So how do you stop debt becoming a problem?

Debt is undoubtedly a hassle and, in fact, while you’re a student one of the main problems with debt is not that you don’t have any money, but what worrying about it threatens to do to your head.

Hopefully, after all of Push's wise advice you’ll stay in the relative clear, financially speaking - but if you are starting to suspect you might need an inhaler, remember: don't panic.

Getting into debt and not getting out isn't something you can do much about until you graduate. Nor will anyone expect you to. So don’t waste nights staring at the ceiling fretting about it.

So long as you can pay your way in the meantime, do what you can and be cool about it.

If you are having difficulties, whatever they are drawing up your budget, getting by on what you’ve got, negotiating with your bank, filling in forms to apply for funding, worrying about debt, chasing the SLC for your loan payment talk to your student welfare officer.

They’re usually based in either the students’ union welfare department or the university’s. Often they’ll have a specialist debt counsellor or financial advisor too.

They’ll offer guidance and, if you need it, sometimes even practical assistance i.e. they’ve got the keys to the safe where they keep the Access to Learning Fund .

POMMIE
Where would we be without mnemonics? (Push used to know the answer to that, but couldn’t ever come up with a way to remember it.)

The central principles of a stress-free university career (at least as far as money management goes) can be expressed in the almost delightfully uncatchy acronym pommie:

PRIORITISE: Buy what you need first (e.g. food and shelter) what you want comes second.
ORGANISE: Plan your budget, check your balance regularly and keep a record of all financial correspondence.
MAXIMISE: Make sure you’re getting all the income you’re entitled to.
MINIMISE: Keep expenditure to a minimum without depriving yourself unduly.
IMPROVISE: When you can’t afford something, be creative about alternatives.
ECONOMISE: Stick to the first five rules and buy cheaply when you can.

For want of a better reminder, stick to the POMMIE principles and remember why you’re at university in the first place to better yourself, to improve your prospects and ultimately to embark on the career you want money, success, blah, blah, blah. You know the script by now.

Essentially, the message is that you don’t need money to have a good time.

Students don’t stay poor forever and the loudest voices saying that students shouldn’t complain are often graduates themselves. A few years down the line, you too will probably wonder what you were so worried about.

Of course, debt and hardship is like a ripe zit on the end of your nose. While it’s there, it’s horrible it’s as if the world revolves around it but with the correct procedure,...

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