£450 haircut.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

£120 is probably my annual clothes budget. And it shows..

EbenezerCrowley
(currently sitting watching a guttering candle in my fingerless gloves, shivering with dread)

You're showing off now
My budget for shoes is £20 a year. Probably less. I bought some Doc Martins (shoes for life) for £140. When they wear out (if they wear out) I take them back and pay £35 and get another pair. I've worn them everyday for work for the last four years. Still got plenty left in them. Shirts from George are good value they last about five years too. Next do a good pair of trouser for £40 and I get three years out them (if I don't rip them on site) Socks and boxer shorts go on the Xmas list. I think sir you're way over budget

AiY
Still some Yorkshireman left in me

[Howyoudoin]

Back in the day I used to be a massive Wham fan. As you can imagine, that singled me out for some special abuse at school. But I didn't care. Much.

I remember it being reported that George Michael was shooting the video for Careless Whisper and needed to stop shooting because it was very important that he had a haircut - which cost £10,000.

Took me a long time to realise that the haircut probably cost £200 (for him - in 1986) and the rest was on re-shoots and airfares.

HYD

[redsturgeon]

I believe most students these days take out a loan for tuition fees at £9000 pa plus a maintenance loan of around £9000 per year for living away from home. Since most will never pay back their loan they probably view this as free money. If they end up borrowing £45k or £55k what difference does it make if you aim to pay neither back in full, the payment each month being based on your salary rather than the debt.

John

[vrdiver]

I believe most students these days take out a loan for tuition fees at £9000 pa plus a maintenance loan of around £9000 per year for living away from home. Since most will never pay back their loan they probably view this as free money. If they end up borrowing £45k or £55k what difference does it make if you aim to pay neither back in full, the payment each month being based on your salary rather than the debt.

John

For students who can assess their future earnings potential and figure out that they will never repay their debt, yet always be paying the "graduate tax" then they might as well max out the loan - after all, it really is free money at that point (assuming the rules don't change).

Unfortunately, there will be a large segment of the student population who take away a different message; that debt doesn't matter. Once you start to think that being £50k in debt is OK, then what's another £k or two? Of course, there's a massive difference between student debt and pretty much all other kinds of debt, but not all students (or their parents) seem to be able to grasp this fact.

The ones I feel sorry for are those who wouldn't have to pay it back (based on earnings) but who struggle to minimise their student debt anyway, having been brought up to be debt-averse, with their parents helping out as well, not realising they are pouring money down the drain (from their point of view, if not the tax payer's).

As for the £450 - regardless of whether it was added to a never-to-be-repaid student loan or not, I can think of better uses!

Just as an aside, if a student is likely to never repay the debt, would it make sense to max out the loan and invest it somewhere (a LISA, or in a global tracker for example)?

VRD

[PinkDalek]

Just as an aside, if a student is likely to never repay the debt, would it make sense to max out the loan and invest it somewhere (a LISA, or in a global tracker for example)?

Doesn't that assume there's still something left in the pot?

As it stands, the tuition fee loans are already spent.

The maintenance loan, if any is available as it is restricted based on Household Income, doesn't come to a great deal https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/new- ... e-students, especially after hair cuts and accommodation. Edit: random link https://university.which.co.uk/student- ... ege-london - I haven't read the methodology.

Then there's the potential issue of ‘unearned income’ exceeding £2,000 per annum but I think you may have covered that by your choice of investments. If not, anything over £2,000 and the entirety is charged at 9%.

In more detail https://www.taxguideforstudents.org.uk/ ... a-property

[brightncheerful]

Another thing that struck me after watching my grandson's graduation ceremony yesterday was the proportion of females who looked to be over-weight and a significant number who would be classed as obese.

Apparently it's fattist to notice and certainly not the done thing to comment.

Amongst the advantages of becoming physically unattractive is, so I'm told, that clinically-obese people can get free membership for a gym on the NHS.

[supremetwo]

Another thing that struck me after watching my grandson's graduation ceremony yesterday was the proportion of females who looked to be over-weight and a significant number who would be classed as obese.

Apparently it's fattist to notice and certainly not the done thing to comment.

Amongst the advantages of becoming physically unattractive is, so I'm told, that clinically-obese people can get free membership for a gym on the NHS.

Disagree about 'not the done thing to comment' - it will affect the tax we pay!

https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/ ... Pass=false

Five years ago, obesity and people who were overweight cost the UK just under £7bn in terms of treatment, state benefits, loss of earnings and reduced productivity. In 40 years’ time, that figure could increase by 900 per cent.
So concludes the largest ever UK study into obesity, led by Sir David King, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, and involving 250 experts.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48826850
Each year in the UK, the charity (Cancer Research) says, excess weight causes about:
1,900 more cases of bowel cancer than smoking
1,400 more cases of kidney cancer
460 more cases of ovarian cancer
180 more cases of liver cancer

[gryffron]

But if she is £50k in debt anyway, what's another £450? Whilst I think this student loan situation is barking, and caused by a Labour government's insane and made up target of 50% of the population having one-size-fits-all 3 year degrees, I can also see why it implants fearlessness regarding debt into young people.

Gryff

[Mike88]

Why spend much on a haircut for a graduation if the head is covered with a mortar board - that is if students still wear them to graduation ceremonies.