Credit Card Debt: How To Deal With It
Do you have a hard time paying your credit card bills? Starting
to get notices from waiting creditors to pay? Worried that you
might lose your properties like your house because of credit
debt? Chin up: Dealing with credit card debt is not as...
Debt Consolidation
There are many reasons why people get into debt - some of them self inflicted and some of them way outside of our control. Losing a job, illness or accidents, all of these can suddenly plunge one into unexpected expenditure, and often the only way...
Debt Relief - Debt Settlement vs Mortgage Refinance
How do you choose between debt settlement and mortgage refinance? What are the differences? Which option is better?
No financial planner would ever recommend a mortgage refinance (one form of debt consolidation) to get out...
Use Caution When Entering Into Debt-Consolidation Loan
To the person drowning in debt, a debt-consolidation loan looks a lot like a lifesaver. But agreeing to such a loan without understanding it completely could be a serious mistake. Here's the way it's supposed to work: You pay off all your small,...
What is Bad Debt?
We imagine that when we borrow money or owe money and fail to pay, we become a bad debt. But when we see a bank making a profit of $10.64 billion, whilst boasting $3.28 billion of bad debts, we can be puzzled. When the top brass of that bank tells...
Student Debt and Student Loans
The statistics show that more and more students are graduating
from university with significant debt. The debt levels are
growing year on year and many students will be paying them off
for years after they graduate. It seems that the consumer
addiction to credit and spending has effected the student
population just as much as every one else. The fact that most
students are not earning anything, and are living either on
funds provided by their parents, or on money borrowed, they
continue to spend millions each year.
These costs are spread over a variety of areas. Accommodation
and other living expenses represent the largest portion of the
expenditure. Added to this is travel to and from university,
holiday and summer travel expenses, and entertainment. While
students are generally financially responsible and not as out of
control as many patents would have you think, they do continue
to spend a huge proportion of their money on entertainment and
socialising.
Employment
Many students will also be working part time during their
studies. There are a lot of jobs available and finding one is
not a problem for most students who genuinely want one.
Employers recognise their flexibility and willingness to work
unsociable hours and also that they will generally be happy to
accept minimum or close to minimum wage. Therefore, while the
jobs are there, they generally pay little, and students who work
more than 10-20 hours a week are probably putting a serious
strain on their studies and risking their
future chances of
success.
Most student debt is comprised of student loans. The student
loans company based on eligibility criteria provides these.
These loans are cheaper than credit that is available on the
market from high street banks and have other significant
advantages for students. Firstly, students will not have to
start repaying the loans until they are earning a set minimum
amount, currently around the £15,000 mark. Then there is also
the fact that loan repayments are calculated according to
earnings levels and are therefore always reasonably affordable.
Students are giving as much time as they need to repay the loans
and the interest rates, as said before, are very favourable.
Overdrafts
As well as these student loans however, many students will also
have other forms of debt. Most banks are offering interest free
student overdrafts of up to £2,000 and there are not many
students who do not use this up pretty quickly. Then there are
bank loans, store cards and credit cards. All of these represent
a significant amount of debt that most students are living with.