In SERIOUS debt!

Soldato
Joined
12 May 2005
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8,384
lemonkettaz said:
ok.. the majority of people.

maybe i come from a different area, but most people dont constantly save up for one new thing all the time.

i.e. tvs, couchs, washing machines, ovens, carpets, rugs, kitchens, sheds, windows, doors, computers, cars, bikes.

who can save up for everything without borrowing money at somepoint

Absolutely. Debt is a part of life. I have a car on a HP Agreement, and I’ve also got another loan that I’ve had for a few years.

I cannot afford a house, so I do rent, but still have payments to make each month. I don’t worry about them. I can always hand my car back to the HP Company, my loan is with a bank and is un-secured. I don’t have massive balances on my credit card, and TBH I don’t think anyone on this board can honestly say start to worry about this.

I bet 80% on this board who have a nice car have it on a loan….
 
Don
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I'm about 25k in debt. Thats due to car, 1k CC, 1k DD. But it's not manageable, it'll all be paid off in 3-5 years. No big deal.

Debt isn't a problem if you can manage it right and keep to a budget / repayments.
 
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afraser2k said:
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?
Makes no difference, if a student is clever they'll take out a credit card with a high credit limit (MBNA give seriously high credit limits after about six months), pay of their student debt then declare themselves bankrupt.

I've only got my student loan debt, no overdraft (well I've got a £1,800 overdraft but I haven't been in it for about nine months now), spend quite a bit (on new bits and bobs but its usually like two games maximum a month, no new flashy computers or anything) but always make sure my consumption is "smoothed" relative to income (i.e. I know I'll be getting ~£2000 by the beg of May in terms of Student Loan / Tax Rebate / Cashback).
 
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callmeBadger said:
Banks will threaten Debt collectors all the time, eventually they might do that, but that would be after they have setup dozens of meetings and discussed your problems with you, and you would have failed a few repayment plans. If they bring in Dbt collectors, they won't earn money of your account, the Debt collectors will recieve the money and a percentage will go to the bank not all, they won't want to loose this.
Most first stage debt collection companies are owned by the banks who just transfer the debt rather than sell it to them, if you fail with them then they go onto other debt collectors.
 
Associate
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36:) said:
Makes no difference, if a student is clever they'll take out a credit card with a high credit limit (MBNA give seriously high credit limits after about six months), pay of their student debt then declare themselves bankrupt.

ROFL, you can't be serious? How is making yourself "bankcrupt"' clever.

You do realise what that involves, dont you?...
 
Soldato
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England
Mundu said:
I don't know your whole situation but so many students really don't think ahead enough and then just cry when they see how much they've spent on rubbish.

I get annoyed at myself just for ordering a pizza! :eek:

Jet, the best thing you can do at home is to cook for yourself, pasta, omlettes etc are all el cheapo and can save you some cash.
 
Caporegime
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just under £15k student loan here,
if you've graduated at under 10K you're doing good (or doing a poncy degree where you can afford the time to work!)
 
Transmission breaker
Don
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In a house
Ok, first thing is DONT PANIC.


Second - Take stock and Work out exactly how much you owe. No messing, just to the point total it all up. Dont kid yourself here.

Thirdly - TAKE ACTION. This is the hardest bit. Look at your monthly outgoings and incomings (hopefully you have some!!). Work out what you need to spend to live, what is "extra"

This "extra" is the money that gets you out of debt, combined with careful spending and decent money management.


Money borrowed from family and friends takes a back seat here. They lent it to you, and you going to have to sort your finances out before you can pay it back (they should understand this, and they probably wont mind too much as are sorting yourself out). Your credit cards/overdraft - Transfer these to interest free credit cards. This means you will now be paying money back, not spending it on interest.

THEN CLOSE down the old card, and dramatically reduce your overdraft limit (but be reasonable here, you dont want to incur charges for dropping below the limits)

Your Real problem debt is literlly 1750 quid?! This is totally managable even with a tiny income.

You have no main income at the moment as i understand it, this is you biggest problem. Get a job, whatever it is, resort to fast food if its bringing money in whilst you look for a better job. (this might be a problem if your still at uni, im not sure of this, however, see below)

A second income (perhaps a couple of shifts in a bar per week) will also help dramitically. They amounts coming in may seem small, but ALWAYS pay them into you debt. 50 quid a week over a month is 200quid less debt per month, on top of any other income you may have to bolster re-paytments.



I am myself working out of a silly debt that i got by living outside my means for too long after uni. I now earn reasonably well, but have nothing like the disposable income i would have if i was minus debt. However i am under control and paying back more and more each month using all the methods listed above. My student loan is paid off, my debt is manageable and forever decreasing. I also part own a 3 bedroom house in a nice area with my Brother, have a cheap but fun car and a decent standard of living. (Im 22)

Coming to terms with debt and making a solid workable plan is the best way to take that weight off your shoulders. You will feel 100 times better when you have something planned out and know where you are heading :)
 
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Soldato
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inferno said:
WTH, wow, kind of silly really.

