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how much debt are u in??

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
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!!
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    not using my overdraft, but I've spent part of my loan on fees and accomadation...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I am in debt. Its a bit of a personal questionto ask people how much though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    £865 into my overdraft, with £330 due to be taken out to pay for my tutition fees (paying by direct debit)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Including my loan to date I'll be something in the region of £6000 in debt.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    none yet, 'cept my student lone.

    but it's guna be tight after xmas :(

    oh, and I'm in my 2nd year, not 1st...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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..........
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Toadborg
    The key: don't spend much money, quite simple really..........

    Have you ever considered being a financial consultant?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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..........
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know a doctor from the US and he has about $125,000 in student debts plus other debts too.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    state colleges also tend to have the same rep as ex-polys do here.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    £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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
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