Bad first year...

ginged

Hi MSE forums :]

I came to this site after hearing Martin on Radio 1 and thought that this could be a place to get rid of my financial worries (or at least try).

I'm a fresher at Bangor Uni and get £2,000 (student loans and grants) per semester (2 semesters) and another on after Easter (totals: £6,000) to cover my accommodation costs and living expenses at Uni. This was going fine until November when the first instalment of my halls fees were due (£1,026) which was taken out through direct debit that I had set up with the Uni. The only problem with this is that I had kinda gone crazy with it being my first year and I spent a little too much and so my account didn't get debited because of insufficient funds.

I went home for xmas and thought it would be fine because I would just pay it when my next installment of my money came through in January. Unfortunately by this time I had spent most of it and didnt really think about it and DID THE SAME AGAIN in the new year (which in heindsight was pretty stupid) so by easter I had little/no money to pay the halls people which currently stands at £3,100. So now im at the point where I have enough to pay the halls people about £1000 and I have £550 in my student account (which I have already taken out £700 out of a £1250 account). I still need to find £1500 to pay off the rest of the fees and dont know the best route to do so.

I apoligise for how stupid this situation sounds and the only thing I can blame it on is having access to money and going crazy with it...

Im paying the price now because I have had to pay a deposit on a house and have a severe lack of funds and a major amount of worry for fear of what will happen.

Ive thought about possible options and from what I can see, the 2 routes I could go down are:

1. Another student account (overdraft) which will only leave me trying to find £250, assuming the overdraft is £1,250 which I think is possbile.

2. Get a commercial overdraft/loan which I don't really want to do but will if I have to. Also Im pretty unsure of the options and which are the best/worst. If I do go down this route I will do my homework and check the MSE forums as they seem to be bursting with knowledge about banks.

Thanks in advance and I feel pretty embarrassed for getting into this situation in the first place.

ginged

Oldernotwiser

You seem to have missed the two most obvious routes , which are

1. Get a job
2. Throw yourself on your parents' mercy for a loan.

Even if you take the second option, you'll still need a job to pay them back, so option 1 still applies. Getting into more commercial debt will only delay the problem.

ginged

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You seem to have missed the two most obvious routes , which are

1. Get a job
2. Throw yourself on your parents' mercy for a loan.

Even if you take the second option, you'll still need a job to pay them back, so option 1 still applies. Getting into more commercial debt will only delay the problem.

I do plan to pay a loan/overdraft back but I was under the impression that I had to pay my halls fees off by the end of the academic year (15th June). I didn't mention in the first post that what I'm looking for is something short term that I can hopefully pay off either in part of in full over summer/autumn.

GonzoAston

ginged wrote: »

I do plan to pay a loan/overdraft back but I was under the impression that I had to pay my halls fees off by the end of the academic year (15th June). I didn't mention in the first post that what I'm looking for is something short term that I can hopefully pay off either in part of in full over summer/autumn.

As Oldernotwiser said,

Your best bet is getting a job to start paying some of your bills off. Its no good getting credit to pay off credit, it never works, trust me :rolleyes:.

Whether its part time or full time, I know it will be hard for you to do, but you really need to find a job, otherwise your debts will just snowball even more.

Good luck and hope you find a solution soon.

the_annoyed_customer

Desperatly ask your parents for money they will understand and if they are relaxed about it and know that you will give it back then then that will save u a packet. Secondly next year budget for weak to weak so give your self a limit. Finally because you get the loan in 1 lump each semseter but pay bills and rent monthly put the loan into a easy access account and withdraw it once a month and label the account house payment so your not tempted to go crazy and accidently spend the loan for the house

whitewing

ginged,

In a way you are extremely lucky as you have the opportunity to learn from this and really get to grips with money at a tender age.

How are your parents with money? I agree with borrwing off them if possible, BUT YOU MUST ALSO sit down with them and work out some budgets so that you are on top of your finances and understand them.

I was abysmal at Uni and didn't get on top of things for more than a decade after; what a total, total waste.

ginged

I'm going home this week and plan to do what you guys have said and sit down and talk it over with my folks.

Thanks for the advice and the speedy responses it really helped.

whitewing

Good luck. Before you go, maybe have a look at

http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

Over on the debt-free wannabe board, they use the standard format that this calculator produces to comment on where there are areas for improvement. It won't all be relevant to you, but could be useful for you to start getting familiar with.

Also have a look at some of the 'SOA' threads on DFW so you can start to understand it. In the DFW diary threads, the new diaries will virtually all have one of these on.

Even though you are a student, there is nothing to stop you creating your own DFW diary. They're very nice folks over there, brimming with ideas, having made many mistakes themselves.

Stubert

You may struggle to get a 2nd student account. Some of the banks check if you have another account as its against their T&C's for you to have two students accounts.

Lokolo

ldavies wrote: »

Are you in Bangor, North Wales?

Im pretty sure that Blockbuster 's are recruiting for evening and weeknds.. give them a call...



Pm me if you want the tel number

You're in Wales? :-|

whitewing

Yes, definitely apply for the job (you'll be amazed at how it all adds up). I know people who have worked for big chains through termtime and transferred to a local branch near their parents over the summer. Not sure if blockbusters do this but great experience, and if you're earning money you are generally not spending it!