In SERIOUS debt!

[Cookie-Monster]

your student loan doesnt really count.

your overdraft limit is £1250, have you used it all?

I would start by making some real sacrifices in social life, etc pay off family and friends first then credit cards.

 

[philstanbridge]

Chin up mate, I'm glad you are looking positively at all of this - I'm the worse one to offer advice so I wont bother

 

[Jimbo]

Hey, remember its no crime to be in debt.

 

[Shoseki]

I was in a similar situation.

Was earning about 280 quid every two weeks full time employed, had 1500 on my credit card, and about 1500 on my overdraft.

Took out a graduate loan to pay of credit card and overdraft. Certainly eased the pain by reducing my interest rate.

Don't necessarily get rid of the credit, but show some restraint and stop using it for general purpose stuff. Oh, and learn to

1) Cook for yourself
2) Quit smoking
3) Walk everywhere unless its somewhere ridiculous, in which case take a bus. Don't take cabs unless there are >3 of you paying the fair, in which case it comes to around the same as a bus.
4) Stop eating expensive take-aways or going for massive nights out. Get tipsy / lightly toasted before hand with friends with efforts from the local off licence. I spend more money in a night out on drink than sometimes a week of shopping!

 

[Was]

10k? its not a lot of money, my gf's student loans will be about 30k by the time she finishes, thats scary

ge yourself a loan and start paying it back monthly, 5k over 3 years will be around 150 a month, if thats a little too high take it over 5 years, take it easy and relax.

Money does get better after uni just dont waste it!

 

[triggerthat]

Work your arse off this summer and start paying it back?

 

[Matblack]

Go and speak to the local Citizens advice beauru and they will give you a number for a free debt councelling service who will work with you to come to an agreement with your credit card company, they will also give you a lot of assitance in avoiding repeating this mistake in the future.

I would like to say well done, you have caught this issue early, you haven't maxed out the credit card or taken a consolidation loan so you are on the right road

MB

 

[Rich_L]

That's nothing tbh, ignore your student loan totally. It's a virtually interest-free loan that you don't have to pay back until you can afford it and on top of that it isn't counted as debt when it comes to credit rating and suchlike.

I'm guessing if it's a student overdraft then it's interest-free - again as long as you stay within your limit that's not an issue and you could easily get that increased to £1,500.00 if you wanted to say pay £200 off your credit card straight away.

Is your credit card at a limit of £500 or have you just got £500 on it? In any event it's not a big amount so it won't really be increasing by much, even at 30% APR it only goes up by ~£12 a month. Cancel any payment protection on it as well as that's not worth it. Set-up a standing order for say £50 a month and it'll be gone in no time.

Arrange with your dad & gf a repayment schedule and set-up a standing order for a minimum monthly amount. If you do any work in the holidays then you can top it up quite easily and pay them off quicker.

All in all, it really isn't serious debt, but it's good that you've spotted it early and are looking to pay it all off

*edit*
In fact, why not apply for a hardship loan from the SLC, you can get a £500 addition quite easily which would pay off your credit card in one go, and it just gets added to your loan account.

 

[Robert]

This is why I have 1 account. My loan gets paid in and I have the interest free loan enabled now (disabled all of last year but needed it over summer for a hol). Most of that is used but will be getting topped up soon with another loan and shall be on the up from there on.

 

[Stretch]

That's nothing to worry about tbh. Student loan is really a proper debt since you pay as you can afford. Your overdraft should be interest free on a graduate account for at leased a year. Pay off you credit card as soon as possible, you should be able to find £500 relatively easily. If not transfer it to an interest free card as has been suggested. And the rest you owe to your family, which I'm sure they’ll be understating about if you're having money problems.

 

[afraser2k]

Didn't they have to change the bankruptcy rules recently due to the amount of students declaring themselves bankrupt at the end of their courses? I think this was why the bankruptcy numbers were so high this year as people were trying to avoid the new rules?

 

[Amps]

I have the following debts...

£7500 - Student Loans Company - Doesn’t Count
£1250 - Overdraft Limit - This should be interest free since you are a student , if it isnt get one which is Bank of scotland/Halifax for instance.

£1200 - Borrowed from Girlfriend - I would try and pay her back at least some of this money when you can , it will at least show you are trying , she will understand.

£500 - Credit Card - Thats nothing , but if you are paying intrest get an intrest free card and transfer it to it. And rember you cant transfer between the same lender without fees. Ie MBNA to MBNA.

£450 - Borrowed from Dad - Pay this back at your leisure .

 

[Mint_Sauce]

Go to the library and get "The Motley Fool" book. It's excellent at showing you how to manage your money. The first half of the book is to do with getting out of debt and should help you a lot.

 

[Lt. Manlove]

The only debt I have is a £200 phone bill but with no job. Looking for a part time job asap to pay it off...

 

[TrueBlue]

im in more debt than that dude.

ive got

10k student loan and a 2k credit card bill to pay off. Thankfully i dont owe any money to a person/persons.

 

[Rotty]

I wouldn't class that as serious debt as the student loan part is not a pressing issue


the important ones are the overdraft and CC , just contact them and come to some arrangement with them they are generally quite helpfull

 

[Mr Jack]

I wouldn't say that was a serious debt, but it's a good thing you are taking it seriously.

If I was you:

Ignore the Student Loan, it's not "proper" debt.
Cut back spendings as others have said.
Get a saturday job, even if you're only doing 8 hours at £5.50 an hour that will pay back your credit card within 3 months.
Make sure you get a paying summer job.

 

[eXor]

The Jet, go to Jamoor's link and read the long matched betting thread. If you have a debit card and a basic grasp of math ( ), you can make over £200 risk free.

It won't put much of a dent in your debt, but hey, every little helps.

 

[dirtydog]

Didn't they have to change the bankruptcy rules recently due to the amount of students declaring themselves bankrupt at the end of their courses? I think this was why the bankruptcy numbers were so high this year as people were trying to avoid the new rules?

I seem to remember hearing that A necessary move too.

 

[Rotty]

yep ,was getting ridiculous how folks were getting out of there own debts so easily