Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

Bad news mate .dont bother with agencies they will never get you steady work . Its a cycle of signing on every six months . I was in your position years ago when i was in my mid twenties .
What i did was decide to take a hit in money and did a training scheme through the jobcentre .
Not one of those crappy courses about cv writing or customer service but i did refrigeration and air conditioning . It was hard work and I had to work for a low wage for a year after i passed , but my money went up to something livable after a year . And each and every year untill I can get 50 plus grand a year now with overtime
you really need to find a career were there is a skills shortage .

In one way its crap living with your parents but turn it to your advantage you have a place to live whilst you train up and get better skills .
There are still alot of part time jobs out there if you know where to look .forget places like supermarkets everyone trys them . Look at betting shops the works flexible so you can go to college and earn . There’s other stuff like delivery driver i know one guy who makes 250 a week after tax doing this for a pizza place , its horrible work but still work and if all else fails you can still get jobseekers whilst at colledge if you do less than 16 hours a week

have a look at what skills shortages there are . Mad stuff like ‘cnc turner lathe operator’ , there are always always jobs for this no one ever comes into the tradeit pays up to 29k . If you call a few companies who do it and ask how to become one you will get feed back ,
floor layer is another one my mate does it and has never been out of work he works for himself earns 60 k a year and does not advertise as he cannot take on anymore work these are just a few examples of jobs were theres a market for it but no staff to fill the jobs , once you get really good at somthing like that your the one interveiwing the company to see if you want to work there and they have to offer you somthing good to get you . And best of all the agencies dont get a look in cos everyone knows what a bunch of pricks they are

never give up mate . I can tell your a clever bloke by the way you wrote your question , you might feel washed up at 29 but i swear your not old you still have another 35 years left until you retire

Nagesh answers:

There are some differences between how US and UK universities operate. You will be unaware of most of them though, if you have never attended a US university. It also varies by program and each school, of course. Most notably, however, university is only 3 years (unless you take a year abroad or something) in the UK.

I know that it can be confusing (and overwhelming at times). Here’s a basic outline of where you should start:

1. Find a university that you want to attend. Sounds like you’ve already got this one down. Doesn’t hurt to explore and apply to a few universities though. Also, unlike the US, the UK has a system that all undergraduate applications go through, making it much easier and MUCH cheaper to apply for multiple universities.

2. Apply to the universities. You can research and apply at www.ucas.ac.uk. You’ll be done until you get offered a place and accept it.

3. Here you’ll start worrying about the loan! Your university will prepare a statement detailing your costs. You’ll need this sent on to the lender you’ll chose. I used SallieMae. It was very easy as they do a lot of international loans like this!

4. At the same time as the loan, you’ll need to be gathering your stuff for the headache of the visa, which they have made even more strict in the last few months…you’ll need a Tier 4 student visa. You can find all of the requirements for this at www.ukvisas.gov.uk.

Obviously costs are important with this. This is especially true since one of the visa requirements is that you’re able to show availability of funds for tuition and living expenses for the first 9 months you are in the UK. Here are some suggestions for funding:
For US citizens at a foreign university, there are a few financial options. They are actually very similar to those options you’d have in the US.

(1) Private scholarships
Private scholarships set their own requirements. So, it is always possible that you will be able to find an organization willing to support you. For these types of awards, it is good to look for scholarships specific to the field you are going in to.

(2) Federal aid (loans, possibly grants) ****This is easiest, greatest amount of money*****
Most universities in the UK that participate in the federal direct loan scheme. If your university does, then you can take a federal loan with you overseas. You are eligible for the same amount that you would be eligible if you were attending a US school. It is also important to note that all students are GUARANTEED these loans regardless of credit. So, you know that you have a safe back-up there, if you are okay with taking loans out.

(3) the Overseas University
Many universities look to attract international students and offer scholarship opportunities specific to international students. If you browse the school’s website or give them a call or e-mail they can let you know.

