Thanks Satchi and Ogriv - to be honest I am quite careful with my money as I simply don't have much of it, it all goes on my horse's upkeep and petrol to get to university! I do think spending less money has actually been very good for me; I'm certainly not as frivolous with my spending as I was, and I don't throw my clothes out as readily. I guess I am more resourceful, but I do want to get into more creative ways of updating my wardrobe cheaply.

I have to spend some money on cosmetics and things like that as I have to wear quite a lot of makeup for work, it is part of the dress
code. I'm lucky that I get my hair cut and coloured for free though! I didn't know you could get well known brands in pound shops so will have a look! I don't really get that lonely because I have a part time job and the horse, they are both sociable environments so although I may not be seeing my closest friends as often as I'd like to, I don't really get lonely.

The target setting idea is good, I do think I need to monitor my spending more closely, even if I don't think I am spending that much I always have a shock when I check my account online.

Thanks again, Natassia x

In theory they shouldn't be that important, but in practice they generally are - thats just my experience though. I didn't do very well in my A-Levels at all and was lucky to get into the university I went to, then went on to get a first class degree. In the last year of my degree I applied for a MA course at a different university and was told not to worry about my A-levels as my degree performance made up for them, however in the interview I was grilled about the discrepancy between my A-level and degree results; I didn't get a place on the course despite having a first when all they required was a 2.2. I think there were other personal reasons for my rejection, but I do think A-levels count - I'm just hoping they won't for my PhD applications.

Like most postgrads I am totally poor, travelling to university and my horse take all of my money and I don't get paid nearly enough for the sort of job I do. I am looking for a job with a better wage and looking into doing some private tutoring with GCSE/A-level exams coming up. Thinking of getting a sharer for the horse as well but I think that will be more trouble than its worth.

Any good money saving tips would be appreciated though - might be useful to share them :-)

Natassia x

I have come onto this post late...unfortunately I wear leggings quite a lot as I like to wear dresses most of the time and they dress them down so I don't look overdressed. I wear jeans to the stables so like to wear nicer things away from there. I stick to black and other dark colours though so I don't look too young or undergraduate-style, can't stand the new fashion for printed leggings. And I don't wear things that are too short with them, although I think you can get away with a shorter hemline when wearing leggings than tights. I don't like jeggings at all though, they are a fashion crime. As are harem trousers/jeans...they actually don't look good on anyone, in my opinion.

Loads of the UG girls wear pyjamas on campus, their halls are there so they can just get up 10 mins before a lecture and go. My uni is in a famous party town so its the norm to see them staggering around at 2pm as if its the middle of the night...I had a good time as a 1st year UG but would never have left my flat in my PJs, I don't know how anyone can do that. At my uni there seems to be an emerging fashion to wear large earphones, normally retro-looking, around your neck. I think they like to look cultured and musically inspired but they look ridiculous, I don't even walk around with an Ipod....I am a grumpy old lady it seems.

Glad its sorted KB - I can't imagine my supervisors doing anything like that for me, granted my dissertation is theoretical. The most my supervisor does for me is email me things I would be interested in, and I'm really grateful that he thinks to do that. Personally I wouldn't want someone else to be doing things for me, it is my project and I need the experience to learn from, how are the MSc students going to cope with a PhD if they get so much done for them this year?!

So am I but hopefully not for much longer. Finishing a presentation on the ethical future of anthropology, interesting as before last weekend I had never studied anthropology properly...thankfully this isn't assessed. I've had a tough week so am trying to take the pressure off myself a bit. Good luck tonight Wally (up)

Definitely go for it, like others have said you are qualified for it, being familiar with the department should also help with your application. They already know you, as you have a lot of teaching responsibility at the moment they can obviously trust you, and you know what you are letting yourself in for. Good luck and keep us informed!

Thanks for the replies, very reassuring and they've made me feel a lot better, now I know that I'm not the only one. I think we were both a bit taken aback to be honest, but it has also cleared the air, he knows how I am feeling now and hopefully he'll understand the effect it has had on my work and be able to help where appropriate. He can be quite pushy but he is certainly not a monster, if I show that I haven't changed I think he'll be fine.

