The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) recently published their 2015 ‘Third Level Education Survey'. They asked parents and students about how they plan to meet the costs of third level education.

The results show that 59% of parents expect to get into debt to cover college costs, with €5,030 the average debt per child per college year. The research also shows that parents contribute an average of €453 per child per month, up on last year. With money worries being a big concern for parents and students, we at Skibbereen CU have come up with several tips to help new students to manage their financial needs in this new stage of their lives.

Tip 1: Work out all the new expenses you will have. For many of you, this is your first time living away from home, your first time buying your own groceries, preparing your own meals, paying bills. Without a clear plan in place, you may overspend. It is a good idea to set up a budget to help track your expenses. See our tables below for the average cost of living for college students.

Tip 2: Track your spending and income for a few weeks at the start of the college year. This will give you an idea of your average spending over the year. It will also show you instances where you were overspending and give you opportunities to cut back for the next month.

Tip 3: If you need to borrow, calculate your total borrowing requirement, but don’t draw down the entire loan immediately. This will allow you to maximise your efficiency and avoid overspending. If you are in receipt of a student grant, borrowing each term will also ensure that you need to borrow less.

Tip 4: Always shop around for the best deal. Whether this means doing your shopping in Aldi or Lidl, or buying your textbooks online, it always pays off to look for the best deal. This applies to loans and borrowing too. Always check out the different loans available, the APR and any other charges.

Tip 5: Sometimes, things can be overwhelming and it helps to talk to someone. All colleges have a support structure in place for their students. If you run into any financial difficulties, you can always talk to us at Skibbereen Credit Union.

No Grant Costs

With Full Non-adjacent Grant Costs

Saving for College

Congratulations to all students who have completed their leaving cert.Students will have recieved notification of their college places by now and  the task of  paying for accomodation and college fees is priority now.

7 Practical tips for a student loan

The following  tips are based on my experience of providing student loans with the past twenty years  and also being a parent of two college students.

Tip 1

Work out  broadly the cost of your college year. Begin by tracking your spending for two to four weeks to find out where your money is  really going. Usually, just by tracking expenses, you'll start to curb expenses. In a budget sheet list scources of income such as scholarships, money from summer jobs, cash from parents as well as all your expenses.  See the average living  costs from our table below. Your course fees will be on top of your living expenses.

Tip 2

Set-up a weekly budget plan that you can work with and stick to it. Allow some flexibility for unexpected costs but a rule set a spending limit and stick to it. Put your weekly allowance into a seperate account and only draw extra monies in an emergency.

Tip 3

If you need to borrow calculate your total borrowing requirement but only draw it down in stages. Many students draw down the total loan and spend much more in the first term and often run out of money in the last term and have to rely on their parents or further borrowing. If you are in receipt of a Grant, borrowing each term will also ensure you need to borrow less.

Tip 4

Don't be fooled by interest only loans or deferred loans, as in my experience, this puts off taking responsibility and the loan just gets much larger and parents often end up paying a huge debt at the end of the term. Check out the different loans available, the APR and any other charges.

Tip 5

From time to time everyone can benefit from support so find someone you can really talk to. This person may become one of your best mentors in helping to plan your financial life, I am biased but I think, this should be your local Credit Union.

Cost of Living Guide for 2011/12

The following is a guide to the cost of living for a student in Ireland for 2011/12.

* Sources used to produce the DIT Student Cost of Living Guide included the Daft.ie rental report Q4 2010; Q1 2011 CSO; Consumer price index April 2011; ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary, Spring 2011; HEA Eurostudent Survey III (2008); HEA Study on the Costs of Participation in Higher education (2010). If referencing the Student Cost of Living Guide please cite DIT Campus Life.