I'm thinking about taking out a student loan from the Commonwealth Bank. Here's what the site says:
# Borrow up to $5,000 for study-related purposes, including general living expenses. # No repayments until after graduation, or if you decide to transfer to part time study or you dont want to complete the course. # Fixed interest rate that is generally lower than that for Personal Loans. # No establishment fee. # No early repayment fees.
and:
The current interest rate on Campus Loans is 11.65% p.a. (effective 5 June 2006). Other fees and charges are payable.
To be eligible you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, a full-time student in a course acceptable to the Bank and have either successfully completed at least one year of study or be a post graduate student. Someone with a good credit rating will be required to guarantee your loan.
Tertiary Student Options
As a full-time Tertiary or TAFE student, you can pay ZERO fees with the Commonwealth Bank's Student Options.
I satisfy all those requirements so I'm just wondering if there is a catch before I investigate further. It sounds perfect, but I've never taken out any sort of loan before so I don't know Has anyone taken out a student loan before?
I'm probably going to borrow the maximum $5000, sell my PC, buy a laptop and keep whatever is left in the bank for "general living expenses" as they put it. I still live at home but I bet a couple of thousand dollars in the bank would be very handy for when I do graduate (end of 2008 ) and perhaps move interstate to work.
Thoughts?
Currently playing: Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (PC), Far Cry 4 (PC), FIFA 23 (Series X)
Thoughts... why would you get a loan "just to have the money"? When you graduate you'll have to start paying it back, and just because there are no repayments until you graduate doesn't mean it's not accumulating interest.
I took a personal loan out for a car... then i crashed it and got the money back from insurance... went out and bought a trail bike and a 42in HDTV (and other bits and pieces).
I could've paid the majority of the loan up... but i figured i'd never be able to save for a bike/new TV with the way i spend my money each week on DVD's and the club.
I'd only take a loan if you NEED/WANT something desperately that you could never afford otherwise.
Must admit, i don't notice the money missing that i pay off. It's done weekly and $70 a week isn't really noticeable. So if you take a loan, make sure you have considerably more money then the weekly amount to repay/monthly amount or whatever.
Yeah I was going to save up lots for my car but then decided to get an older one and spend less... Paying a loan off quick is the hardest part, it's quite easy to have the base amount debited out your account and not notice it but then you'll have to pay ALL the interest.
mech wrote:I just save up for everything that I buy.
Ideally I do too but unfortuntely from this semester coming (it's mid-year holidays at the moment) until I graduate my study load is huge so I don't have spare time to work (or anything fun like play games either I'm making the most of these holidays though ) until the summer holidays come around.
Laptop I need because I'm travelling further to uni from now on (about double the distance I'd say, probably more. Plus the southern railway is going through (Woo! Perth sure is a modern city!)) which makes the travelling time even longer, so the portable nature of the laptop will be invaluable I'm thinking, I'll spend much less time away from a computer, being able to whip it out on the shuttle bus between campuses.
If I could have seen into the future when I bought my PC I would have bought a laptop in the first place
And yeah, if I move interstate upon graduation I think it would be great to have some money in the bank. There won't be as much of this happening when I arrive:
Currently playing: Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (PC), Far Cry 4 (PC), FIFA 23 (Series X)
Ambrose, the problem is if you get that loan the money you have just sitting in the bank will effectively just be decreasing slowly. Can't you get an interest free loan from your parents or something for a couple of grand? Laptop part of things I can sort of understand.
mech wrote:I just save up for everything that I buy.
If i have money i spend it. I have no willpower. If i save a bit... it just buy something else. Like new PC parts. Xbox 360 etc.
I blame it on being 20. I live at home and have nearly no money responsiblities outside of a phone bill (~$100 a month) and my personal loan (~$70 a week). Which is really easy to cover... so i tend to spend money for no reason. I've got lots of DVD's still shrink wrapped, consoles i rarely use... likewise with games. I bought a little muck around dirt bike that i've ridden 3 times.
One trick I use is I hide my money away in an ING account, makes it harder to get to and it makes me think I have less money than I do, so I spend less. As a bonus, I get good interest on it.
mech wrote:I just save up for everything that I buy.
If i have money i spend it. I have no willpower. If i save a bit... it just buy something else. Like new PC parts. Xbox 360 etc.
I blame it on being 20. I live at home and have nearly no money responsiblities outside of a phone bill (~$100 a month) and my personal loan (~$70 a week). Which is really easy to cover... so i tend to spend money for no reason. I've got lots of DVD's still shrink wrapped, consoles i rarely use... likewise with games. I bought a little muck around dirt bike that i've ridden 3 times.
I just can't save.
Give me your unused consoles and games
Currently playing: Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (PC), Far Cry 4 (PC), FIFA 23 (Series X)
Haha, I'm quite similar to you MX, my income is pretty much completely disposable and I have serious issues trying to save. Every time I do something will come up or something will catch my eye and I'll buy it in a snap.
I try to sit on at least 1k or more most of the time, but it's been sub that for a few weeks now lol. Most of it's going out though, fuck I don't know why people buy drinks at bars...
I can't just spend cash on anything anymore, got the saving bug. Takes a lot for me to spend a bit. Yes I'm a tightarse, but it means I can make those big purchases when justified
Oh and the important stuff (like seeing a haemotologist) much easier to cover when you need to.
Last edited by vision on 07 Jul 2006 11:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It will make it much harder when you leave uni, you'll already have a HECS debt of about $20,000 im assuming, and on top of that you'll have another $5,000 (by that time probly around $6000-$7000 due to interest).
You could do it, but it will make it harder to get a car, move out, etc when you do finish uni. In short it will set you back a bit for the rest of your financial life.
Not really, HECS payments are shit all, and don't come out until you earn enough. So if you do earn enough to pay back HECS, chances are you'll be able to afford the repayments to this loan.
It wouldn't really make it harder to get a car loan either, if you have a loan and are meeting repayments then you're going to have a better credit rating. I only wonder about what if you can't get a job when you get out of uni, do payments start regardless or not until you get a job?
Without the loan you will finish uni, move out, get car, etc.
With the loan however, it takes longer to move out, longer to get a car, and then because those were later, down the track it will be longer before you get a house, etc.
low interest rate, no establishment fee and generally you don't have to start repayments until you graduate or get a full-time job
Or?
Not really clear is it? I'm definitely going to the bank on Monday to work it all out before deciding.
And yeah, I don't really see how it can screw me up for the "rest of my financial life".
Fuck's sake Ambrose,
If you get this loan and leave it sitting in a bank account, you're going to be accumulating interest at ~7-8% interest AT LEAST. The same cash sitting in a bank account would earn 5-6% interest. So assuming you leave it in a high earning account, your loan will be decreasing by 1-2% just sitting there.
Anyway, the point is, it's gonna be sitting there, getting to be more and more money you're going to have to be paying off, and for fucking what?
Has anyone taken out a student loan before? 
) and perhaps move interstate to work.
) until the summer holidays come around.
I bought a little muck around dirt bike that i've ridden 3 times.
