How to control debt as university student
Hi all
First of all, I would like to preface this by making the point that I am extremely embarrassed about my financial situation and have learnt from my mistakes that I foolishly made when I turned 18.
I left school at the end of Year 12 and went into full time employment probably 3 months after this (18 years old). I started off making £700 p/m at my apprenticeship, but due to my enthusiasm and hard work, I was given a pay rise to £12k a year, followed by a further increase of £6k 6 months after this. During this period, I had absolutely no interest in going to university. I had fully convinced myself it wasn't work it and could be earning a lot more money by simply working hard in my profession.
I was so wrong. I ended up visiting a friend at university for a weekend, and after working 40 hour working weeks I decided it may actually be a viable option for me. Over the course of the next 9 months, I had applied to university, been accepted and I now move there next week!
I'm terrible with money. I kick myself every time I think about it. I like to think of myself as a smart, well-driven individual (I run my own limited company, do numerous online coding projects that earn me money etc) but everytime I think of this is just makes me more and more depressed. Over the 20 month working period of working full time, I accquired credit cards that originally had a low limit. This was never an issue. I'd max the card out and pay it off in full each month... just to build my credit up as that was what I was told to do. However, in doing so, I started getting increases in my credit limit, and I naively thought this was a great thing to do. I had no intentions of leaving work at this point (my job was VERY stable, I am welcome to go back during Uni if it doens't work out and even after graduation.. I worked hard!) and so accumulated a fair amount of debt, probably somewhere around £1500. This is where things went downhill.
My dad had a massive issue with gambling. He has told me stories of going to the casino, withdrawing £1000 on a credit card and blowing the lot... and this wasn't a rare occurance. My mum has always been so terrible with money. Both of them have gone bankrupt, and both still have large amounts of debt to this day (credit card debts, overdrafts, catalouges, you name them). My eldest brother also loves a gamble. I've always enjoyed gambling but never really spent too much money on it as I never really had a lot. However, as I was working I started spending more and more. It wasn't long before I stumbled across football gambling. I noticed that there were stats and stuff online that you could use to find out how likely it was that something would happen such as a goal. I started using this information and was making crazy amounts of money. I had turned £30 into £2500 in less than a month and rarely lost a bet. I was completing £25 - £1000 rollover challenges (you start with £25, and keep betting whatever the winning amount is until you reach £1000, usually 13-15 consecutive bets) and so started upping the stakes.
It went downhill. I'm so embarrassed by it but I couldn't accept that I could only keep losing. I upped the stakes, started chasing losses, and before you know it accumulated a lot of debt to gambling.
I was not mentally happy at my job (mentally draining, stayed late every day so my weeks were more like 45-50 hour weeks) and all I ever saw was my friends having fun at university while I was struggling.
I intended to pay off my debts by August. I've done nothing. I couldn't do it. I sit there and work out how much I have to pay off, and for whatever stupid reason didn't stick to it.
I'm going off to university with around £4k worth of debt and it keeps me awake at night. It is my fault and I accept that, but my gambling addiction was so bad and so out of my control, and that makes me more depressed than you can imagine.
I am hoping to speak with my creditors or maybe even set up a DMP. I have such large minimum payments that I just cannot keep up with as a uni student. I'm hoping my creditors are understanding, as I fully intend to pay back all of the money. Does anyone have any advice they can share about this situation? I don't need "Your problem, you deal with it" type responses, I've already been hard on myself enough. Just looking for some advice on how to deal with creditors.
Just so you are aware also, I am not working another year before uni, I seriously don't think I can mentally handle it, and I literally move in next week.
I have given myself a 5 year ban from all online casinos and refuse to gamble again. It's really hard but not as hard as this stupid debt. I just feel like I've let myself down.
First of all, I would like to preface this by making the point that I am extremely embarrassed about my financial situation and have learnt from my mistakes that I foolishly made when I turned 18.
I left school at the end of Year 12 and went into full time employment probably 3 months after this (18 years old). I started off making £700 p/m at my apprenticeship, but due to my enthusiasm and hard work, I was given a pay rise to £12k a year, followed by a further increase of £6k 6 months after this. During this period, I had absolutely no interest in going to university. I had fully convinced myself it wasn't work it and could be earning a lot more money by simply working hard in my profession.
I was so wrong. I ended up visiting a friend at university for a weekend, and after working 40 hour working weeks I decided it may actually be a viable option for me. Over the course of the next 9 months, I had applied to university, been accepted and I now move there next week!
I'm terrible with money. I kick myself every time I think about it. I like to think of myself as a smart, well-driven individual (I run my own limited company, do numerous online coding projects that earn me money etc) but everytime I think of this is just makes me more and more depressed. Over the 20 month working period of working full time, I accquired credit cards that originally had a low limit. This was never an issue. I'd max the card out and pay it off in full each month... just to build my credit up as that was what I was told to do. However, in doing so, I started getting increases in my credit limit, and I naively thought this was a great thing to do. I had no intentions of leaving work at this point (my job was VERY stable, I am welcome to go back during Uni if it doens't work out and even after graduation.. I worked hard!) and so accumulated a fair amount of debt, probably somewhere around £1500. This is where things went downhill.
My dad had a massive issue with gambling. He has told me stories of going to the casino, withdrawing £1000 on a credit card and blowing the lot... and this wasn't a rare occurance. My mum has always been so terrible with money. Both of them have gone bankrupt, and both still have large amounts of debt to this day (credit card debts, overdrafts, catalouges, you name them). My eldest brother also loves a gamble. I've always enjoyed gambling but never really spent too much money on it as I never really had a lot. However, as I was working I started spending more and more. It wasn't long before I stumbled across football gambling. I noticed that there were stats and stuff online that you could use to find out how likely it was that something would happen such as a goal. I started using this information and was making crazy amounts of money. I had turned £30 into £2500 in less than a month and rarely lost a bet. I was completing £25 - £1000 rollover challenges (you start with £25, and keep betting whatever the winning amount is until you reach £1000, usually 13-15 consecutive bets) and so started upping the stakes.
