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"Monkey_man's Magical Mysterious Monetary Malarkey"

OK. I've just come to the end of my first year at Uni. I'm about to go and work somewhere for the next 4/5 months until the next year commences. I opened a student account with Abbey National, which offered an overdraft of £1025. Which was nice. Currently I am at -£500...which means I have £525 left on my overdraft.

Now, I could look at this two ways:
1. I am gipsy poor and should work my butt off to pay it back.
2. I have £525.

So what should I do? Save my money and become a Scrooge, or go on a spree - like Brewster's Millions? I'm thinking of getting a Gamecube already!

Ta-ta

MoJoJoJo wrote:
> You know students have been known to take their own lives because
> they're so deep in debt. Don't let that happen to you!

I'm pretty sure THAT isn't going to happen.

Well if your going to work for ages might as well have something to play with... aye aye... as long as your making money, nothing wrong with spending it.

You know students have been known to take their own lives because they're so deep in debt. Don't let that happen to you!

£1000 isn't much? OK, it's only 10% of £10 000, but you can buy a lot with £1000 - I'd far prefer £9000 debt than £10000. What's more, £1000 can easily turn into £10000, particularly if you're spending money as quickly as you seem to be.

Of course, you might want to go out and spend - your money, do what you like. But there really isn't much point in spending money for the sake of spending money - as a student you do need to think about the future, or you'll be left with more debt than you could have imagined.

True. The £130 will be insignificant - especially as I am doing a 4 year course - so it'll be £16 grand debt to start my adult life with. Thanks the Government! Plus I should be able to pay off all my overdraft within the first month of working and then the rest will be savings with the overdraft to fall back on. Also - is the Gamecube coming down again in this country? I read that it had gone down to $150 (£102) in the US of States, but it didn't say if it was coming down here. I'd probably wait until then, anyhow. I only want to play Rogue Leader!

Paying it off now isn't worth it, if you're thinking in the long run. You're going to have a £12,000+ debt by the time you graduate, so an extra 1k isn't going to have a big impact.

Having said that however, if you've used up half your overdraft in the first year, you plainly will run out totally before you're finished at university. If you're going to fast for a year or so, fine. Otherwise I suggest you get a little more money in the bank.

Its a struggle for us students, I don't have a switch card (yet) as I know I would spend money I just don't have right now. I have a student loan and have kept quite a bit of it, holiday this year probably with some of it :-)

I know I have to pay it back when I start to earn more than £10 000 a year but with the degree i hope to get my starting salary for most jobs will be about 3-4 times that amount so I'm not that bothered about having to pay it back yet.
I ordered a Gamecube on thursday but that was money from my birthday, but my advice to you is do as you feel best, afterall it is your money and you can always get a summer job of some kind to help pay it back.

I hate being in debt, that's why I never borrow money from my mates, and I guess I'll be the same when it comes to overdrafts etc

Don't like having something looming over my head, like when you have a coursework deadline steadily approaching and you haven't even started

So I'd pay it off, and get a Cube later

*reads PinkPig's post, nodding head sagely*

Yeah, I'm going to go with spend it.

Without meaning to sound like a Scrooge, you'll really be glad later if you keep your debt as low as you can. You've already got £500 to pay back, and lots of interest along with it. If you get a Gamecube, you'll have lots of fun - they're great. But, in a few years, after spending loads more on the games, you'll have an old, pretty much worthless console and set of games, a £1000 overdraft, and probably about the same again in interest. If you want to buy a house? A car? You'll want savings, not debt.

It's so easy to get overdrafts these days, that it's tempting to buy everything you can - it's good for business, but not for you. £1000 becomes £2000, which becomes £20 000 when you don't have anymore money to buy necessities. Add to that an expensive, difficult to get, large mortgage, and you could end up in serious trouble.

Fine, if you really want a Gamecube - go and buy one. But stick to just a few games, and set yourself realistic targets to pay your debt back. Mainly, only buy it if you really want it. The biggest problem you can get into with money is being offered large loans, and then looking for things to buy, because you have the money. You DON'T have any money at all.

The best advice anyone can give you, is to buy luxuries (e.g. Gaming stuff) when you can afford it, within reasonable limits. But DO set aside a proportion of your salary to repay your loan - not just the interest.

It may seem boring now, but if you want to get married and have your own house and possessions (if you don't already), then you'll really be glad later. If you do already have your own house, and you know you can pay a mortgage, and you feel secure and comfortable, then perhaps you can afford to buy a little more. Somehow, I doubt that's the case ;-)