~£10,000 Loan

demontfort

Hey I’ve got an idea. I’ve got plenty of money in the bank, way more than £10k having saved up carefully over the years. So I might quit my job right now, go out to Canada and become a 38 year old snowboarding instructor.

Sorry to nab your place Kieran old sport but I’ll send you a postcard of me on the slopes, it will cheer you when you’re stuck up in the office. For the record I don’t even like snowboarding.

EclipsedMind

From the pen of Terry Pratchett

"“If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”"

norsefox

kierangiles wrote: »

Hello,

My name is Kieran, I'm looking to borrow around £10,000 for a long period of time. I've been to every high street bank and been declined. I'm in full time employment with an investments company and I can afford the repayments.

My contract is rolling (can't provide permanent contract), my credit score is near non existent because I'm only 21 and just finished university.

Basically I wanna go out to Canada and do a snowboard instructing course, then move out there next season to start my career in snowsports. The courses to do this cost a lot of money and I'd need a buffer outside of that to cover the costs of something like a broken snowboard.

I have until January to make a little bit of money and then I'll continue working for my investments firm after March to continue making large repayments on the loan.

I can't find ANYONE that will let me borrow that amount of money and my family all have godawful credit histories because they're all terrible with money.

I don't really want to waste 2 years of my life saving for something doing what I hate when I could be starting my new career doing what I love...

Anyone got any advice for me? I'd literally do anything right now.

Here's my advice to you.

When I turned 18 I spent £4000 going to California - some of this money supported by my parents, the rest earned by working at Morrison throughout my final year at school and then six months after leaving . I then spent three weeks getting my PSIA Level One in Lake Tahoe then working for six months at a ski school.

I then returned to Scotland for the summer before going back again for a second season. In 2008 I went to university and worked at a ski centre in Glasgow and competed for my university at competitions throughout the UK and Europe.

I'm now 25, and in those two winter seasons I had more money than I've ever had at any other point in my life.

You do not need £10,000 to do one of these courses, and you certainly don't need a loan. Since leaving university I worked for one of these companies - granted the courses were brilliant - but spending £7000 on a course that lasted 3 months is not a cost effective use of your time.

Get in contact with some ski areas and find out what qualifications they'd accept. If you live near a ski dome or dry ski slope - you can get a BASI/BSIA Snowboard Instructor Level 2 in just a few weeks, at a fraction of the cost (~£100).

If you live at home you can make the savings required easily. I'd also hazard a guess that you're too late to apply this year - so think of the next 12 months as your saving period and Winter 2014 as the time when you can make your dream a reality!

Doda555

Just save up and postpone your dream for 2 years or something. Like the others said, you are only 21. If you are motivated enough you'll make it -one way or another. Use the time to do more research. Or create one of those profiles online where friends and even strangers can fund you. Give it a 6-month limit, or the longest they allow. I have friends who managed to go to Nepal like that. Describe your project and dream and trust me - someone will help you out. Don't despair and don't think that having such a big debt to a bank is the only way.

wannahouse

kierangiles wrote: »

Need a visa.

To be honest, I know I can pay that loan back, they know I can pay the loan back. The only reason that I can't get a loan is because lending criteria right now is so strict. Banks don't want to take any risks any more because of the financial situation in the country.

I'm just frustrated that the only way I can possibly get out and do what I want to do for the rest of my life is to sit and do something I hate for a year or two.

I'd rather kill myself than sit working in an office for the next 2 years. No offence to anyone here that does do work like that, but I really am set on the snowboarding career path. I did my degree to be sensible and it's just been a massive waste of time and money.

I hate how much stick people put on getting 'qualifications'. Having been to university I can say that it's a heap of !!!! and not worth half a year working in the university of 'life'.

well, you know most of us have had to do jobs we hate to get by and move forwards in life...heck, i even had to dress as a chicken in a suit handing out sweets in a shops, only to be assaulted by some precocious little sweethearts who kicked my costume and called me chicken s**t before stealing all the sweets in my basket and running off...
unfortunately, you need to put in your dues, get a job, and do the hard yards, as life isn't one big snow boarding trip and in order to be able to have choices financially, you need to do the work and earn that right...

27col

As far as I am concerned, anyone who is not in a job they hate is on a bonus. People do what they have to do to earn a living.
Just stop telling us how awful life is for you. Buckle down and get on with it, or work out a plan to improve it. Using your own money and not that of someone else.

John1993_2

When I couldn't face 40 years more of my first job, I arranged a grant to do a doctorate, and at the end of that started a new career. I'd never in a million years have thought of borrowing so much money to "follow my dreams".

I fear that the OP is in for an awful lot of disappointments in life, if he thinks he can just borrow his way to success.

OP, I'm off to whistler for a few weeks skiing next month. This sort of thing comes after you earn the money to pay for it in general, not before. It's not a good idea to try to get into debt so early in life, for such a speculative prospect.

gb12345

John1993 wrote: »

OP, I'm off to whistler for a few weeks skiing next month.

Send the OP a postcard - it's probably the closest he'll get to his dream in the foreseeable future.

matttye

So you don't want to work for 2 years to save up. If that's the case how do you intend to pay back the money you borrowed? You would need to work for more than 2 years to pay back what you borrowed, because of the interest on top.

Or are you seriously asking companies to lend you £10k on a promise that you'll get a job as a snowboarding instructor? What's your backup plan?