traveling a month.

Alex: I didn't think about the extra expense that was going to being incorporated as a result of having to commute.

Aaron: It takes a good two hours of you day so you have to be quite so you have to be quite disciplined with your time. Yeah so there...

Alex:The extra expense was about £2 for every time I went to university.

Aaron: See if you can get any student railcards, see what the best and cheapest way is to get collage is. If you can get there on the bus, it's often cheaper than taking the tube. So do your research.

Accommodation top tips

Raz: Ok my top tips are decide if you want to live in hall of residence or live at home

Jemma: Accommodation will be your biggest cost at university, so what you really need to do is work out all the costs involved, not just your rent.

Aaron: Understand that you might be forced one day to pay a water bill that you thought you had paid all of.

Mike: You should think carefully about who you want to live with. There is a lot of shared responsibility, but when it works, it works well.

Naz: Put your Ribena in your room it's the champaign of cordials.

Alex: I think a lot of people found the advantage of being able to study together a great opportunity.

Claire: It is a free part of your life and you're growing up and you're learning things. Just enjoy it as much as you can because you probably can't go back on this moment.

Getting the bare necessities

Aaron: When you first get to University you have access to all this money and offers and things and you might be tempted to go off and spend money on things you don't really need. You just end up spending a load of money on things you don't really need and sits in your room and gathers dust. Going out and buying entire collections, maybe of books, equipment that you're never gonna use, like cameras. You don't need to go out and buy the most expensive laptop if you're just going to use it for writing essays on. Bare that in mind that an overdraft is there to help you, but is not gonna solve all your problems, just buy what you need.

Budgeting top tips

Mike: Budgeting is a really important part of managing your money.

Ursula: Use student deals for restaurants and living and eating out.

Mike: List all your income and all your expenditure.

Aaron: Don't buy what you don't need.

Lucy: Err.. I can't remember what number 3 was! Err. There's that one where if you go to the supermarket late in the afternoon they have all the marked-down food.

Jemma: Get to like jacket potatoes. They're really cheap, they're healthy and you can have lots of different toppings on them.

Jana: There are loads of things that you can do for free - walking, hiking, borrow books or films, if you want to watch DVDs you can borrow them from the library. Take advantage of the many discounts that are offered to students.

Jemma: Jacket potato fillings - butter, tuna, mayonnaise, egg?!

Lucy: No!

Jemma: Prawn

Lucy: Yeah!

Jemma: Chicken..

Lucy: No

Jemma: Chili!

Lucy: No

Jemma: Salad..?

Lucy: Yeah

Jemma: Fish! ... that's it.

Maintenance loan low-down

Aaron: A maintenance loan is a... What is a Maintenance Loan exactly? I've been at uni for 3 years but I have no idea.

A Maintenance Loan is through the Student Loans company which goes towards your housing and living costs, but unfortunately this is the one that you have to pay back.

Getting a bursary

Mike: Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it, it's always available. I got a UNIAID accommodation bursary by filling out a form and sending it off.

Rosie: The bursary is worth £3500 which is what it would cost me to live in London for a year.

Aaron: I was lucky enough this year to receive a housing bursary from UNIAID.

Rosie: It pays for my accommodation, so I don't have to worry about that which is a huge amount of money.

Mike: It's quite competitive, but if you deserve it you will get it.

What's in store for graduates

Ursula: After my second degree, my medical degree, i'll probably have at least £30,000 of debt.. erm.. which is quite depressing but hopefully i'll be able to pay it back!

Rosie: I suppose it's just this anxiety, this feeling of it looming over you and that i've got to pay it back at the end of the 4 years.

Jemma: When I came out of uni with quite a lot of debt it was quite crushing that I didn't realise how much it would be. However I wouldn't have done anything differently I think it was good to have my own money although it was borrowed to have at uni.

Aaron: In terms of repaying your loan, you don't need to start repaying it until you earn a certain amount of money which is around £15,000 a year. However, they say your loan is "this much" but it does have a interest. The amount that you borrowed for your 3 or 4 years isn't what you'll pay back, it does increase.

Sarah: At the moment i'm just hoping i'll get a really good job to pay it off!

Too busy studying

Aaron: My course is a full-time studio based course which leaves little time to get a job to subsidise my student loan. So if you can work, and you do have reading weeks or days where you don't have to be in collage even if you are just working a day a week it will make a big difference. Whether you use that money to pay for your food for the week or for going out on the weekends then I would recommend it.

Can't work?

Aaron: For people who can't afford the time to work, they should look into bursaries for accommodation such as UNIAID housing bursary. Research into Foyer and the hardship fund. This can all help make your university experience a happier one with out the worry of running out of money,

Good things about banks

Vinit: The first time I needed to go to the bank was when I needed to convert my normal bank account to a student bank account . I was greeted by a very lovely lady who explained what I could do what I needed to do. And quite literally it was one of the easiest things I have ever done.

Aaron: If you do exceed your overdraft limit don't be afraid to go and talk to your bank. I went to my bank and asked them to increase my overdraft limit and they did it and it was all cool. Super in-fact, it was the best experience of my life. The bank people they give you free coffee, free pens you name it.

Don't worry, have fun

Aaron: The worst things about university are probably money issues of worrying about whether your going to be able to pay your rent. And so it's finance issues really.

Sarah: I have a vague idea of what a budget it.

Nathan: We'd like to welcome the students in and make it easier to talk about their finances so we can take that away from them, their worries about their finances and they can just enjoy their time at university and their study.

Claire: It is a free part of your life and you are growing up and you're learning things and your learning who your are just enjoy it as much as you can because you probably can't go back on this moment.

HSBC are here to help

Nathan: Here at HSBC we do listen to the voices of the students, we do want them to understand we want to take away any the financial difficulties they have. We want them to feel comfortable to come into a branch or use our website to help them with their financial needs while they are at university.