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

ViolaLass

OP, if you're struggling to get enough work now, how will you find a job that pays enough to pay off your other debts and cover extras (clothes, entertainment, emergencies etc)? And even if you find it, will you have the time to do that and your studies?

Starting university a year later won't do you any harm.

Lokolo

ViolaLass wrote: »

OP, if you're struggling to get enough work now, how will you find a job that pays enough to pay off your other debts and cover extras (clothes, entertainment, emergencies etc)? And even if you find it, will you have the time to do that and your studies?

Starting university a year later won't do you any harm.

Actually it might. If he is planning on going to uni this year, waiting for next year would mean he would have to pay the higher rate of tuition fees.

However, saying that, anyone that's got themselves £10k in debt at 18 doesn't have enough common sense to last university, especially studying law.

thepenguinsareyellow_2

I've found it hard because at the moment, i'm still enrolled at college and still attending lessons, There's a local factory who have started setting on, 2pm-10pm which I cant do because of college and then nights 10-pm-6am which i also cant do. Its not like i'm not trying
I understand where your coming from with the job situation after completing a degree, I have applied and have an interview and Halifax next week on a training program.

shop-to-drop

I know you are young but I do think it really disrespectful to take money from your grandparents in this circumstance. Find all the work you can this year, any job and every job and get those debts paid. Then go to Uni next year if you still want to you will gain a lot from the experiences the year brings and the sense of achievement. You can then accept the gift from grandparents with no conscience. Good Luck.

ViolaLass

If you got As in your A-levels, why are you still attending lessons?

Percy1983

Can you do a rough breakdown of where all the money has gone? you have spent a lot of money in a short time, my debt peaked at more, but I took a lot longer to get there.

I ask this as we need to make sure you spending habits don't get you to this point again if/when you go uni.

fthl

be realistic - if you are hoping for a career in law a couple of things are very important:

Your work experience
Your uni.

There are some unis where, even though you'll get the degree, you will really struggle to get a training contract. Also bear in mind that after the degree you have another qualification to get, either the BVC or LPC (or whatever they are called these days). If you are very very lucky you will get a training contract and the firm will pay for this. You will need a 1st or 2:1 from a very good uni with plenty of relevant work experience to land this gig. If you don't then you'll need to pay another 8k or so for the course.

This is why nearly half of all law graduates are unemployed after leaving uni.

My advice is to defer for a year and seek office based or legal work experience. There will be an agency local to you that will have a requirement for basic office temps to do admin/filing grunt work. Start there, build up general office experience.

What are your a-levels, what legal or office experience do you have and what uni are you looking at going to?

VJsmum

There is an issue with deferring for a year that should be taken into account.

This year is the last year before full fee paying courses begin. From 2012 most degree courses will cost between £7000 and £9000 per year. At the moment and for anyone enrolling this September they will be maintained at around £3500 per year (or around that). Deferring for a year is likely to cost an extra £18000 or so. You could try a law firm who is willing to pay to put you through the degree whilst working, but you are leaving it late.

maskerade

Eek, you got as much debt as I did in 8 years in the space of 1!

I'd highly suggest not going to uni, I got into more debt there than just my student loan because you don't realise how expensive rent/food etc are... especially if you've already used most of your loan to pay off existing debt!

I'd love to get a more interesting (but less well paid) job but I can't until my debt is paid off. I view this as paying my dues for years of buying more than I could afford.

mazy_m

elvis86 wrote: »

You're 18, working part time in a supermarket, and have seen fit to rack up £10,000.00 in debt. Also, you can't spell the name of one of your creditors ("Barcleycard"?). I don't think you're clever enough for university.

Nasty and uncalled for.....we've all been young and have to learn from our mistakes!!!

OP if you go to uni it's not immediate debt plus they can help you with grants etc for living ( I got to the point where I couldn't put £5 into the electricity and found this out then...but alas I wasn't entitled as both my parents worked even though they couldn't afford to help me out! But if you stay at home you won't have some of those costs and can use it to help you plus you can still work part time whilst at uni!! If that's an ambition you won't feel the debt from uni until you earn over a certain amount I think I pay something silly like £33 a month towards my student loan so I don't see it as a huge debt when I earn more I won't begrudge paying more either as it makes more sense I can afford it then.

Whatever you do don't apply for any more credit but you can get out of this (asking to freeze debts and seeing the CAB is fantastic advice!!)

Good luck and ignore anyone who's negative!!

Maz x