Recent graduate, want to get on top of debt

Estella1

Hi sorry to bother you, looking for some financial advice!

I graduate Uni in January (already received degree, was ill during exams so sat at the end of the summer). I currently have a 2K overdraft with Halifax in a student account (hasn't been converted yet), £500 on Vanquis credit card and £200 on a capital one card. Believe it or not but most of this debt was due to rent etc.

I'm not currently earning and my monthly outgoings (repayments, phone) are around at minimum £90 a month. I sold my car which has helped with payments. Parents are kindly helping with living costs.

However I've been looking at some graduate accounts, and wondering if I could use the graduate overdraft to 1. pay off the credit cards 2. Lump the other overdraft in so its one lot of debt?

I'm just wondering if this is possible since I am unemployed? I am although obviously looking for jobs. Also is this the most sensible way to go about things? I'm looking for some advice on how to get on top of things really.

Thanks for reading!

(Reposted here as I think it was in the wrong forum before, hope this is okay!)

DD265

Just based on my experience: I had a £2k overdraft on my Lloyds Student account. Once I graduated this automatically was "upgraded" to a Lloyds Graduate account with the £2k overdraft.

Is this not what will happen with you?

Bobarella

Hi
Snap to the above. When I graduated in 2001 I had a Barclays overdraft. They gave me a set amount of time then this had to be converted to a loan. Which cleared the account. They reset the overdraft to barely anything and then I paid the loan down over 3 years.
I don't know how you would get on being unemployed though so may be worth getting a job even if only a few hours per week as it shows a token amount going in which may give you more options.

happybunny86

My student account was automatically changed to a graduate account. The most stupid thing I did was to set up overdrafts on more than one account. Ended up getting myself in £10ks worth of debt trying to pay off the overdrafts and the loan I took out to clear them. I'd stay as you are keep looking for a job or maybe take a bar job while you're looking for full time work. Chip away at it solely and don't take on any more debt. This is totally the advice I would give myself 6 years ago.

rugbychick81

Same as the above. I'd get a bar job asap. I managed to clear it all within a year. Now is the time to pay it off before life gets really expensive!

rdchick

All my debt is from when I was at uni... be very very careful! I went to Halifax after graduating to get a graduate account. I came out with a loan to consolidate my massive overdraft and credit card... a premier accoubt which you paid £12 a month for and a bloody account with a £3000 overdraft. I was an idiot and spent it all again leaving me now with nearly £10k worth of debt. They got me hook line and sinker and I earnt £15k at the time (much less now as I'm now a nursing student lol) so I was almost in as much debt as I earnt xxx

GoldenShadow

My HSBC student account switched to a grad account straight away too. I get something like a year or so still interest free before they start charging on the overdraft.

DD265

With Lloyds you got 4 years of graduate account:

Year 1 - up to £2000 OD interest free
Year 2 - up to £1500 OD interest free (anything over that is chargeable)
Year 3 - up to £1000 OD interest free (over = chargeable)
Year 4 - up to £500 OD interest free (over = chargeable)

Definitely worth the OP checking with the Halifax as to what the deal is.

happybunny86

rdchick wrote: »

All my debt is from when I was at uni... be very very careful! I went to Halifax after graduating to get a graduate account. I came out with a loan to consolidate my massive overdraft and credit card... a premier accoubt which you paid £12 a month for and a bloody account with a £3000 overdraft. I was an idiot and spent it all again leaving me now with nearly £10k worth of debt. They got me hook line and sinker and I earnt £15k at the time (much less now as I'm now a nursing student lol) so I was almost in as much debt as I earnt xxx

This is EXACTLY what happened to me at HSBC! I think it should be illegal as you are so young you don't really know what you are doing! Although really you should. Education for students is terrible. I'd never been thrown so much money in all my life had no idea what to do with it!!

DD265

happybunny86 wrote: »

This is EXACTLY what happened to me at HSBC! I think it should be illegal as you are so young you don't really know what you are doing! Although really you should. Education for students is terrible. I'd never been thrown so much money in all my life had no idea what to do with it!!

Completely agree.

We had to do general studies at A level - how much more useful would life skills have been? Things like learning about the types of credit available, how to budget, where you can cut corners and where you can't. Also things like dealing with stress, depression, booking holidays etc. A real mixed bag but things that I had to learn pretty sharpish as a young adult!

I've often thought if I was in the position to start a charity (or I guess a business, although not certain schools would pay for it) I'd love to have an organisation which provide life skills lessons to teenagers.

The frustrating thing for me was that it's all so simple, once you've been told. Getting told seems to be the hard part!

greensalad

DD265 wrote: »

Completely agree.

We had to do general studies at A level - how much more useful would life skills have been? Things like learning about the types of credit available, how to budget, where you can cut corners and where you can't. Also things like dealing with stress, depression, booking holidays etc. A real mixed bag but things that I had to learn pretty sharpish as a young adult!

I've often thought if I was in the position to start a charity (or I guess a business, although not certain schools would pay for it) I'd love to have an organisation which provide life skills lessons to teenagers.

The frustrating thing for me was that it's all so simple, once you've been told. Getting told seems to be the hard part!

Totally agree with this. I'm sorry but I've needed to know far more about credit cards, mortgages, interest, bank accounts and financial planning than I ever have about bloody triangles.

Nobody is teaching us this stuff and they wonder why teenagers and young people have such poor financial foresight (probably not helped by mass youth unemployment).

It isn't helped that most of our parents lived in a complete credit culture and are in the same piles of debt from making the same mistakes.

And their parents just lived with what housekeeping money they had in the jar, so never really concerned themselves with this sort of debt. Not unless they were wealthy at least.