The Cambridge Chat Thread

Zoedotdot

Try the German cafe. Come out of New Museums on to Pembroke/Downing street or whatever it's called, turn right and walk up towards Trumpington street. On the way there'll be a little cafe with a blue sign, can't remember exactly what it's called, we just call it the German cafe, that sells the most amazing soup, sandwiches and hot chocolate. Takeaway soup and a sandwich is £2.50.

Alternatively, turn left and walk towards Emma. Go down the street on the left of the main building of Emma (Emmanuel Street? I think). On the left side of the road there's a cafe called Savino's which does really nice panini for not too much money. And their hot chocolate tops the German cafe. A relative also told me that they sold the best coffee she'd ever tasted!

And if you don't fancy either of those there's a Subway right next to Savino's :p:

They're probably two of the nearest, tastiest places to eat I think :smile:

Thanks! If it makes you feel any better my laptop also died the other day...

Reply 6122

TheUnbeliever

16

Zoedotdot

I'm also not living near hall so have to spend a lot more on food, so my money just seems to be disappearing :frown:

Is your hall ridiculously cheap? I'm spending £11 per week on food and drink I actually need (i.e. not including alcohol or the apple pie and custard I finally gave in and bought or my addiction to jaffa cakes... :o:

)

Reply 6123

OP

BigFudamental

Bridgies,

Can anyone recommend somewhere good to grab a quick lunch around the New Museum's site? I'm getting a bit sick of M&S sandwiches and need some insider info...

You can exit New Museum's Site and get out at the Corn Exchange if you go through the Arts School. The doors to it are always open and it opens out in front of Benet's cafe, a few clothing shops, that ladies lingerie shop and the Eagle and Bath House. Turn left there and you get everything that Kings Parade offers, including a nice cafe inside Kings itself.

Reply 6124

OP

TheUnbeliever

Is your hall ridiculously cheap? I'm spending £11 per week on food and drink I actually need (i.e. not including alcohol or the apple pie and custard I finally gave in and bought or my addiction to jaffa cakes... :o:

)

Yes it is. They spend about £2 for a full meal :eek:

Peterhouse is the opposite. You'd save so much money by shopping yourself.

Reply 6125

Zoedotdot

18

Craghyrax

That sucks! I'm guessing that your parents' income is a bit too high for you to get all the bigger loans and bursaries, but they in fact can't afford to support you at Uni?
I often think they should reduce the discrepancy between the brackets. I was totally in your shoes before I came here. For my first 8months living in the UK I had £10 a week, and after that I toiled at Wetherspoons for two and a half years and saved up for everything.
Things have been much easier since I got here, not least because of a student overdraft! I generally don't mind going into it because I know exactly what money will arrive when.

Yup, got it in one. It's very difficult. I get no maintenance, no bursary, no anything, and am therefore worse off than a lot of my friends. My parents give me much more than they can afford, for which I am exceptionally grateful and I will definitely pay them back for it someday. My relatives have also been incredibly generous, so I'm lucky in that respect. And it's not so bad that I can't do anything... It's just that I never have as much as everyone else, and while that's kindof okay during term time, it can be quite upsetting when I can't afford to go out, or when my friends say that I should come and do something with them in the holidays and I have to say no because I can't afford it :frown:

The other thing is that I refuse to use my overdraft. I can't stand the thought of being in 'debt' and the idea that any money I earn is just paying back what I've already spent.

Reply 6126

K.T.

12

FSS, I can't log onto my fb account, like *at all*

This suckssss.

