Desperate medical student: How do I get myself out of debt?

Ha, please get out of here with your judgemental and inconsiderate response. Go and sort yourself out before you criticise someone who’s clearly in a tricky situation and wants advice not useless criticism.

Where was I judgemental?

The stuff I said is something which anyone would say to anyone in that situation...

I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been having such a bad time.
In terms of budgeting - moneysupermarket has an excellent budgeting spreadsheet tool, which could help you plan things and get things under control. And also make you look up your bank accounts and actually see where your money is going.
Try to only withdraw what you will spend in 1 week. Or alternatively, keep your money in one account and only transfer what you’re going to spend into another.
In terms of your mental health + spending - echoing others, I would strong recommend talking to your student advice service. They are often part of the student union and can provide excellent advice for those in financial difficulty. I know you’ve missed the deadline for financial hardship, but still consider going. Some med schools have their own scholarships that are seperate from the main uni ones.
Also consider trying to access some counselling. Universities normally have free counselling, and assuming you are under 25 there are normally lots of free charities that provide counselling sessions to <25. And of course access your GP if you haven’t done so already.
Do not use those quick cash websites - however dire the situation, it would be preferable to go to the last penny on your overdraft than use these, they’re scams and draw more money out. You have an entire year post-graduation to pay back your overdraft, that shouldn’t be a priority. There is lots of fantastic debt advice online - I’d recommend consulting these. I really think your risky financial spending needs addressing.

In terms of making money - a job is the first port of call. How strict is your attendance? Could you spare an afternoon a week for a job? Or after exams can you work full time? You say no one is interviewing where you live, but keep checking and don’t lose hope, because I’m sure they’re will be lots more summer opportunities. Also there’s things like ‘flu camps’ that pay considerable amounts. GP surgeries often hire medical students over the summer to help transcribe notes. You could also send out adverts offering baby sitting or similar things, you’ll be desirable being a med student and presumably DBS checked.

Saving money - share transport, and claim back ALL transport costs using the NHS travel bursay (unless you don’t get NHS funding until next year). There’s tons of info online about cheaper meals, how to save money shopping. Look at other ways to reduce costs - Netflix subscriptions, gym subscriptions, expensive phone contracts.
Just try and get through to your next loan without using a pay day loan.

Moving on from here My main advice would be
• make a proper and honest budget
• get advice and support regarding your mental health, and make sure to involve uni as they WILL help
• get serious advice to control your spending
• apply for a hard ship fund when it opens again
• get a job and make time for it
• don’t worry about being at the end of your overdraft - a lot of us are

I’m sorry this is such a long post. I’m not judging you at all and genuinely hope this helps. Medicine is long, hard and we get a pittance.

OP clearly stated they wanted advice not a meaningless response like yours.

Thank you so much for all of this! I think I will meet the uni for some advice. I've been on a psychotherapy waiting list for 7~ months and they've only just contacted me to arrange sessions for July. My uni are super strict with attendance - they monitor it militantly and give concern forms / meetings to those who regularly miss things, even if it's just an afternoon session. Obviously when exams are over I will have free time, but I'll be moving back to my hometown and jobs are even more scarce there because it's so tiny. I'll keep applying but I want to keep my options open as it's unlikely I will find a job I think.
In regards to NHS bursary, I won't be getting that until 5th year, so I can't claim back any expenses.

I'll definitely take everything you said into consideration, thanks a lot for the advice!

This. All this.

Why didn't you think to get a job before you got yourself into this? How can you expect to live on loan after loan, with no additional income? There's absolutely no magic trick us at TSR can recommend to get you out of an overdraft which, by the sounds of things, is getting quite large. This is entirely your responsibility - as a third year medicine undergraduate, it seems very immature to even be in this situation, never mind be posting this question on TSR. The only thing you can do is get a job. work your ass off and save up. These little loans will all add up in the long run.

If your mental health issues are that bad to the point it's getting you into this situation, then you should consider getting support sessions to get you on the right track. However, I'm sorry for saying this, but you cannot blame your mental health issues on your own lack of organisation, responsibility and due diligence - you should've thought about this sooner, i.e. getting a job when you've not got exams coming up.

However, this is all hindsight, and all you can do is improve from this point.

And the white knight, obviously upset responses you keep giving back are just as, if not even more, meaningless.

Someone ought to wrap both you and the OP in bubble wrap.

