Advice for a Student please.

bucketshop

I might try and get my mum to get one on my behalf. I can't balance transfer as the credit limits are insufficient.
I study Chemistry, going into 5th year and I'm 9-5 most days due to lab work.

RAS

Hi


You need to post up details of each card, mimimum payments and APRs and maximum limits. Then w can see if there is any room for manouvre.

You also need to accept that if seeing your BF at weekends is more important than clearing your debt, you are going to remain in debt.

If you want to clear the debt, you need take sarnies or a pack up to uni,, reduce your going out, accept that you have to work one night a week or during the vac and reduce your phone use.

And are you being realistic thinking that you can cope with that and handle your academic work? or would you be better accepting that you will remain in debt until next June and then have to work like stink for a year?

findingmyownway

Bucketshop,

Welcome to the boards.
I'm not sure an unsecured loan is going to help - what is the APR on your credit cards? It may be that by transferring them 0% cards etc you can pay things off much faster (still pay as much as you can afford off each month but it ALL comes off the capital without interest payments).

Try keeping a spending diary of where your £300/month goes. Its a lot of money to spend on 'stuff'

I worked all the way through my BSc - it CAN be done, you just have to want it enough. 5 years at chemistry is a long time by the way, what kind of course is it?

Also, don't rely on the fact that a job will magically appear when you graduate in June. Now is the time to start looking.

pointypenguin

Have you looked into changing your graduate account. I know some banks (eg. RBS and Natwest) at least give you an interest free overdraft for 3 years after you graduate I think the limits decrease over this period but at least some of it will be interest free for some of the time instead of paying interest on all of it as soon as you graduate.

bucketshop

Right, I've tried to do a SOA

Income - £300-400 per month

Halifax One - £100.88 at 24.9% - paying min £5 - limit £700
Topshop - £100.03 at 29.9% - paying £10 per month - limit £350
Virgin - 1804.96 (I can't find the overall interest for this I'll have to phone them tomorrow) but estimated interest next month is £22.72. Paying minimum (£13) - limit £3300
Egg - £1038.93 at 17.9% - paying min (£20) - limit £1200

Obviously I should pay the Halifax and Topshop cards first, but I don't know what to do about the rest. I applied for a Mint card today which has a 0% deal on BT for a year I think but the credit limit is only £650. Once it's posted out I might try and up it.

bucketshop

findingmyownway wrote: »

Bucketshop,

Welcome to the boards.
I'm not sure an unsecured loan is going to help - what is the APR on your credit cards? It may be that by transferring them 0% cards etc you can pay things off much faster (still pay as much as you can afford off each month but it ALL comes off the capital without interest payments).

Try keeping a spending diary of where your £300/month goes. Its a lot of money to spend on 'stuff'

I worked all the way through my BSc - it CAN be done, you just have to want it enough. 5 years at chemistry is a long time by the way, what kind of course is it?

Also, don't rely on the fact that a job will magically appear when you graduate in June. Now is the time to start looking.

I've just worked out the APRs etc on everything. My course is a 5 year MSci with a year long placement during 4th year with distance learning. It's going to be difficult to back to learning after working for a year.

I know it's difficult to find jobs after uni but I have a guarantee from my placement employer for a job when I finish if needed. Analysing soil, woohoo!

bucketshop

I think I'll leave my overdraft until I graduate and I can hopefully get a bank to give me it interest free for a while as people have suggested.

bucketshop

Sorry, I should clarify that I can't break my income down any more as I don't know exactly how much I'm getting from the SLC.

Mad_old_tory

Morning bucketshop, just out of interest how far away is your BF and how do you normally travel to see him? If you use the train, are you following the advice Martin put on here somewhere about splitting the journey up etc and buying several tickets for each journey. Also, is it a journey that you could use the megabus for? This might be useful for cutting down your spending significantly. It might take a while but you could use that time for reading etc so it wouldn't be totally wasted

bucketshop

He lives near Cambridge and I live near Glasgow. I've looked into trains etc but they just take too long and since it's only weekend about 24 hours would be spent travelling.