Okay…so that’s just some basic info to get you started. Hope it helped! Good luck with everything!! 🙂

Nagesh answers:

Like you, I too have always voted Labor in the past and have always been an active member of my union at work too. I was pleased when Kevin Rudd become PM, and it was even better when I learnt that John Howard lost his seat in Bennalong too!

On the basis of policy reasons… I’m leaning toward supporting Liberals this time. I’m getting tired of seeing people on here wanting to support Labor because Julia Gillard is our first female PM (gender should be irrelevant). Others have said that they don’t want to see Tony Abbott as PM because they cannot see or understand that workchoices is “dead, buried and cremated” and would prefer to repeat the same old workchoices scare campaign. I do NOT like the idea of workchoices at all, but I feel I am intelligent enough to separate the truth from another Labor/Union “Abbott will bring workchoices back under a different name” scare campaign.

I’ve actually been impressed with Tony Abbott to be honest. Stopping the illegal people smuggling market is important, and Labor doesn’t have a firm plan how to do it. I understand that Labor spent so much surplus money on economic stimulus – but did it really actually DO anything? The UK, European Union and the US all spent similar amounts (billions of dollars in stimulus payments) to avoid recession too – and it didn’t work for them… So maybe we actually owe thanks to the LIBERAL party for avoiding recession here, and not Labors’ unnecessary waste after all. In fact, Labor doesn’t really have a firm plan for anything much – look at the promises they made in 2007 and nothing much has improved – promises are incomplete or have been reversed, Aboriginal Australians have not benefited from the “apology”, Climate Change has been largely ignored and replaced with a citizens forum and the Liberal party actually seems to have a reasonable plan to reduce the financial pressures that families are facing while Labor (and the Greens) still want to implement an expensive and ineffective carobon tax scheme.

I just don’t feel that Julia Gillard can be trusted, after the way she (and the Labor powerbrokers) treated Kevin Rudd. I just find Tony Abbott to be a bit more honest, down-to-earth and it seems he has his priorities for Australia in the right order.

But, if I was a betting man… Regardless of how I might be voting – I think the majority might vote for Labor. I’m hoping most of all that the Greens DON’T get the balance of power in the Senate – and Liberal get enough support to make the numbers in the House of Reps VERY CLOSE. I predict that Julia Gillard will be our next Prime Minister, and I hope that the Libs keep Tony Abbott as Opposition Leader.

Nagesh answers:

My instructor was a Instructor Teacher so he was pretty good.

He said around 40 hours is what’s needed to be a competent driver, to have confidence and the right skills to drive in any situation. He always did 2 hour lessons as one hour is never enough. Needless to say he had 12 first time passes in a row, I was thirteen and my sister was fourteenth. 40 hours may be a lot of time and money to spend on lessons, you may only need about 20-30 to pass the test (its pretty easy) but to have confidence and proper skill i’d recommend putting some extra time in. You could always try the pass plus scheme which also entitled you to discounts off your insurance.

If you find yourself with an instructor you don’t like, don’t stay with them! You’re paying a lot of money for these lessons and if you don’t like the instructor take your money elsewhere!

A car of your own with some L plates makes practising easier, but you’ll have to have a brave passenger in the car!

Most lessons cost about £18-£20 an hour, any more and walk away. Look to spend about £150 minimum, not including the test price. Remember, this over some months, so you dont have to have all the money at once!

Good luck and have confidence on the road!

Http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/sabine-in-a-van-2
Women make good drivers too!

Nagesh answers:

A personal loan is not classed as income for the purpose of benefits. However, if you apply for a loan in excess of £6,000 and then have the money saved in your bank account whilst you continue to make monthly repayments, the money is considered to be savings or capital and does affect your HB.

Be wary of consolidating all your debts into a personal loan without receiving independent advice first. Interest rates offered to somebody on benefits with (presumably?) a low income or no regular income are not going to be favourable and your payments may well end up being extortionate.

If you haven’t already, contact National Debtline and Citizen’s Advice to discuss other ways of addressing your debts and your potential eligibility for a government-backed debt managment scheme – both are staffed by impartial advisors:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/