photo by Jeff Keen

This guest post is by Heidi Taylor from Graduate degree online.

It’s not something most students are programmed to do, but it’s something that makes really good sense. The habit of saving for a rainy day is an aberration for the young, what with their tendency to live for today and take tomorrow as it comes. But the cost of university is high, and if you don’t realize that today, you’re going to end up with a huge debt and no way of repaying it when you graduate, especially because of the way the economy is and because jobs are hard to come by. If you’re looking for ways to save money while at university, here are a few tips to help you along:

• Don’t use your credit card: We’ve all heard that a penny saved is a penny earned; in the case of credit cards, a penny not spent is more than penny saved when you calculate the amount of interest you’re saving. Don’t get into the habit of charging things to your card. Remember, you’re spending money that you do not have but which is borrowed, and on which you will owe interest if you don’t repay it within a certain time. [Read more]

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*UPDATE 18/05/09* From September 09 the interest rate will be 0% for post ‘98 loans. For Pre ‘98 loans the interest will be -0.4%. Find out more here.

Will student loan interest rate be negative next year?

Yes, if the Government follow their method for calculating interest rate for post (and Pre) 1998 loans. The rate as of March 2009 stands at 1.5% (post ‘98). This is calculated, according to Student Loans Company website (the company who collects and distributes the money on behalf of the Government):

“Student loans are not like commercial loans. They are subsidised by Government and attract a low cost interest rate. This interest rate is based on the annual March Retail Price Index (RPI) or the highest base rate of a number of major banks plus 1%; whichever is lower. [Read more]

photo by jenn_jenn’s

Welcome to the sixteenth money and possibly last making report, here’s the last one.

I’ve decided that although it may be interesting to read, (I hope!) it seems pointless to produce a post monthly that seems to vary little. So it may appear occasionally, who knows…

With uni work and exams, MMS will probably need dusting down!

But, for possibly the last time, here’s the figures…

[Read more]