how much debt are u in??

[empire21]

i was just wondering after the first semester at uni, how much debt other people are in??if any.just want to reassure myself that other students are in the same situation as me!!

[Fiend_85]

not using my overdraft, but I've spent part of my loan on fees and accomadation...

[Acrobat]

I am in debt. Its a bit of a personal questionto ask people how much though.

[Gavman]

£865 into my overdraft, with £330 due to be taken out to pay for my tutition fees (paying by direct debit)

[UpsetChap]

Including my loan to date I'll be something in the region of £6000 in debt.

[Replicant]

none yet, 'cept my student lone.

but it's guna be tight after xmas :(

oh, and I'm in my 2nd year, not 1st...

[Pink Soda]

I'm in riduiculous debt and this is after my first term at uni...
I'm really not sure how much as i'm soo disorganised with money. I have an account with HSBC and Natwest and have maxed out both overdrafts. Also have 3 credit cards which i always forget to pay off (bad idea!), so end up paying loads of interest. By the way i'd recommend the egg credit card, interest free for a year, much better.
Had my bank statement through last week and had spent £1300 in the last month at uni, I honestly cannot imagine how. This didnt include any fees, and I'm in catered halls as well. I really need to sort my money out but I'm so bad at budgeting.
Got a job sorted out over the holidays but i'm ill at the moment so cant work. Will hopeufully get some bar work at uni but it still won't pay off everything i owe. I hate this whole not earning thing. I really wonder whether uni is worth it at all.

[Replicant]

Originally posted by Pink Soda
Also have 3 credit cards

nooo, credit card(s) + student = very very bad!

cut them up, you'll be thankful in the end :thumb:

[Olive]

Originally posted by Theydon Bois
nooo, credit card(s) + student = very very bad!

cut them up, you'll be thankful in the end :thumb:

:yes:

credit cards are generally a bad idea, unless you know that you can pay them off on time every month.

missing lots of payments does horrific things to your credit rating.

[girl with sharp teeth]

.

[Toadborg]

about £12,000

I finished my first degree in June but I am doing Masters so won't have to pay it back for a while as this is nearly all loan, no credit cards or large overdrafts, or personal loans etc so I am not too worried.

The key: don't spend much money, quite simple really..........

[budda]

Originally posted by Toadborg
The key: don't spend much money, quite simple really..........

Have you ever considered being a financial consultant?

[Toadborg]

With advice like that I could be a rich man! :p

Seriously though, wjenever you go to spend some money think whther you really need it, if not don't buy it..........

[Dear Wendy]

Originally posted by Toadborg
With advice like that I could be a rich man! :p

Seriously though, wjenever you go to spend some money think whther you really need it, if not don't buy it..........

You are too practical:p

I am shitting myself hearing what people have to say about their debt.

That said, I am more or less covered for my uni and accomodation fees, and the only thing I have to spend money on is going out, food, and shopping.... And that's where all the problems begin.

[budda]

Food and shopping I was fine on, it was being based in London with mates who liked going clubbing that did for me, going out and spending £60 a time really did in my budget.

[Olive]

the alcohol is definitely what will break the bank.

i could go out at night, have two cokes and entry to the club for under a fiver, and even with a taxi home have change from a tenner. my alcoholic housemates could sometimes spend the best part of £80 on a big night.

add that to the fact that i worked through the holidays, and i ended up graduating only £3000 in debt for 4 years at uni. most of my friends were at least £10,000 out of pocket. one owes nearly £25,000.

[budda]

I know a doctor from the US and he has about $125,000 in student debts plus other debts too.

[Kath2003]

It's different in the states, costs WAY more to go to College there than it does Uni here.
I'm not in debt, but then I'm good with budgeting and I work.

[budda]

Originally posted by Kath2003
It's different in the states, costs WAY more to go to College there than it does Uni here.

Depends, if you go to a college in the same state that you live then a lot of the time its not that expencive. State Colleges charge less, independant colleges like Yale, Harvard etc. charge LOADS.

However this bloke went to Harvard (he's seriously smart) and thats not a State College, which means they can charge whatever they like to anyone. And they do.

[Kath2003]

state colleges also tend to have the same rep as ex-polys do here.

[budda]

Not always, though a lot of them do yes. Cal-Tech is a state college I believe and thats very highly regarded.

MIT may well be a state college too, though I'm not sure on that one.

[Kermit]

£1600 on a credit card, £1600 on an overdraft.

And yes, it's really easy to say "don't use a credit card" and "get a summer job". Not quite so easy in pratcise.

[Guest_]

.

[Pink Soda]

Originally posted by Kermit
£1600 on a credit card, £1600 on an overdraft.

And yes, it's really easy to say "don't use a credit card" and "get a summer job". Not quite so easy in pratcise.

Yeah I plan to work in all my university holidays. Working at the moment, even on xmas eve, xmas day, boxing day and new years eve :(
And I neeeeeed a credit card, there's some things I just don't have enough money to buy eg. laptop/printer etc. Plus the fact that I'm not very good at living a non-earning lifestyle, I'll still go out alot and go shopping and buy new clothes and stuff. But life's for living I guess, I'm not gonna sacrifice all the good things just cos I'm at uni. It's not worth it.

[Dear Wendy]

Originally posted by Pink Soda
Yeah I plan to work in all my university holidays. Working at the moment, even on xmas eve, xmas day, boxing day and new years eve :(
And I neeeeeed a credit card, there's some things I just don't have enough money to buy eg. laptop/printer etc. Plus the fact that I'm not very good at living a non-earning lifestyle, I'll still go out alot and go shopping and buy new clothes and stuff. But life's for living I guess, I'm not gonna sacrifice all the good things just cos I'm at uni. It's not worth it.

