I'm18 and Racked up 10k of debt soon to be 17k

CashStrappedPrincess

Depending on how long you have had your phone contract you could call them and ask to lower the payments. I managed to drop a £36 pcm contract to around £20 pcm which doesn't seem alot but in your situation I think very penny counts.

What did you buy from Curry's? Have you already sold that or would it be worth selling.

Tixy

You are not in a position to be going to Uni whilst you have these debts that you cannot repay. Especially not as your largest debt is in your mother's name. I think it would be sensible to defer for a year, try and get full time work (doing anything possible) to pay off a lot of this huge amount of debt and then look at going to Uni next year.

Presumably your mother is aware of your situation and that you cannot keep up with the repayments on the card in her name? Is she able to meet the minimum payments on your behalf? if not then it is inevitable that her credit rating is going to be badly affected in some way. She needs to speak to the card company and ask if they will allow her to reduce her payments to the card for a while (obviously she must not say its because it is 'your debt' or because you have lost your job).

Then you need to speak to one of the debt help charities for some advice on making reduced repayments or token payments towards your other debts. Again this will effect your credit rating but until/unless you can increase your income or find another job it is doubtful that you have many other options.

Percy1983

You mum really shouldn't have gave you the money, you couldn't get it yourself and there is clearly a reason why.

The biggest problem I can see now is with it being in your mums name the people you owe money too won't consider that part of your debt, and like wise if she asks for reduced payments they will consider her position, not yours.

As mentioned above it may be worth waiting a year and getting some full time work.

I see you have a large phone contract to which I guess you have an expensive phone, you could sell the phone and get a cheap £10 prepay one and if possible reduce your tariff.

Try applying for more work, you are lucky in the sense of if you are asked why you are applying you can say they aren't giving you enough hours, perfect reason and gets you accross as hard working.

ViolaLass

Tixy wrote: »

You are not in a position to be going to Uni whilst you have these debts that you cannot repay. Especially not as your largest debt is in your mother's name. I think it would be sensible to defer for a year, try and get full time work (doing anything possible) to pay off a lot of this huge amount of debt and then look at going to Uni next year.

Completely agree with this. You have plenty of time to go to uni later and having all this debt on your plate will not help you. Work full time, get it sorted and then enjoy your studies.

thepenguinsareyellow_2

I've been trying to get a full time job, i've handed in countless CV's and I have a few interviews lined up, as for uni, after going through the finance things, and seeing what they are willing to give me, it's about £1000 short of the barcley card. So unless I can get a full time job I could go to university and pay off the barcleycard, Although it's not removing the debt, its shifting it to a lower interest rate and a bit would be bursary's so in the end i'd only have to pay back around 3-4k. I know the purpose of those loans and grants arn't for things like this, but my grandad has said he'll help me, (he's unaware of this situation tho) so if i stayed at home, i'd only need my train fair to commute. I'm in the process of selling it, Its going on ebay for about £240ish so hopefully i can get some dosh there!

ViolaLass

thepenguinsareyellow wrote: »

I've been trying to get a full time job, i've handed in countless CV's and I have a few interviews lined up, as for uni, after going through the finance things, and seeing what they are willing to give me, it's about £1000 short of the barcley card. So unless I can get a full time job I could go to university and pay off the barcleycard, Although it's not removing the debt, its shifting it to a lower interest rate and a bit would be bursary's so in the end i'd only have to pay back around 3-4k. I know the purpose of those loans and grants arn't for things like this, but my grandad has said he'll help me, (he's unaware of this situation tho) so if i stayed at home, i'd only need my train fair to commute. I'm in the process of selling it, Its going on ebay for about £240ish so hopefully i can get some dosh there!

Great plan but what about the other debts? What about paying your mother some keep? What if your grandfather finds out? What about textbooks?

thepenguinsareyellow_2

Me and my mum have come to an arrangement, £20 a week "keep" as you call it My grandad has said he'd give me around the £1000-1500 mark but if i need anything else we'd have to have a talk about it. So i was planning on using that to use as my board and train fair to uni etc.
My grandad wont find out, its only me and my mum that know's and my mum wont tell him, and i'm certainly not. (As he hates anything that you have to borrow for, him and my nana waited till they could buy there house outright before moving in etc he'd pay everything off for me, but he'd be so angry with me, and plus nobody else should have to pay it !)

Textbooks, planned on a good old fashioned library card!
No, not for the loan, although it's become a plus, i've wanted to be a lawyer since i was 7... can't exactly get work based training for that!

As for the rest of the debt, hopefully work as much as i can this summer and have at least half payed of maybe? hopefully would have found another job with better hours to make a monthly payment to pay the rest while i'm at uni?

thepenguinsareyellow_2

One I have dyslexia, and two, I still manage to get A's in my Alevel exams, but thanks for your input!

Clydefrog

How exactly did you get in debt? Where did all that money go? Have you spent it on anything you could sell?

I personally think you should not go to uni, at least this year. I can tell you really want to, but it's that attitude that got you in debt in the first place - wanting something you cannot afford. Also, you seem to assume that a well-paid job is guaranteed after completing a degree, which is not the case. The only guaranteed thing in your circumstances is that you will be in an even worse financial situation after (if) you complete your degree. Consider vocational training instead - it will allow you to work and train at the same time. I think an average apprentice gets around £100 - £200 pw, just for sitting in a classroom and going to work once a week.
In all honesty, you have a much higher chance of finding a well paid job after doing vocational training than going to uni.
This is how things are right now, and they will be much worse over the next few years, because the job market doesn't need hundreds of thousands of graduates each year.

If an apprenticeship is not the answer you are looking for, then I'd immediately look for full time work and spend any spare time on doing ANY free courses you can find (try your local adult education or learndirect).

Personally, I find the fact you cannot find work somewhat puzzling - have you tried any local factories or farmers? There is plenty of simple work available - sure, it doesn't pay well but at least it will get you out of debt.

JLL

Why not try and get another part time job as well as your supermarket job. Work in a pub or chippy or something. My son worked 4 nights a week in a chippy and was bringing home just under £100 a week. Go round all your locally shops and pubsor restuarants, hotels etc. You never know what you might get