Well Paul, the thing is, when HM's Governemnet decided to rob us of £3000 a year for fees (which is a daylight bleedin' robbery given the quality of tuition i have experienced so far...). They also decided to give us the chance to apply for a maintenance loan. Now due to the income of my parents being over £37,500 i am only eligible for the least amount available.
However, its not all doom and gloom as my Parents have kindly offered to pay for my tuition fees for me, meaning i therefore just have to 'live'.
Now for those of you who dont know, i study building surveying. And thus, should get a very well paid job come graduation, and so the 'burdon' of student debt does not weigh so heavily on my mind as it does others. My best friend at Uni literally has to scrape the money together for uni, as she has no parents and the social services are obviously incompetent. Anyway i digress.
So basically, without working, i have an annual income of £3,303 thanks to tax payers like your and myself. give with one hand and take away with the other and all that. Then you have to take into account that i work part time in the Chalk Lane Hotel of Epsom (I highly recommend it by the way, weddings, funerals... the works). I have worked there for nearly 4 years and thus have a very close relationship with the management, especially as my best friend is the owner.
Added to this, i work almost every week i am not in uni as a trainee surveyor for a firm called CalfordSeaden. Thus, i do alrite for myself.
You must also bear in mind that i am not your typical student, i spend more money eating well than i do getting drunk. It would be a little counter productive wouldnt it.
Furthermore, i am not even 20 yet (well, almost anyway). Im single (its cheaper and way more fun), and i dont have children or any family to support, nor a mortgage to pay. just a run around car to maintain and tax and insure etc. so you see really, i probably have more disposable income than you may think. the apparent babyboom doesnt help some of you!
Thus, my passion is my bike, and while i am young and fit enough to make good use of top equipment, why the hell shouldnt i!!!??? Its much better than watching a fat 50something strain a ludicrously lightweight bike.
If it helps, i do plan what i spend, and seem to do very well. I have been at this cycling game for 3years now, in which time i have bought and paid for everything for my chosen sport. believe me, this is not an area where my parents help me out. not that they should, i am old enough to make and finance my own decisions. NO?