To be honest, I fully understand and support this stance.
There's not much to life if you live on baked beans everyday and a new pair of underwear as a treat every 4th month. There's just no point.

[Olive]

Originally posted by Jacqueline the Ripper
To be honest, I fully understand and support this stance.
There's not much to life if you live on baked beans everyday and a new pair of underwear as a treat every 4th month. There's just no point.

the point is for me that because i was quite careful as a student, i can live a lot more now, and treat myself. and also get approved for credit and hopefully a mortgage at some point, while people i know are so in debt they'll be paying it back most of their lives, and have been blacklisted, so they're dreaming if they think they'll be approved for a credit card or mortgage anytime soon.

[Kermit]

I'm in a significant wedge of debt, but I've only ever missed about three credit card payments, and even then they were just delayed (by a couple of days all times) rather than absent. They made £20 off me each time, doubt they're gonna be too upset at it:)

It's a fine balance between being careful and having a life. In first year I was miserable so I spent a small fortune (mostly on a train fare each weekend to see t'missus) and so I was more careful in years two and three.

[Kath2003]

The only rule I abide by is don't live beyond your means. If you want something, but don't have the cash, you don't get it. No credit, no overdraft, if you can't afford it, you don't have it.

[Kermit]

Originally posted by Kath2003
The only rule I abide by is don't live beyond your means.

Following that, I'd have sat in my room all night sipping a bottle of beer and eating Value beans.

I'd rather have the debt, though even better would have been Blair not getting elected.

[Kath2003]

I don't sit in my room doing that! I have a GREAT social life, go out, get new clothes etc. But I work damn hard for that luxury.

[twisted_trinity]

i'm now 2000€ in debt and i'm not even at uni, and my new course at music college doesn't start until january. :(

though i do have it susspended for a year while i'm taking the course, and then possibly another 6 months extension.

but i am only in debt to my mother.

[rachie004]

none :cool:

[Kermit]

Originally posted by Kath2003
But I work damn hard for that luxury.

Which, of course, drastically impacts on your studies.

T'missus is doing 25 hours a week work, and uni on top, and I don't think it all gets fit in properly.

[wheresmyplacebo]

Originally posted by twisted_trinity
i'm now 2000€ in debt and i'm not even at uni, and my new course at music college doesn't start until january. :(

though i do have it susspended for a year while i'm taking the course, and then possibly another 6 months extension.

but i am only in debt to my mother.

:eek:

im in £9500 debt so far

and i dont use my overdraft as i get a bursary on top of my loan coz my uni liked me so much

got 2 years to go at about £5000 a year, so erm about £21000 including interest wen im done

[Halloween]

Howd you manage that? Part-time job? I'll go to uni in Belfast where I live, and if I stay at home I could save alot of money (not elligible for for halls!) But I'll still be in debt of around 7000
:crazyeyes

[~kaz~]

I have just under £3000 to pay back for student loan and that will prob increase to £6000 when i go to uni to do my third year. And I am bout £95 in my overdraft not much but only have a £100 limit atm. (trying not to spend money I don't have)

[lucifer devil]

too much.

i'm not even going to think about it.

but, it is very reassuring to see i'm not the only one.

[papamark]

holy crap.
im starting uni im september and all this talk about debt is making me slightly worried.

[lucifer devil]

you'll be fine if you just watch your money.

you're entitled to splurge quite a bit of your first loan installment but not all of it! :no:

[budda]

holy crap.
im starting uni im september and all this talk about debt is making me slightly worried.

Ahhh, dont worry about it, student loans arent real money, you only pay back what you were lent and it comes straight out of your pay cheque, so you dont even notice it.

[nicebutdim23]

i have my student loan, £400 overdraft and £2k i owe to barclays for personal loan had to take out to consolidate debt i had before i started uni this year to make it more manageable.
would def advise all students to steer well clear of credit cards.. they are BAD :no:

[lucifer devil]

would def advise all students to steer well clear of credit cards.. they are BAD :no:

and store cards!

:no:

[melanie]

im redoing my 2nd year. at the end of this year i will owe £12700 in student loan. at the mo im not into my overdraft but thats because i havnt paid my rent yet and the bills havnt gone out.

[x .beepbeep.]

crime. :angel:

[Spliffie]

i was just wondering after the first semester at uni, how much debt other people are in??if any.just want to reassure myself that other students are in the same situation as me!!

About £8,500. Just dropped out of second year and having to re-sit next year. Ahhh, all work and no play would make me a dull boy...fuck money, plenty of time for working ahead of us to pay it off...make the most of uni :yes: .

[young-blood]

I have now finished University.

Outcome:-

2 Credit Cards = £1,250
3 Overdrafts = £3,750

Just to get the banks off your ass, has anyone consolidated their debts?
I may need some advice on the best way to do this, good rates etc...
Looked around but mainly for homeowners...

Ta

[Olive]

Just to get the banks off your ass, has anyone consolidated their debts?
I may need some advice on the best way to do this, good rates etc...
Looked around but mainly for homeowners...


your best bet is probably a graduate loan. i'm not sure about other banks, but lloyds tsb do one with preferential rates for the first few years after you graduate.

pop into your bank and have a chat with them.

[piccolo]

"get a summer job". Not quite so easy in pratcise.Even in London I can't find a shop job. :( Sucks. Only debt so far is student loan, btu I'm worried I could be in trouble when I have to pay my own rent cos it's so expensive in London.

And Kaff, maybe I go to the wrong places, or maybe it's cos I live in London but if I want to pay £5 for a club and get a taxi home (even split) I have to drink tap water all night to have change from £10. However, comparatively the people who drink always spend more than those who don't I'm not undermining your point - I'm just jealous!