Like you have said, bereavement is terrible, this is the first really close bereavement that I have been through so I don't have any other situation to compare it to; I just have to muddle through as best I can. The funeral has happened now so hopefully I'll start to feel a bit better soon, although at the moment it feels like a permanent state, I have totally worn myself out. Have a presentation to do tomorrow though, so need to perk myself up a bit!

Nx

I've been going through a difficult situation with my family since November last year and have recently been bereaved, aside from the psychological and emotional effect this has had on me it has undoubtedly afected my Masters. Although I am on a merit at the moment, my grades are not what they were and what I want them to be. This is not upsetting me too much as I think I can pull them up a bit with this semester and my dissertation, what is getting to me more is the general feeling that I am letting myself down, although I have wanted to be there for my family for the last few months this is not what I wanted for my MSc year.

I had a long chat with my dissertation supervisor and personal tutor last week and he asked me about the personal problems I'd been having (I emailed him to briefly tell him what was going on as I thought I should inform him of something that is affecting my work)...I don't usually show my emotions at uni at all but I just burst into tears, I didn't expect to do that and I don't really know what came over me, it was all a bit awkward really I just grabbed a tissue from my bag and sorted myself out. I wasn't actually crying just a bit teary, I apologised and he seemed ok with it, I think we generally have a positive working relationship but I don't want him to think I'm an emotional wreck, or that I'm using him as a counsellor.

I have another meeting next week and hopefully that will be better...hopefully he would have forgotten about by then and it won't affect his opinion of me too much. Has this happened to anyone else? Nxx

Haha - if only it were always that idyllic, Dougal is very sweet with his pony!

Alpacalover - I always imagined you to be blonde and maybe a bit Swedish looking for some reason, maybe because of your name?!

Although I'm British I do look quite Russian, strangers often tell me that, maybe because I'm quite fair...went brunette yesterday though and its quite difficult to get used to but I love it! Feel like my identity is changing though, its interesting to learn how much of an effect hair colour can have.

Thank you very much Teek for my 'glamourous academic' Oscar, to be honest I'm not that glamourous at all, I'm sitting here in old jeans and a massive cardigan, but its lovely to be labelled as an 'academic' when I'm only at MSc level....I like to think I'm an 'academic in training', when things are going well!

You sound like a wonderful supervisor - I hope all your students do well and are grateful. Sounds like they'll all be pulling all nighters tomorrow to get their dissertations ready after your feedback!

Mathkitty, I'd love to do something creative like crochet. I had a client in the other day who was a little older than me and she had a fantastic sense of style, and she was knitting when she was getting her hair done which I thought was quite cool, hobbies like that seem to have become more fashionable lately. When I took her bill we had a chat about her knitting and she said it was really therapeutic because its so repetitive, I've decided I want to get into it but don't know where to start - will get my grandma to teach me I think!

Since I've started my MSc I think my addiction to celebrity 'documentaries' has been enhanced...shamefully I love Katie Price/Jordan's even though she irritates me a bit and last night I found myself watching Kerry Katona's...I think its quite voyeuristic really and nice to get lost in their ridiculous worlds for a while. Coffee is another addiction and I always seem to have a bag of sweeties in my desk drawer as well, my mum often buys me white chocolate buttons when I'm stressed which doesn't help!

I've come very late onto this thread but had a quick read and have lots of pacts to make to myself as well!

Bug - so pleased to hear that your gran is recovering well, I've been wondering how she was getting on. I hope you can start to feel a bit better as well now.

I don't eat meat or fish, I eat quite healthily most of the time but I'm anaemic so have to take iron tablets. I'd like to reduce my caffeine intake but if I don't have at least 4 coffees in the morning I feel cranky and seem to do everything very slowly. I find myself feeling really tired at about 2pm though so I would like my energy levels to be more consistent - any ideas?

My pact at the moment is to try to ride my horse at least 5 days a week, at the moment I'm managing 4-5 days a week but want to be more consistent, I am bringing him back into work after an injury at the moment so he is on a fittening regime. I do find it difficult to make the time to ride him every day sometimes but feel so much better when I do. I want to do a bit of competing in the summer so need to sort him out quickly!