Sorry to hear you're finding things tough but... well, sorry to say it - but you're in the same boat as most of the rest of us. The academic life can be very rewarding (intellectually, at least) and it is a worry when your funds run out - but, if you want to get the PhD, you'll figure it out. Maybe it's time for you to take responsibility for your own desires. Talking about others as slappers and gold-diggers isn't particularly endearing. I thought your issue was with your own funding (or lack of it) - not other people's apparent shortcomings.

This might sound a little simplistic but really I think you have to judge for yourself whether you would rather follow a path that you obviously love or have the 'normal' life of a settled career, money etc. As an archaeologist myself I know where you are coming from when you say you feel the financial pressure and the envy at what others have...it's very tempting a lot of the time.

However, as much as the debt and the lack of these things may be the cause of depression have you considered that they are simply the excuse to be depressed that you are currently latching on to and that if you quit you would be equally as miserable about not finishing? I sort of quit archaeology a year ago after my previous funding effort didn't materialize, I wanted to just get away from academia yet a year on I'm back (with funding mercifully)because I felt I was selling myself short.

Btw you aren't at Bristol are you?

Oh and I wouldn't worry about the women thing either, would you really want someone like you describe anyway...there are plenty who aren't as superficial as that.

I think its also important to ascertain the situation of the job market and the prospects of someone with a PhD in History. It may be that there is a line of work that is both stimulating and lucrative.

If, like in my field, it is not so you could find yourself either working in non-secure adjunct work for a long time, or ending up competing with all the fresh graduates for whatever job you need to survive. My advice is that you make sure you know what is the likely outcome of your PhD before sinking any more time, money and emotional resources into it. Be warned, Is it worth doing all of that to end up temping just like me?

You sound like you need serious help managing your debts, I'm shocked at your level of debt. You're short of money but I've no idea how someone could get £50k debt. Can you not become bankrupt and write some off at that stage?
You will not make large amounts of money as an academic. It sounds like that is important to you. On the other hand as a PhD you may struggle with your starting salary for a few years as you have not been working.

50K debt is easy when you're forced to pay overseas tuition, despite being a British citizen (total scam). I will probably just bite the bullet and keep going with it, because at the end of the day I genuinely do enjoy what I do. As to the remarks about 'slappers', that was to emphasize the fact that money/looks/conformity play a crucial role to many people who live outside of an academic environment. I'm well aware that there are men and women who pursue their lives out of passion and a sense of adventure, but if you're in your mid 20's and living in the West these days, you will certainly wonder sometimes...

Although I may have been influenced by my years in Japan...after returning to the UK I see many social values which are just disgraceful here, as proud as I am to have UK-Canadian passports. That being said, there are certainly enough social issues over there to go around as well .

Bakuvia....come to a pub that isn't affiliated with the uni, and I'll show you shortcomings!!

yeismeload, something else: well your supervisor doesn't want you to go part-time. you probably don't want to either. but tell him/her that it's either that or quitting and he/she will be glad you are going part-time.
of course it is preferable to study fulltime. but if you can't have that, perhaps part-time is next best. then it is up to you, not to your supervisor who can't judge your situation, to decide if that is a viable solution for you.

Yeah good point. Thanks again!

these levels of debt you are in is making my mouth drop to the floor! what are you guys in debt in terms of sterling? way i see it a uk self funded student pays about 3.5k a yr for fees = aprrox 10k so and about another 10k at most for rent so total 20k

but surely you would have a part time job to help cover costs even a few hours a week making about 10k for the 3yrs so what the hell is all this debt about

thats not even counting the fact some people get grants and all that jazz

maybe im way off and over simplfy but i just dnt seem to be in agreement

10k at most for rent? That's insane, I live in Manchester and pay 370 a month for a shared house with two other PhD students, so over three years - not counting writing up - I'm already on over 13k. Lets face it, it's almost impossible to do a PhD with less than 10k a year for those paying fees. For those who have undergrad debts you need at least 14k a year.

i dnt think all this is cheap but surely these people have a part time job

and do you borrow money from the bank? if so how hard was it to get this loan and whats the APR

One of the biggest inequities in higher education I have found is the sheer variability in debt. While some people can clock up tens of thousands of pounds in debt, others seem to go through their entire university career and come out with a profit!

My friend, S, is a great example of this, who didn't pay tuition fees as an undergraduate, infact got a grant (this was back in 1997). He then got a full studentship for his PhD (about 12k at the time), then after that went onto do his clinical doctorate which he is now doing(which pays him 23k a year). Needless to say, I sponge off him like crazy (mainly use his computer to write on here).

We worked out that he has been at university for 10 years and calculated that if he had to pay for his full education it would have cost him 50k in tuition fees alone (probably double if you include living expenses on top of that). He sounded quite shocked when he heard, as he never really thought about it before that.

I think its crazy that there are people like S, and in the next room at university there could be someone in pretty much the same position that spent tens of thousands of pounds to be in a similar position. I can understand it somehow though.