I'm watching this space too ! I've got 60 days to go and I am a bundle of nerves !

Hi wasabi
I'm not much of an all-nighter; I prefer to work two hours in the morning, then another 2 hours from 6pm to 8pm every night. I go to sleep around 10 pm, and always find myself awake around 2 am. Must be the nerves I guess. I have to submit at the end of April so I am trying my best to tie up loose ends !

Wow, that's great news !

You should change your name to Hopeful now :D

If you have the time, please share with us how you survived your PhD Journey.

Hiya Philo

You might want to check the requirements stated in your Uni's PhD students' handbook. For my uni, there is a paragraph in the handbook which states that 'the candidate needs to apply for permission to conduct part of his/her research abroad' ( more or less stated as such). I think you'd need to consult your main supervisor and your school's Director of Studies and then fill in the appropriate forms and such. I do have a few friends who returned to their home countries and managed to finish their work via Skype and e-mail consultations with their Svs.

Good luck !

Hi Moonblue

I will be happy to cheer you on ! I'm submitting in April and at the moment my word count is almost 60K. I had planned to work hard everyday to get close to my uni's 80K word limit (for Humanities students) but at the moment I think I will just settle to refining and reworking my thesis until my SV's satisfied with it. I haven't done my footnotes yet, which is important in my line of study so I'm not trying to get so obsessed about word limit.

Here's hoping you will be able to finish before December ends !

Thanks Bilbo, I will definitely try to seek some counselling advice from the Uni. I will also try to get a weekend break next week. I can't continue writing with all this sadness. Many thanks for those who took the time to help me. I really appreciate it.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I don't really have a problem with money because I still have my savings. I can still last a few months with the money that I saved. It's just the time management and the emotional management that's wearing me down. I just have to fight all the insecurity away, I guess.

Hi everyone, sorry but I need to rant. I have 6 months to go before I properly submit my thesis and I have no funding left. I have 5 chapters already (full of holes though) including the introduction, and my word count is 60 K. No biblio or footnotes yet, but I am seriously thinking of submitting what I have. I haven't been writing anything for a month or so since I had a personal crisis. Can I just contact my SV and say, ok, can I hand it in now ?

Hiya starsgoblue, I am in the same predicament myself, only I'm already at the end of my fourth year. I've written a respectable amount of words for my thesis, only to be told by my SV last week that it lacks depth and focus. To make matters worse, I had a personal crisis 10 days ago which made me feel like my partner had dumped me. I really felt like crying...so I called up my best friend who lives at the other side of the world for some comfort. Like you, I honestly don't know how I can finish this thesis, because at the moment everything seems to be full of holes. I feel slightly better now after blurting everything to my best friend. I guess I will have to do my best to tie everything up before end of this year. Hope you feel better soon.

Congrats Satchi...good luck for your viva !

Thanks Dr Corinne & Bilbobaggins,
I will certainly look into other methods of paying the next time around. I am not fond of the credit card, but it might prove to be useful in a situation like this. At least I did not lose my money to a syndicate located halfway across the world...argh !

Latest update ;

I checked my bank balance today and saw that the bank had deducted 24 pounds for the transaction fees...
So along with the 100 euros for the conference fees, altogether it cost me some 90 +24 = 114 pounds.
The next time I make a payment to an overseas conference, I'm going to make sure I read all the small print !

Hi all, just a post about one of my financial boo boos.
I went to the bank (UK-based bank ) to pay my conference fees amounting to 100 euros today. The conference is going to be held next month, so I'm quite pressed for time. I had checked earlier if I could pay by Paypal, but the conference people said no.
Ok then, so I was at the bank and had to queue up to get some forms to fill in. It did occur to me that I would have to pay some bank fees for the transaction, especially since the organiser's bank is not based in the UK. I had the shock of my life when I was told that the bank fees would be some 39 pounds...but then decided to go ahead with the transaction because I'm going to be busy wrapping up the thesis soon.
So, end of bank transaction and I went home. My spouse came home a bit later and I told him about the 39 pounds fees. He almost went up the roof when he heard about the fees. He asked me why on earth did I not pay via online banking ?
I would have done so but my internet banking does not allow for international transactions (yes I checked that).That facility is still not available with my bank, unlike banks like Lloyds, HSBC and such. If I had banked with LLoyds, maybe I could have saved myself the 39 pounds !
Still seething with anger about the foolish mistake some 8 hours later...

Dear OnegirlFarAway

Your situation sounds very much like mine.
I'm now in my final months of writing up a humanities PhD. 7 months to be exact. My funding has stopped and am now relying on my spouse for financial support.
I've got two SVs but currently am seeing only one regularly. I have a feeling he's not terribly happy about my progress as I tend to ramble here and there, not getting to the point. A colleague who started his PhD ten months after I started mine is now close to submitting...talk about peer pressure !
To be honest, I'm still struggling with my writing. But still I soldier on. I've 55K words and am just pushing myself a little bit everyday. It's a love-hate relationship sometimes. Like you, I just want to get this over. I just want to submit this and get back to real life. I hope that you can just gather enough courage and strength to complete your thesis. The main thing is getting it done, not necessarily perfect. You can do it !

I completed my M.A about 4 years ago. Now I'm doing some editing to my Chapter 5. I think I may need to have a conclusion chapter to my thesis.