Hi, so I have been in debt before and worked very hard to get out. Here are some things I learned. You need to increase your income and reduce your expenditure. Also I highly recommend the book the total money makeover by Dave Ramsey. He also has YouTube videos - look up his 7 baby steps. Increasing your income is a vital step. You need a job, as someone else said being a bank or agency HCA is perfect as it’s an easy job to get (I’ve done it) and the pay is good especially as you get extra for nights and weekends, and you can pick up shifts as and when it suits you, plus it will make you a better doctor to see things from the nursing perspective and get hands on with patients. You should work at least 1 shift a week, 3 during school holidays. That will still leave plenty of time for placement and revision. Remember there’s 168 hours in a week, you can find 12 for a shift. Solving your money situation should be your top priority right now. Joining the bank at a local hospital should be easy for a medical student. You can also earn some money by selling things you don’t need or use - clothes, games, gadgets, anything you’re not using it is not vital to staying alive! If you have a nice car with car payments sell that and buy a cheap one. You can have a nice car when you’re a consultant. Reducing expenditure - make a budget - assign every £ a purpose/goal for the month. Tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. Check out Martin Lewis moneysavingexpert.com and his envelope system. Reduce all your bills by phoning around for better deals eg gas/electric, phone are so easy to convert to cheaper deals. Don’t upgrade your phone ever, if it still works stay with your old model and get a super cheap contract. My iPhone 6 is £8 a month. Reduce rent by moving somewhere cheaper, moving to a small room in a shared house etc, moving further away from the hospital and cycling in. Share with friends. Move back home with your parents. Plan your meals for the week and shop at Aldi / Lidl. Don’t buy sandwiches or coffee or snacks from shops or the hospital canteen ever, always pack your own. Don’t own a car or use public transport, walk or cycle. Don’t buy books, get them from the library. Don’t buy music, listen on the radio. Don’t buy any new clothes, make do with what you have. If you need anything new sell something you already have and aren’t using to make the money. Don’t buy anything without thinking about it for 30 days first (30 day rule) to make sure you really want/ need it. Don’t have a gym membership walk and run for free outside. Don’t let any money leave your wallet / swipe your card against a contactless reader before seriously considering if there’s a free / cheaper alternative do you really need this or just want it? Until you’re debt free you can only have what you absolutely need, not want. Hope that helps. Good luck to you!

I've tried applying for this quite a few times, I've applied for phlebotomy too, but never get accepted because the ones in my area require "6 months of previous experience as a HCA" and for some reason won't accept medical school as relevant experience

People get into debt for all sorts of reasons. The ay day loans are designed to trap you in the high-interest cycle. Doctors are not immune to getting into financial difficulties and medical schools don't recruit on the basis of your ability to balance a chequebook.

There are some organisations that may be able to help you OP both with advice and small grants
RMBF
Trusts
Doctor's Help
Step Change

I've made this anonymous as I don't want my money issues being linked to my TSR account, and I'm asking it in the medicine forum as I feel fellow med students will be able to give advice specific to myself

I'm currently in third year and over the past year and a half I've found myself delving deeper into my overdraft - I'm now at the limit of my overdraft and there are still 2 months until I get my next loan.

I've been pretty irresponsible with my money - I have some mental health problems and I struggle with impulses - but I'm ready to sort myself out as I'm sick of stressing about if I can pay next month's rent.

Another part of the issue is that in 3rd year I'm mostly in placement, and the extra costs for travel are immense compared to the first two years. My uni only reimburse the cost of 1 months travel.

I can't get help from family as mine come from a lower income background. I've resorted to taking a loan out from smart-pig a few times, but now it's just a vicious cycle - I pay back smart-pig (with interest) when I get my student loan, and coupled with paying into the overdraft, I'm left with a meagre amount at the start of the term. I now know I shouldn't have taken out a loan with them in the first place, but I was desperate!

I've applied to many part time jobs, and I still am, but nobody is giving me interviews where I live. Plus with exams coming up I feel that being in placement every day 9-5 with no study leave means I don't really have time for a part time job anyway.
My university has an "access to hardship" fund but the deadline to apply for it passed last month when I wasn't worrying about my funds.

I know I need to make a budget and stick to it, and I will do that. This post is mainly to ask people for advice on what I can do to get myself out of my overdraft and replenish lost funds so I can make the most of the full amount of my student loan again, instead of it all going straight into the overdraft / paying back smart-pig.

Does anyone have any creative ideas on how I can slowly build myself back out of the overdraft and raise extra funds to pay off the loan? Taking into consideration that most of my time is spent in hospital placement and this summer will be spent (probably) revising for resits.

Ideally something that has been tried and tested yourself!

Thanks in advance!

Thank you so much, I looked at those links and there is a lot of very useful information!

On another note I also can't help noticing that you work in CAMHS. That's something I'm very highly interested in pursuing - what's your experience with this in terms of job stress / lifestyle? Do you recommend CAMHS or are there things I should be wary of before considering it as a career choice?

CAMHS is very much an acquired taste. I enjoy it and don't find it stressful. However many people find it difficult to work with abuse, neglect, suicidal children, aggressive parents etc etc I would recommend trying it out through student selected components, taster sessions in foundation etc before you decide.