LIFESTYLE: I NEED A DOLLAR, DOLLAR, A DOLLAR IS WHAT I NEED!

ARE STUDENTS REALLY BROKE?

I've been a university student for 3 years now. I have another year to go before I go out into the big wide world, but all I hear these days is how easy students have it what with all our "free" money. So I'm going to be talking about the truth behind a students budget. 

For the last 3 years I have heard people tell me to just budget a little more, get a job, stop complaining about my free money. This is all from people who basically have no idea what sort of money I receive from Student Finance England or what I have to pay.

So let me just give you all the low down. 

I receive about £7000 a year from Student Finance and whilst this may seem like free money to an outsider, I am VERY aware that I have to pay every penny of that back plus interest, so really it's not free at all. 

On this budget I still have to pay all my bills, including rent, electricity and/or gas, internet, water and personal bills such as a mobile phone and food shopping. No I don't pay tax on this money and no I don't pay council tax, but I also don't get housing benefits, water discounts and or a bursary to help me out. How is £7000 a year looking to you now?

"If you need money then just get a job!!"

Oh how I tried during my first year at uni... In today's economic crisis it's hard enough to get a job. Now try to find an employer who is okay with you living in 2 towns throughout the year. I shouldn't have to choose between a job and going home for the holidays but it's a choice many of us have to make. If we are lucky enough to get a job on campus (which I was not) then often or not, we can't work enough hours to make a decent amount of money each month... And then there's that delightful Emergency Tax that steals half our earnings until we can claim it back!

Now £7000 isn't a lot to live on and generally if you earn a low wage then you get income support benefits and budgeting loans to help you out... Not if you're a full time student!! No sir, we don't qualify for any extra help! 

"But that's what your parents are for..."

I despise this notion. Whether my parents are wealthy or not, at the age of 22 when I move home, I want to be able to pay housekeeping and contribute to the bills because I take from them. I eat the food, I use the water and electricity so I want to pay my way. I have 2 younger siblings, a mother who cannot physically work and my dad on an average wage. Yet when I come home, applying for jobs left right and centre, I am not allowed to claim JSA because I should be eeking out that £7000 for the next 4 months!!

I don't mean to rant but I am so sick of people telling students to "budget more" or "just get a job" because it's not that simple. Students live on less than people on full benefits and we have to pay it all back, so please for the love of all things sane, please cut us some slack! We don't get much and a lot of us do manage to get some form of part time work, but for many we do live on a shoe string budget!! So thank your lucky stars if you qualify for the benefits (which you don't have to pay back) and quit telling us to live off baked beans and pot noodles-- that joke gets old real quick! :P

Have you ever had someone tell you to suck it up when it comes to money? What is your situation as a student?

*Disclaimer: The UK benefits system is available to help support those that need it and I am in no way slating those who receive this help, I am simply comparing it to the help and support available to university students in the UK."