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Money troubles

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
Don't know if this is the right forum but here goes ...

Basically i'ma bit stuck at the moment. Due to some rather stupid spending and a total lack of organisation/common sense I owe my uni a bit of money ... about 350 pounds.

Now basically I just can't afford to pay this at the moment because I'm ridiculously broke. I applied for my student loan late for various reasons but in about 5 weeks i should get two installments together, about 2,000.

My mum opened some of my post and found out about all these debts and has gone off on one. Basically I totally refuse to borrow money from her or let her help me out mainly due to the fact that I like to be independent and am (usually) more than capable of taking care of myself and don't need to be bailed out by mummy like some spoilt rich kid and partly because if i did she would hold it over my head for a long time.

Anyway the old dear's been phoning uni to try and find out what i've got myself into and has been sending me rather angry e-mails because i hhaven't been picking up the phone. I need to sort this quick.

Was considering getting a credit card and using it to pay off the debt then tearing it up and never using it again. I've got the loan coming in so i'll be able to pay it back pretty soon.

Anyone think this is a bad way to sort this? I've never trusted myself with a credit card because I have little/no self control but surely if i just use it for this and then get rid of it i'll be fine?

Any advice? Good plan or bad plan?
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    surely if you just phone your uni and tell them you'll be able to pay when you get your next installment they'll just wait til then? have you actually spoken to them about it?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    surely if you just phone your uni and tell them you'll be able to pay when you get your next installment they'll just wait til then? have you actually spoken to them about it?

    Umm ... actually no. You'd have thought I would have done that first wouldn't you? Ok i feel pretty stupid i'll give them a call tomorrow. Cheers for the dose of common sense.

    Guess you northerners are brighter than you sound eh? :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jon_UK wrote:
    Umm ... actually no. You'd have thought I would have done that first wouldn't you? Ok i feel pretty stupid i'll give them a call tomorrow. Cheers for the dose of common sense.

    Guess you northerners are brighter than you sound eh? :p
    u cheeky sod! :grump:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    u cheeky sod! :grump:

    I'm sorry I couldn't help myself :razz:

    Seriously thanks for the advice :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jon_UK wrote:
    I'm sorry I couldn't help myself :razz:

    Seriously thanks for the advice :)
    thats ok ;) you can thank me properly later.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    thats ok ;) you can thank me properly later.

    :yum:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jon_UK wrote:
    Was considering getting a credit card and using it to pay off the debt then tearing it up and never using it again. I've got the loan coming in so i'll be able to pay it back pretty soon.
    Bad plan, very bad plan. Swapping one debt for another does nobody any good.
    Once you have a credit card, the likeliness of you actually cutting it up is slim to none - it'd be there in your pocket loaded, and you'd use it. And by doing so landing yourself deeper into debt.

    My advice is to swallow your pride and let your mum help.

    Ilora x
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bad plan, very bad plan. Swapping one debt for another does nobody any good.
    Once you have a credit card, the likeliness of you actually cutting it up is slim to none - it'd be there in your pocket loaded, and you'd use it. And by doing so landing yourself deeper into debt.

    My advice is to swallow your pride and let your mum help.

    Ilora x

    :yes: Does she expect you to pay it back or not?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    as lipsy said, talk to your uni. they should be fine with you paying it back when you get your loan so just explain the situation - they'll obviously understand about student finance, lack of it etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah, lipsy's right, it shouldn't even come to you having to ask your mum for help...your Uni will probably be pretty accomodating in terms of paying it back - once they know you intend to do so. Communicating with them is the key, otherwise they'll think you're trying to get away with it/going to have to be chased up, and they'll come down on you like a ton of bricks.

    If they aren't understanding about it then I'd recommend taking money from your mum rather than credit card company. You can pay your mum back as quickly as you would pay off the loan, and then no more need be said about it. There's no shame in it at all, I know what option I'd choose... :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks for all the replies guys.

