Help with College Money

LegacyUser

(Hi, I needed to go unreg for this so I had to post in personal issues as I do not think the Student Finances section allows me to make an anonymous post? Sorry if I'm wrong)


I'm currently in my first year in University. I didn't receive any grant from SUSI because the income of my parents is too high, however I am struggling to pay for college costs right now. I'm not in dire straights at the moment but I'm worried about my dwindling bank account - I saved a good 80% of my money from my summer jobs at home from the past three years but a good chunk of that was lost when I paid accommodation costs (I did not pay for all of the accommodation, my parents did help somewhat).

I'm still on Christmas break right now and I'm working 2-3 days a week at the job I've had for three summers now (these are the only hours they have for me and I had no luck getting anyone else to accept me over Christmas as I was not staying in the town for long, just for the holidays). I've been actively looking for job on and off campus in my college/city for the past semester but so far I haven't found anything but internships or full time work. I'm worried about paying for accommodation next semester (which I have to pay myself) and I'm really worried about 2016 when I go on co-op and Erasmus - do banks give loans for these?

I've looked up all the SUSI information but they say a student under 23 is called "dependent" and is assessed on the income of their parents. We've never had a medical card either - is there any way I'd be eligible for that right now? There are fee's for the doctors office in college and there was one occasion last semester where I was sick and should have gone but just didn't have the money.

Does anyone know if any other grants exist or if there's an office in the college that can help with these situations or just give advice? I'm not looking for miscellaneous money for going out, I don't drink or smoke. I'm just worried about accommodation costs, paying for coins to wash my clothes, travel costs to go visit my brother and costs of books/dictionaries for college. I would like to go out and be able to afford a taxi home though, which I haven't been able to do :P I'm just looking for other options, especially with Erasmus. I know it's still a year away but I want to know what I can do to help myself with this.

(And yes, I have made my parents aware of these costs. And no, they do not pay).

Meathlass

Go to your Students Union. Every college has a hardship fund so that's an option for emergencies.

Speak to your college bank about expenses for Erasmus etc.

Make up a list of all your expenses over the 9 months of college to bring with you to the SU and where you are falling short.

You're right to tackle this now before it becomes an insurmountable problem.

paperclip2

Talk to the college about the student assistance fund. every college has one and can be used for lots of different things. Each person is assessed on a case by case basis. The SU should have details or the college website.

catonthewire

Hi, Both my son and daughter were able to get financial help from the student assistance fund, they received funds on three occasions ...
Their assistance advisor was fantastic and talked them through the process of applying, they also put some funds into a credit union account and borrowed small loans, paying it back from their part time jobs...
Hope this helps...