Students blow their loans too quickly

A recent survey uncovered some surprising, and in some cases alarming, statistics about how quickly students in the UK are getting through their student loans.

According to the survey, commissioned by discount site vouchercodes.co.uk, the average student will have used up their first loan by November 20th, a full three-and-a-half weeks before the end of the first term.

What is possibly even more concerning is that one in six students confessed that they will have blown their entire loan for the term in just 28 days!

The study sought to find out what students were spending their loans on. One in three students answered saying they regularly drank “expensive cocktails”, while another 13% surprisingly indulged in beauty treatments.

As you might expect, alcoholic drinks were the second-biggest expense on average for all students. The average overall spend worked out at £45 per month. The main offender to budgets was the weekly supermarket shop that costs £82 per month on average.

Other items that you might be surprised to see on the list include new clothes and eating out, with spending on books being fourth on the list, costing on average £30 per month. Despite their low incomes students remain a generous bunch with £23 per month going on treating friends and another £18 per month going on charitable donations.

It is also interesting to note some of the regional variations in spending habits of the UK’s students.

For example, Scottish students proved to be the most spendthrift of the lot, managing to use up their loan within a mere 43 days of the term on average. Contrast that with the careful Welsh students who made their borrowing last them a lengthy 56 days on average.

The results of this survey are based on over one thousand current university students who were asked about their spending habits, excluding tuition fee payments. The average maintenance loan (which is the means-test portion of the student loan to do with living costs as opposed to tuition fees) is £3,600 per year.

So you can tell that students have very little money to stretch out but a bit of budgeting or self-control on occasion could make their finances last longer and look healthier by the end of each term.

Another way, which has always proved popular with students is to work full –time for the summer before going away to university so you have a decent amount saved up and give your loans a bit of a buffer. This way will give any student time to adjust to living on their own and having to budget for more than just a night out once a week.

This guest post has been written by Essay Site that provides excellent articles and essay writing services for students to assist them with their studies.

Forex Tools to Crack the Market: 3 Top Trading Weapons

With forex trading now a viable past time for independent and part time traders, there are a growing number of individuals across a widening demographic who are taking to the open financial markets with relish. They are not guaranteed financial success, however, as although the foreign exchange is a low risk trading option it is also one that cannot be taken lightly.

One important step towards succeeding as a forex trader is to capitalize on the advent of technology, and more specifically the selection of tools that help inexperienced investors to learn about the market and understand it’s changing trends and direction. With the help of increasingly advanced and sophisticated software, you can develop your craft and reap significant financial returns.

The 3 Trading Tools in 2012: What They Are and Their Benefits to Traders

So which forex trading tools are the most purposeful? While the diverse and high quality range of tools offered by online brokers can make selection difficult, there are some that stand head and shoulders above their rivals.

Ÿ  Autochartist: One of the most comprehensive forex trading tools on the market, Autochartist is also among the most flexible and easiest to use effectively. It’s main purpose is to scan the financial markets and identify any technical chart pattern formations as they develop, such as triangles, tops, bottoms and wedges. Such an analytical process would take a debilitating amount of time under normal circumstances, but this tool can evaluate data and deliver real time updates as often as every 15 minutes.

Ÿ  VPS (Virtual Private Servers): The forex market is one that never sleeps, and the fact that it allows individuals to trade for 24 hours each day can make it difficult to manage your investments in real time and maximize the impact of your transactions. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a flexible website hosting solution offered by vendors worldwide, and one that allows traders to operate 24 hours a day from any global location. MetaTrader5 traders can also keep their automatic trading in operation even once their computers have been switched off.

Ÿ  Trading Central: The key to prolonged trading success is an ability to understand and interpret market trends before they unfold, and good quality technical analysis can help you to achieve this. Trading Central is a trading tool that offers in-depth reports and analytical data on forex, indicies, futures, equities, commodities and bonds, and it also utilizes a number of diverse indicators and time frames to suit short, medium and long term investors. In short, it is a multi-purpose tool that delivers crucial insight into the financial markets, regardless of your stake or type of investment.

Using Tools to Guide the Way Towards Financial Success

No matter how much of an aptitude you think that you have as a financial market and forex trader, an essential suite of forex tools can make a significant difference to your chances of earning a significant return. Even the most experienced of forex investors can get caught out by sudden market shifts, so independent and part time traders must take every advantage at their disposal.

After all, the significant advances in trading software and online tools have been key in narrowing the gap between professional and aspiring traders, and ignoring the fruits of this labour is likely to end in sustained financial losses. So make sure you access the most purposeful tools before you commit to becoming a forex trader, and give yourself every possible chance of success.