Personal Loan v CDL v ISA

franny

I am due to finally graduate from my Post Graduate course next month. I took out a Career Development Loan with the Co Op Bank for £8000 and am due to start paying it back on 30th August at £180 per month for 5 years (13.9%)

Having read earlier posts on CDLs I wish I hadn't taken one but hey ho, It's done now.

I am wondering whether it would be beneficial to take out a personal loan and use that to clear my CDL and also my credit card debts (approx. £4000). The repayments for these combined will be around £350. If I took out a £15,000 loan, this would cover these debts plus my overdraft with HSBC (£1500). Is this a good idea? The loan will have a lower interest rate than both my CDL and credit cards and they will all have been consolidated into one payment.

Also, with the theoretical remaining loan, would it be wise to put this into a mini ISA and watch it slowly grow?

PS, I will be starting employment next month so will have an income.

Thanks for your help.

student100

If you took out a loan, you'll almost certainly be paying interest rates much higher than you could earn on any ISA, so there's no point taking out a larger loan than you need and trying to save the difference...it just won't pay.