Students could be facing mounting debt worries as a result of changes to the way in which they are expected to pay for course-related items.

Head of policy at the University and College Union Paul Cottrell observed that undergraduates now fork out for things which previously would have been included.

The cost of field trips and work-based visits were highlighted and such expenses could add to the financial pressure being faced.

“[It] tends to be compounded further by the difficulty of students trying to get part-time work these days because of the recession; the competition for jobs is higher,” said Mr Cottrell, suggesting many struggle to meet living costs as a result.

His comments came after Sainsbury’s Finance identified increases in the cost of education that could be contributing to the debt problems of those graduating, with over £13 million worth of loans taken out to fund university and college last year.

The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners.

1. Navigation of the site must be absolutely simple.  If you can’t get it that way yourself, hire a designer or use a template.

2. Share information about your business and about you – your history and values are important to prospective customers.

3. Make it easy for customers to get in contact with your business, via email, telephone or ’snail mail’.  Respond promptly.

4.

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I lost a good couple of hours of my life this week to a website that a friend directed me to called Bundle.com.

This site lets you look at the aggregated monthly spending habits of people in any city, county, or state in the U.S. You can further break it down by age groups, family types (kids, no kids, single, married, etc.) and income brackets. It’s pretty interesting stuff.

In my county and demographic bracket, the average total monthly
spending is $5,565, broken down as follows:

• Shopping: $1,637
• Travel/Leisure: $386
• Food/Drink: $1,095
• Health/Family: $926
• House/Home: $762
• Getting Around: $759

Note that nowhere in this total monthly spending does Bundle account for your rent/mortgage. S

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Zappos CEO: Find Investors Who Share Your Values

Posted by: John Tozzi on June 11, 2010

What happens when entrepreneurs’ values aren’t aligned with their investors? Read Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s account of how his company sold to Amazon last year for $1.18 billion in stock. The excerpt from his new book describes how Zappos rebuffed earlier advances from Amazon, but, in danger of losing a crucial credit line and under pressure from investors from Sequoia Capital who wanted an exit, Hsieh agreed to the deal last year with the understanding that Zappos would remain autonomous within Amazon. (I’ve

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Market volatility has many investors checking out of stocks, but analysts say the technology sector is a good place to stay for now.

Tech stocks lost ground with the rest of the market in a broad drubbing on Monday, June 7. Apple lost 1.4%, even as Steve Jobs unveiled the latest version of the iPhone. However, Apple‘s (AAPL) shares still closed up 19% for the year that day. The S&P 500 had fallen 5.7% over the same period.

The broader stock averages have suffered amid turmoil in Europe, slower-than-expected job growth in the U.S., and fear of a double-dip recession.

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