Reply 6127

Zoedotdot

18

TheUnbeliever

Is your hall ridiculously cheap? I'm spending £11 per week on food and drink I actually need (i.e. not including alcohol or the apple pie and custard I finally gave in and bought or my addiction to jaffa cakes... :o:

)

Ah, yeah, it is enormously cheap. Also, last year I just used my student loan to pay my bill at the end of term, because with accommodation and food it came to about the same as what I receive. This year I'm spending less on my bill but haven't taken the deficit out of my loan, so will probably find myself with a bit of extra money come January, and then will be able to budget properly for next term :smile:

Reply 6128

OP

Zoedotdot

Yup, got it in one. It's very difficult. I get no maintenance, no bursary, no anything, and am therefore worse off than a lot of my friends. My parents give me much more than they can afford, for which I am exceptionally grateful and I will definitely pay them back for it someday. My relatives have also been incredibly generous, so I'm lucky in that respect. And it's not so bad that I can't do anything... It's just that I never have as much as everyone else, and while that's kindof okay during term time, it can be quite upsetting when I can't afford to go out, or when my friends say that I should come and do something with them in the holidays and I have to say no because I can't afford it :frown:

The other thing is that I refuse to use my overdraft. I can't stand the thought of being in 'debt' and the idea that any money I earn is just paying back what I've already spent.

Well the overdraft thing is irrational. Frankly.

I can fully sympathise if its hard to keep on top of what you're spending, and if using an overdraft would confuzzle your figures and put you in danger of going over. But if you know your total income over a year, or term, and work out a budget based on that, then if you take some of that total income in advance, for instance to pay for a large expense, then you won't be in any danger so long as you subtract it from the overall figure. This is the only time in your life that your overdraft will be entirely interest free.
I wouldn't use it if it wasn't. And like you, I am very averse to being in debt.

As for your friends, you should be honest when you're refusing to visit them on financial grounds - it may result in them being willing to travel to you instead, or to relocate to a central location.

Reply 6129

Lidka

Y__

That is awesome! What for? PhD?

Excalibur

Wow, that's amazing! Is this for postgrad study? Were you able to get funding somewhere? (that's the big thing that somewhat precludes US study, though I haven't looked into it that seriously)

Craghyrax

It's a Clare scholarship - every year 2 finalists/recent graduates get to go to Yale for two or three years, to study a subject of their choice. So I get to read Classics (as an undergraduate) for two years. Then if I don't fail at that I can take an MA there.

So far all I've managed to do is this: :woo:

Reply 6130

ukebert

Zoedotdot

Money stuff

I hate money. See I am very very lucky in that both my parents have well paid professional jobs and my Mum has been saving her salary for years to put me and my sister through university. This means that by student standards I am reasonably wealthy, in that I have about £700 a term to live on, not including the college bill. This is massive and I just skim through it :frown:

I owe my parents around a thousand pounds that I *need* to pay off (it was a loan, not a gift) and need to repay some money back into my savings that I used up over the summer. Basically my summer was much MUCH more expensive than I would have liked.

But I can't control my spending, which means that I'll end up with not much money at the end of this term and will feel really guilty not being able to pay my parents anything back. It's why I'll be working next summer, even if it means that I won't be able to go travelling *at all* which would be heartbreaking.

I feel bad posting this, as your money troubles seem a lot worse than mine (and I have been made to feel really guilty about having more money than most before) but I thought that you might like to hear that other people are seriously depressed about money :o:

Reply 6131

ukebert

Lidka

It's a Clare scholarship - every year 2 finalists/recent graduates get to go to Yale for two or three years, to study a subject of their choice. So I get to read Classics (as an undergraduate) for two years. Then if I don't fail at that I can take an MA there.

So far all I've managed to do is this: :woo:

That sounds awesome :biggrin:

Good luck!

Well, I have two examples papers to do for tomorrow. Time to knuckle down :smile:

Reply 6132

OP

Lidka

It's a Clare scholarship - every year 2 finalists/recent graduates get to go to Yale for two or three years, to study a subject of their choice. So I get to read Classics (as an undergraduate) for two years. Then if I don't fail at that I can take an MA there.

So far all I've managed to do is this: :woo:

That sounds nice, but isn't it a bit frustrating that you will be held back by another two years as an undergraduate rather than going straight on into your postgraduate studies?

Reply 6133

TheUnbeliever

16

There are fireworks going off essentially directly over my room, as far as I can tell. :shifty:

Reply 6134

BigFudamental