When the mystery man walked in, I rapidly revised my earlier opinion Good looking, six foot two, and fun to talk to. Unfortunately, he already had a girlfriend, and was busy flashing pictures of her to the rest of the group.That night, we all crashed out on a friend’s floor, and I made sure my sleeping bag was near to his Just a hint. He’d souped up a LandRover, booked the ferry to Gothenburg – and had a spare place. I knew most of the people who were going from university, but one of the guys was a complete unknown. From my mate’s brief description – “He’s going on the Officer Training Course at Sandhurst in September” – he sounded like an upper-class chinless wonder. Then my best friend pulled out of a two-week holiday we’d planned, and I was left with a fortnight off work and nothing exciting to fill it.
Step in a mate who was organising a two-week trip to Scandinavia for a crowd of friends. He must have lost my number …” while your friends scoff knowingly.

Sounds familiar?

Back in the summer of 1990, I had crawled out of a disastrous relationship and was intent on getting a life that involved lots of fun and no more steady boyfriends I spent the summer seeing a string of blokes and partying. For weeks you sit there, clutching a well-worn batch of holiday snaps and whimpering: “He said I was really special He said he’d ring. You go on holiday, meet the man of your dreams, declare mutual undying love, wave a tearful goodbye at the airport – and then never see him again. Gilt belt, pounds 39, Otto Glanz from Fenwick, 63 New Bond St, London W1 and branches nationwide.
Below right: navy leather car coat, pounds 399; black wool polo neck, pounds 40; black skirt, pounds 45; leather belt, pounds 25, all French Connection, 249 Regent St, London W1 and branches, tel: 0171 580 2507.

Brown suede shoulder bag, pounds 125, Russell & Bromley branches nationwide, tel: 0171 629 6903.Far right: navy marl wool polo neck, pounds 64, John Smedley, from Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London SW1; Links of Harrogate, 1 Baines House, Station Parade, Harrogate Inquiries: 0171 580 5075.. Black jersey maxi skirt, pounds 35, Warehouse, 19/21 Argyle St, London W1, tel: 0171 278 3491. Black wool single-breasted jacket, pounds 79, Benetton selected branches nationwide. Black wool hipster trousers, pounds 53, Sisley, call 0161 929 9259 for stockists. Gilt bracelet from a selection at Agatha, 4 South Molton St, London W1, mail order on 0171 495 2779.

Top right: navy cotton boat neck, pounds 25, French Connection, 249 Regent St, London W1 and branches, tel: 0171 580 2507. They may not make you look like the most trendy person in the world, but you’ll get more wear out of these pieces than the person in the geometric knee-length coat with lacy tights and clumpy shoes. We’ve also concentrated on navy and black, the most popular winter colours. Above: white cotton shirt, pounds 95, Paul Smith Women, 40 Floral Street, London WC2. The two main looks for autumn are maxi and chocolate brown. These will be covered more fully in subsequent issues, but for this week: your staple winter wardrobe. Classic, beautiful items of clothing that will see you through this season stylishly and effortlessly, without branding you as a fashion victim.

“I went in and asked quite tentatively for a small amount of extra credit but they gave me pounds 1,500 just like that”.Stuart is part of a financial love-triangle that’s much more cognisant of the pressures of living in the real world. And when he graduates, he’s quite likely to find that there are several banks scrambling for the pleasure of taking on his debt and allowing him to pay it off on easy terms “I’ve no complaints,” he breezes They should put him in the adverts.. 24 cans of Steinlager

$36 (pounds 18)
20 Benson & Hedges Gold$5.75 (pounds 2.87)Pair of Levis 501$160 (pounds 80)Litre of unleaded petrol95c (47p)Family-sized sliced loaf of bread$1.70 (85p)15-minute taxi ride$16 (pounds 8)George Michael’s latest CD$27 (pounds 13.50)Paperback book$24.95 (pounds 12.40)Top seats for Kiri Te Kanawa$200 (pounds 100)Large tube of Colgate toothpaste$2.75 (pounds 1.37)200g bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk$4.75 (pounds 2.37)Milk per litre$1.38 (69p)Cinema ticket for ‘Birdcage’$8 (pounds 4)Good quality ladies shoes$250 (pounds 125)NZ manufactured fridge$1600 (pounds 800)Bottle of Matua Valley Pinot Noir from supermarket$10 (pounds 5)Litre of Coca-Cola$1.95 (97p). Ania is typical of the present generation of students who, resigned to the imminent death of the grant, are investigating alternative strategies to make money go further. She’s intending to put her student loan into a high-interest account, and is examining the logistics of opening multiple accounts.Stuart, 22, reading architecture at Oxford, is one of the many British students already managing two overdrafts, juggling the services of two banks to give himself the option of going pounds 2,500 into interest-free debt. “I just tried it to see if I could get away with it, and I really needed the money at the time,” he says. Richard Harvey is sceptical about the widespread nature of this practice: “I think it’s something that people say they do a lot more than they actually do,” he contends, sounding a little like Tony asserting his confidence in Sam’s fidelity.However, Stuart has just applied for an overdraft extension.