Poll: Are you in Debt ?

[Zersy]

I'm considering taking a student loan, but have been discouraged from a few people saying how it takes years to fully pay it off or how you'll never be able to pay it off due to other expenses. so my question and discussion is, are you in debt and how as it effected you ?

 

[JoJo]

If you live in the UK, then it has a very low interest rate, only has to be paid when you're earning enough and gets wiped completely if there's any left after 25 years. If you need one to study something, I say go for it, the chances are assuming your degree isn't a rubbish one you'll earn enough in future life to make it worth it.

If you're another country then I can't help as I don't know about how their student debt works.

 

[DoPo]

Dont the student loaning companies just say "Fuck it" after 7 years of trying to get their money and give up?

Something like that. If you haven't started paying in 7 years (I have to look up exactly how many, but 7 sounds correct) they quit, if you have started paying it off but haven't finished in 25 years (I'm just going to trust JoJo) they still quit.

It's not too bad and the loans aren't too big themselves.

 

[The Shadowlord]

I'm 17, so I haven't had a need to take a loan out yet. I will do, when I head to university, but for now I'm good. Of course, I do feel I owe myself money, as I was saving £1000 in a bank account for the future and have successfully spent about £300 of it on junk, so I'm trying to pay that off.

 

[BrassButtons]

I'm in debt, and it will take more than 2-3 years to pay off, but I don't think I will be in debt forever. I haven't been affected by it that much, because I made sure my budget could handle the payments before taking the loans.

Student loans can be very expensive, and if you aren't able to get a decent-paying job then you could have a very hard time paying them off. So you need to know how much you will end up owing, and how much you will be able to pay (difficult to estimate if you're counting on getting a job later with your degree).

 

[dyre]

Where's the "full scholarship" option?

I probably wouldn't go for those 50k a year private universities if I had to take major loans, but maybe getting loans for a state college wouldn't be that bad.

 

[Esotera]

Around £14,000 at the minute, which will jump up to £21,000 in my final year. However, I have a fair amount of capital, and also have a well-paying industry placement, which has the potential to lead to permanent employment.

My advice to you is that a little debt is perfectly healthy, but only if you're fairly certain you'll have the means to pay it back & lending it means you'll make a lot of money in the process. Look at employment rates for graduates in degrees you are considering, and pick the degree that interests you the most out of the ones that are most in demand. Unless you have rich relatives that is, in which case you're already sorted.

 

[staika]

I am currently in debt a couple thousand dollars (I don't know the specific number it's at) since I'm in college and I have student loans. I still have about another year and a half to go before I graduate so I am probably going to go a little deeper into dept before it's all said and done.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

I am, but that is because I just moved to start a new job, which pays far more than my previous. It's an actual career instead of just a dead end retail job. So, while I do have about $6,000 on my credit card, that's all I have and it's not really that much. I worked enough to pay my college in cash, so I managed to graduate debt free from my schooling, which is amazing to me in this day and age when tuition is doing nothing but going up.

 

[Brightzide]

I was working part time at my local school 2 years ago ( when I was 18 ) and the government just rang me up one day and decided I owed them £300 and it wasnt arguable and that I had to pay them. I consulted companies for debt advice as to where this debt may have accrued, as I hadnt even earnt my first paycheck yet or ever borrowed money...And they just looped me around with nonsense. So in a few months I paid the bastards off and swore i'd never do anything ever again that would land me in debt...providing another company or whatever doesnt decide I just owe them money for doing sweet fuck all.

 

[game-lover]

Yes. I took a student loan. Actually I took 3. Two federal and one private.

It was all working out well. I was going to defer until I finished school. But then I effed up my freshman year and everything deteriorated. I was suspended from my college due to my grades and unable to be in school, the 6 months grace period flew by and the loan process began.

But I was jobless, didn't think to tell my mom about the payments intervals we could have done. Long story short, I've now defaulted on all of them. And can't get back into school period because I need federal aid and I don't get that until I resolve my loans.

So yeah... much debt, I have.

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

No, but purely because my parents are disgusted at the thought of their offspring in debt, and so are paying off the fees as they come. We're not rich, we're just good at using the money we have in competent ways.

 

[aPod]

I've avoided taking any loans, However, I am not rich. I'm patient, and I'm free.

 

[HenrySugar]

I'd rather not disclose too much information to others online, but I will suggest the fact that I am and was born into a wealthy family. However, that does not keep me from working hard and achieving my goals in life. Just because of my family wealth, it doesn't mean I am allowed to slack off. Unlike some of my family members, I actually prefer to dress, act, and go to public places and fit in; I don't need snobby people around and I prefer not to attend prestigious colleges and universities.

Then again, that's just me.

 

[Jedoro]

Quite a few options are missing, like the options of paying debt back between three years and never. Anywho, I've got some student debt, but it's not a lot, so I'm not worried about when I graduate and have to pay it back.

 

[devotedsniper]

By the end of next year i will have roughly £30,000 worth of debt to my name and i will only be 22, this is due to all my Student loans (Tuition Fee loans, Maintenance loan), i also have 3 credit cards which i have maxed (2 * £500, 1* £200 this is on purpose, my sister had alot of difficulty getting a loan for even a car because she had no credit info, so i have 3 cards which im paying off in order to get some credit history), and then theres my overdraft which i never seem to get out of because i can't find a job, but student finance keeps me going thankfully.

Would i do it again? Yes but instead of living away from my parents i think i would drive as it seems to be the cheaper option even if im paying £180 a month on insurance and £120-150 on fuel.

 

[robmastaflex]

Dont the student loaning companies just say "Fuck it" after 7 years of trying to get their money and give up?

Something like that. If you haven't started paying in 7 years (I have to look up exactly how many, but 7 sounds correct) they quit, if you have started paying it off but haven't finished in 25 years (I'm just going to trust JoJo) they still quit.

It's not too bad and the loans aren't too big themselves.

Huh, didn't know about the 7 year thing (or whatever number of years if you're wrong). I just assumed it was 25 regardless.

Like other people here, I'm several thousand pounds in debt from student loans. They don't worry me too much though, the info I have on them makes them seems surprisingly lenient.

 

[Vault101]

right now no...

I dont earn much,..but I have very few actual expenses which mean I have alot of disposable income

I'm hoping to save more (as I cant go on like this forever) and hopfully the novelty has dies off after I went from having pretty much no money to have FUCKLOADS

I went a little crazy with buying videogames

 

[OldNewNewOld]

You don't need to be rich to avoid taking loans. Just don't buy stuff that you can't afford. I'm not in debt, jet I'm not even close to rich. If anything, I'm below average.