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08 December
Student Debt: The Ghost Of Christmas 2009
Taking Control of Finances
by
SoftwareGuru
The potential risk of spending excessively with borrowed money
is far greater than the classic Scrooge tale of being too mean
to share the spirit of Christmas with others.
For many students the lack of money or financial support can be
a source of great stress.
Therefore, the relief of finally receiving delayed student loans
combined with new found independence, the availability of credit
cards, and the Christmas shopping season could potentially
combine to create a lethal cocktail of debt.
The question remains whether students will be sensible
with their money during this festive shopping season.
Over at TheGuardian.co.uk, the blog piece entitled, "Are
today's students living a champagne lifestyle?" resulted in
a
fierce debate among students and former students within the
comments section.
One interesting issue that surfaced from the comments is the
idea that because many parents in the UK have taken on a lot of
debt in recent years to facilitate their lifestyle, they have
set an example to their children that it is OK to do likewise.
Is that a fair point? Do students fully appreciate the
repercussions of taking on and
managing debt?
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Counting The Cost
Being a 3rd level student and living away from home involves
having new experiences such as having to do your own laundry and
cooking.
Taking control of such mundane matters as these will never be an
attractive prospect.
The problem arises when students adopt a similarly apathetic
attitude to managing their money.
For one thing, bailiffs and debt collectors won't show up on
your doorstep if you don't wash your clothes or maintain a
healthy diet.
When it comes to financial problems, mistakes can be much more
costly to the individual.
Negotiating standard university obstacles such as relationship
issues or exam stress are made even more difficult when carrying
the burden of excessive debt.
With entire
forums dedicated to thrifty spending this Christmas, both
parents and students can avoid financial headaches in January
providing common sense prevails.
Christmas will come and go but the debt will remain until it has
been paid off with interest.
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Beginning is half the battle
With all the talk in the news concerning the Chancellor's
pre-Budget report, let's take a moment to reflect on our own
Christmas budget.
By not ignoring the situation we have taken the first
step to regaining full control over our money.
The next step is to decide what we can afford to spend and once
those limits have been decided, to stick to them.
More resources and information can be found over at
MSN
Money and
MoneySuperMarket.
Hindsight is a tool which cannot change the past.
Yet, surely within each of us is the wisdom and knowledge to
know the difference between a responsible financial decision and
one based on the idea that, "I'll worry about that next year".
We can ignore our own inner voice by a variety of means: working
too hard, worrying about other things, anything that distracts
and enables us to avoid confronting our own personal concerns.
If you were to be visited today by the ghost of Christmas 2009,
what might you ask of yourself? |
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Posted by
admin
at
09:11
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Student Debt: The Ghost Of Christmas 2009