In reference to my debt,

I should mention that before people make comments like that - my large debt consists largely of my car and the rest was mostly unavoidable for several reasons. So please, keep comments like that to yourself.
 
Soldato
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Nix said:
Getting a loan to pay off another loan is just asking for trouble.

Yer on top of that say you have a £25k debt, they will pay it and you pay them back a total of £52k ish :/
 
Man of Honour
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lemonkettaz said:
ok.. the majority of people.

maybe i come from a different area, but most people dont constantly save up for one new thing all the time.

i.e. tvs, couchs, washing machines, ovens, carpets, rugs, kitchens, sheds, windows, doors, computers, cars, bikes.

who can save up for everything without borrowing money at somepoint

I don't think the area is relevant. I think it's because you come from a different era. There are 13 years between your birthdays and you have grown up in a period of massive debt. People now just accept it.
 
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I’ve been debt most of my life, well, since I got my first credit card when I was 18, I’ve owed tens of thousands of £££'s out to company’s, it's certainly not something I'm proud of and it's completely my own fault, I have up until recently just lived my life with complete disregard for the value of money, anything I wanted I just slammed on one of my many cards, what made it more annoying is that I hardly ever got turned down even when I was serious in debt,

I remember one month I must have filled out about 10 online credit card application forms, out of those ten I think I had 8 that accepted me, the problem for me was the buzz you'd get when you wake up in for morning knowing that there was a couple more new credit cards waiting on your doormat with a few grand credit limit on them, I new I could just walk into nearly any shop and just say "I’ll have that, that, that, oh, and that please",

It's something that I had been doing for nearly 10 years, I was truly addicted to spending money :( , the thing that changed it for me was when recently I got laid off from my job, I had been working there since I left college and never thought that I'd be unemployed until I was at least in my 60's, now for the first time in my life I have to look at the price of food etc when I go shopping, I even check my receipt now to make sure the 2 for 1's have gone on, lol, I would'nt say I'm cured, I still have urges to spend money on things I don't need, or try applying for new credit cards, but for the first time in my life I'm looking at money and what makes me happy under a new light and trying more to apprechiate the simple things in life.

scary as it may seem here are my money saving tips from a recovering spendaholic,

1. Change all light bulbs to energy savers - I'm on the meter and compared to standerd light bulbs this saves me about £10 a month

2. Miss use of electrical appliances - If your not watching the tv then switch it off, is there any need to have all my 3 pcs on at the same time, nope, not any more, you get the idea.

3. Fags - This is a very expensive and not to mention dirty habbit, nuff said.

4. Booze - It may only be a couple cans in the evening but even if it's 50p bulk buy cans thats still nearly £30 a month

5. Transport - Taxis r a fat no go, WALK, if you can't manage that then bus it is.

6. Food - Don't waste money on a £10-£15 chinky when if you cook yourself that money used effectivly could buy you a weeks worth of meals.

7. Check your your bank statements - Ring your bank and tell them that you want a full monthly statement sent, (while your at it check what direct debits you curruntly have setup with your acc), when you receive you bank statements check all your ingoings an out goings, see if you can trim them down, make this a monthly activity to fine tune your spending habits.

8. Be honest to your creditors - Don't try and thob them off, tell them the situation that your in, your be supprised a lot of creditors will respect your honesty and usually come to a very agreable payment plan.

Even tho I,ve lost my job, and still owe thousands of £££'s out All I can say is, God or what governs this universe thank you for teaching me this lesson, I will manage and I will grow stronger.
 
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Soldato
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Expat in HK
Just got back from my tooth extraction, two words, HORRIFIC... PAIN! Took three injections and 20 minutes to get me numb, haha!

Anyway i'm in awe to the amount of support from people here and more interestingly the many experiences people have gone through with debt. Reading up on everyones posts was most comforting, lol. I've always had the same problem with lowrider007, if i want something i have to have it regardless of my bank balance. It is just money afterall, but i'm definitley more wary of what i will be buying as of late.

All your opinions are greatly appreciated, i'm working right now on getting my interest free overdraft increased by £500 so i can pay that credit card back. Then i will start paying back that overdraft while putting a little off towards my dad and girlfriend each month with the part time job i have.

As for smoking, i'm a health freak (contradiction, heheh), i actually stopped smoking for 2 weeks after my first tooth extraction so there is no way i'll be smoking for the next two weeks. Like i said i get the cigs imported for free (cheers Dad!) and in a way that leads to to smoking much less as the craving to buy cigs and then smoking them is gone. I only really smoke 3/4 at work on a Friday/Saturday when we are busy or when i'm amidst getting an essay written.

Thanks all. :)
 
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