    Sadly its not so simple, mum and I don't get on and ... well its complicated but that's a route i'll avoid at all costs.

    Going to give uni a call in a bit. Appreciate all the advice
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jon_UK wrote:
    Don't know if this is the right forum but here goes ...

    Basically i'ma bit stuck at the moment. Due to some rather stupid spending and a total lack of organisation/common sense I owe my uni a bit of money ... about 350 pounds.

    Now basically I just can't afford to pay this at the moment because I'm ridiculously broke. I applied for my student loan late for various reasons but in about 5 weeks i should get two installments together, about 2,000.

    My mum opened some of my post and found out about all these debts and has gone off on one. Basically I totally refuse to borrow money from her or let her help me out mainly due to the fact that I like to be independent and am (usually) more than capable of taking care of myself and don't need to be bailed out by mummy like some spoilt rich kid and partly because if i did she would hold it over my head for a long time.

    Anyway the old dear's been phoning uni to try and find out what i've got myself into and has been sending me rather angry e-mails because i hhaven't been picking up the phone. I need to sort this quick.

    Was considering getting a credit card and using it to pay off the debt then tearing it up and never using it again. I've got the loan coming in so i'll be able to pay it back pretty soon.

    Anyone think this is a bad way to sort this? I've never trusted myself with a credit card because I have little/no self control but surely if i just use it for this and then get rid of it i'll be fine?

    Any advice? Good plan or bad plan?
    I have been in the same situation. I havent read all of your thread, but while I was in uni halls a few years back I spent my loan money on shit and didn't pay my rent for my room.

    Now, I don't know about your uni but my one added amounts to my debt every week (or month) can't really remember, and it was like a complete mess. I didn't want my parents to know, and in the end my mate offered me a hand to pay it off. Ill just say that you should really try and pay it off asap if your uni is anything like mine adding more money on the debt you already owe.

    I have to say that my spending sprees stopped after that incident and im kinda better with my money spending.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Did you sort anything out with your Uni then, Jon?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Students tend to leave uni with about £20k of debt, its not so long ago when you could buy a house for £20k !! :shocking:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    swallow your pride and borrow some money off your mum until your loan comes in just for you to live on.

    stop burying your head in the sand and go into your uni and explain the situation with regards to your loan - you should've done this from the start really; they can't help you unless you explain what's going on. they're there to help so i'm sure they'll be willing to wait a few more weeks if you can guarantee they'll get their money.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know what you mean Jon. I returned home on Thursday to a letter saying that I owed £293 because I read the payment thing wrong; I thought I had to pay my fees in 3 installments when actually it was supposed to be in 2 installments. My loan doesn't cover the total cost of my fees and accommodation anyway and I emailed them asking to pay it next term when my loan comes through, but they said no. In fact what they said was the loan isn't supposed to be used for paying fees and that I had one week from today to pay the debt. I had no choice but to borrow money from my mum - I feel so guilty because I know she can't afford it. Just for the record I don't spend frivolously, I rarely go out drinking etc, the problem is that my loan isn't enough to cover the two mandatory things I need to pay for.

    Jon - take this as a lesson and next time, pay all you need to pay as soon as you get your loan, before spending it all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    Jon - take this as a lesson and next time, pay all you need to pay as soon as you get your loan, before spending it all.


    read his post again, he hasn't had his last loan payment through yet.

    so i wouldn't say he'd been spending stupidly.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jon_UK wrote:
    Due to some rather stupid spending and a total lack of organisation/common sense I owe my uni a bit of money ... about 350 pounds.
    This part was what I based my comment on, although the spending would have been ok if the loan was through I suppose.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    also getting a credit card isn't always a bad thing- if you get one, you then get a credit rating, and as long as you are sensible with it, when you need to get a credit card with a higher limit when you're older, or a mortgage on your house for example, you'll credit rating will be good.

    if you don't build up a credit rating and then suddenly need to borrow a large amount of money, it's more difficult.
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