Be proactive and do not ignore your debt.
Managing Your Money
Know what money you have coming in...
- How much money you are guaranteed to receive (student finance/ pay from work) .
- When and how your money will be paid.
- Deadlines for making claims for sensible loans/ grants/ benefits.
Know what money you have going out...
- Regular outgoings for the whole year (memberships, phone contracts, rent and bills etc)
- Lifestyle costs such as clothes and entertainment.
- Plan to save for unforeseen costs and emergencies.
- Leisure costs such as new sports wear and equipment
- Money for self care (hair dresser/ barbers, dentistry, prescriptions etc.
Budgeting
You should always consider making yourself a budget to stick too. This needs to take into account all money expected to come in and out of your bank/ pocket on a monthly basis. We advise you use the Student Budgeting Planner from Money Saving Expert. This website is full of great money saving tips, advice and discounts for you to take advantage of.
Budgeting may seem like a hassle and a lot of work, but this will benefit you once this is done and will help you review unnecessary spending. Budgeting is a life skill and will help when looking ahead for applying for credit cards, buying property, cars and other big purchases.
Managing Debt
Debt is not something that you can ignore and can create bigger problems the longer they are ignored as it does not go away- this could be as serious as court orders, bailiffs and in turn, giving yourself a poor credit history will cause you problems in the future.
Click here for everything you need to know about credit rating.
If you have rent arrears or in debt to the university then please book an appointment with our DSU Advice team and we can talk this through with you and give support where we can.
If your debt is related to anything else then you should consider getting advice from the Money Advice Service. The service is free and government funded.