It went downhill. I'm so embarrassed by it but I couldn't accept that I could only keep losing. I upped the stakes, started chasing losses, and before you know it accumulated a lot of debt to gambling.
I was not mentally happy at my job (mentally draining, stayed late every day so my weeks were more like 45-50 hour weeks) and all I ever saw was my friends having fun at university while I was struggling.
I intended to pay off my debts by August. I've done nothing. I couldn't do it. I sit there and work out how much I have to pay off, and for whatever stupid reason didn't stick to it.
I'm going off to university with around £4k worth of debt and it keeps me awake at night. It is my fault and I accept that, but my gambling addiction was so bad and so out of my control, and that makes me more depressed than you can imagine.
I am hoping to speak with my creditors or maybe even set up a DMP. I have such large minimum payments that I just cannot keep up with as a uni student. I'm hoping my creditors are understanding, as I fully intend to pay back all of the money. Does anyone have any advice they can share about this situation? I don't need "Your problem, you deal with it" type responses, I've already been hard on myself enough. Just looking for some advice on how to deal with creditors.
Just so you are aware also, I am not working another year before uni, I seriously don't think I can mentally handle it, and I literally move in next week.
I have given myself a 5 year ban from all online casinos and refuse to gamble again. It's really hard but not as hard as this stupid debt. I just feel like I've let myself down.
Normally I would suggest raising funds by whatever means, budgeting how much you can afford to pay back and sticking to a payment plan. This would be easier to do with a stable job but in your case you intend to go into education...
Personally I'd go to great lengths to protect my credit rating. As you'll struggle later in life without a good rating.
What you can do is a part time job to keep those minimum payments going. Minimum payments on 4k are like what, £50 a month? That should be quite attainable in a month without taking a toll on your studies or "mental health". By the time you graduate you'd have paid back half, kept your min payments upto date and hopefully found a graduate job which will easily pay the rest of it off. Summer holidays at uni are very long. You could easily raise some money in between.
Don't fret, make a plan and stick to it.
Personally I'd go to great lengths to protect my credit rating. As you'll struggle later in life without a good rating.
What you can do is a part time job to keep those minimum payments going. Minimum payments on 4k are like what, £50 a month? That should be quite attainable in a month without taking a toll on your studies or "mental health". By the time you graduate you'd have paid back half, kept your min payments upto date and hopefully found a graduate job which will easily pay the rest of it off. Summer holidays at uni are very long. You could easily raise some money in between.
Don't fret, make a plan and stick to it.
Original post by NX172
Normally I would suggest raising funds by whatever means, budgeting how much you can afford to pay back and sticking to a payment plan. This would be easier to do with a stable job but in your case you intend to go into education...
Personally I'd go to great lengths to protect my credit rating. As you'll struggle later in life without a good rating.
What you can do is a part time job to keep those minimum payments going. Minimum payments on 4k are like what, £50 a month? That should be quite attainable in a month without taking a toll on your studies or "mental health". By the time you graduate you'd have paid back half, kept your min payments upto date and hopefully found a graduate job which will easily pay the rest of it off. Summer holidays at uni are very long. You could easily raise some money in between.
Don't fret, make a plan and stick to it.
Personally I'd go to great lengths to protect my credit rating. As you'll struggle later in life without a good rating.
What you can do is a part time job to keep those minimum payments going. Minimum payments on 4k are like what, £50 a month? That should be quite attainable in a month without taking a toll on your studies or "mental health". By the time you graduate you'd have paid back half, kept your min payments upto date and hopefully found a graduate job which will easily pay the rest of it off. Summer holidays at uni are very long. You could easily raise some money in between.
Don't fret, make a plan and stick to it.
Thank you very much for your reply.
The minimum payments are spread out across creditors, so I believe it is something around the £150 mark. This is still easily manageable by a part time job.
How difficult is it to get a part time job at University? I'm assuming my work experience will give me a slight advantage over others, however I'm not sure as the work experience is in the IT industry rather than something like retail.
I believe I will be able to go to my old full time job for summer employment. How long are the summers at university?
Original post by Grap3fruit
Thank you very much for your reply.
The minimum payments are spread out across creditors, so I believe it is something around the £150 mark. This is still easily manageable by a part time job.
How difficult is it to get a part time job at University? I'm assuming my work experience will give me a slight advantage over others, however I'm not sure as the work experience is in the IT industry rather than something like retail.
I believe I will be able to go to my old full time job for summer employment. How long are the summers at university?
The minimum payments are spread out across creditors, so I believe it is something around the £150 mark. This is still easily manageable by a part time job.
How difficult is it to get a part time job at University? I'm assuming my work experience will give me a slight advantage over others, however I'm not sure as the work experience is in the IT industry rather than something like retail.
I believe I will be able to go to my old full time job for summer employment. How long are the summers at university?
Never had a pre-graduate job. Although I imagine it really depends on your timetable and number of lectures per week which will differ course by course, uni by uni.
If it's IT you can easily do some solo projects. Something like gradlancer.co.uk lets people post small jobs for students to undertake in a freelance way. Perhaps something like this is easier to fit in with a busy schedule. It'd also be good for your experience and CV.
Summers are typically from exam finish to next term start. I.e, may to late sept.
(edited 6 years ago)
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