Embarking on the journey of further study after the official school years have finished can be both an exciting and daunting time for young adults. On the one hand, it feels like life is just beginning, yet with it comes more responsibilities, including how to pay for those education expenses and other related costs, and how to better manage money and repay any educational loans.
Let’s take a look at some top tips to help students deal with education expenses and money management during this new and exciting phase of life.
Plan Your Finances As Well As Your Education
If you’ve finished school and are undertaking a university degree, for example, no doubt you’ll be making plans, such as what courses you are going to take, which university you will attend, where you’re going to live, what course materials you need and so on.
This is all a necessary part of the process but at the same time, you need to make some financial plans. How will you cover living expenses and pay for your lifestyle during those university years? Are you planning to work part-time and, if so, doing what kind of job? Will you be getting some form of instant short-term loan to pay for your studies?
The more you make plans before the time comes, the smoother everything will go, the more confident you’ll feel that you have things under control, and the less chance there will be of any major money problems along the journey.
Ways To Finance Your Education and Living Expenses
As far as covering your everyday living expenses is concerned, you may already have some savings stashed away or your parents will help you out a little. Many students take on part-time or casual work, with hours that are flexible and fit in with their study schedule. Generally, it’s not that difficult for students to find work, with the hospitality industry being a popular choice for students due to a flexible range of hours.
When it comes to paying for the study courses, again you’ll have some choices, with government loans for students, study grants, scholarships provided by educational institutions and private enterprises, or taking out an educational loan from one of the banks or a private lender. Students can always find ways to fund their education. It’s more a matter of what type of funding suits your circumstances best.
The Do’s and Don’t’s While Taking An Education Loan
If you opt for a government loan, such as the HECS scheme, you won’t have to give any thought to repaying the borrowed funds until after you have completed your studies and land yourself a paying job. This fact alone makes HECS a very popular choice. Having said that, you do have a rather large debt hanging over your head the entire time you’re studying, knowing that you’ll have to start repaying it the moment you start working.
One way how students can ease their education loan worries is by trying to fund at least part of the cost of education themselves. In other words, you could take out a small loan in Australia from a bank or private lender for part of the amount and cover the rest out of your earnings or savings.
Another way to ease the weekly or monthly burden is to take out a Student Loan over longer terms. You’ll ultimately pay more in interest, but the monthly repayments will be lower and more affordable on a part-time income.
A third option could be to take a gap year before commencing university, working for 12 months and saving as much money as possible during that time. You can then put this money towards your education and you will likely only have to borrow a much smaller amount. Even if you could cover half the costs of your course by the time you start, any loan you take out will be far easier to repay month after month because the total is a lower amount.
Talk To a Private Lender About Educational Loans
Cashify is a private lender that specialises in short-term and longer-term Student Loans and more broadly, Personal Loans, which can be used to fund educational expenses. Our interest rates are fair and we can help tailor a loan to suit your specific needs. Talk to us today.
Disclaimer: Please note this content is of general nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situations or needs. For advice tailored to your financial situation, it is advised that you seek guidance from an accountant or financial advisor. The information contained in this article is correct at the date of publication.
