A thought for current undergrads – do not underestimate the size of your debt. As a newly-graduate, I’ve had the oppertunity to step back and look at the size of my debt… or; to put it another way – the amount my income will be sapped for the next quarter of my life.
Not that I’m in a bad position, mind. I’ve walked out of my degree and straight into a job – and a job I like. I’ll be on a three-month ‘probationary period’ of a less-than great income before I get a nice, beefy income, afterwards. Actually, that’s a little bit arsey – I think a three month probationary period for a new full-time graduate employee is a little unfair when that employee has been working for the company part-time (and vacations) for the last two and a quarter years. I’ll have words with my boss about that when he comes back from holiday next week.
Nonetheless: I sat down today and drew up a spreadsheet detailing all of my different creditors and the money I’m to pay them, and it’s quite horrifying. It’ll be a lot less horrifying come the end of October – when I recieve my first paycheck under my non-‘probationary’ salary – but for now, it’s somewhat daunting. I might do well to investigate these ‘graduate loans’ that NatWest keep telling me about – if I could lump all my nasty interest-gathering debts (as opposed to my nice, non-interest-gathering debts, like my overdraft and my student loan) into a neat pile (along with a couple of hundred pounds extra with which to make repayments for the next three months), I could pay it off in a meaningful manner over the next five years. Sadly, I doubt they’ll be too keen on the idea when they actually take the time to look back over my account history.
On the up-side, though, financially, I’m developing a web site ‘Peter Huntley Ltd.’ which I’m hoping to be able to deploy the first version of this weekend. Which is very definately a Good Thing.
It’s all news, today! Lots of fascinating little stories and nothing about me. I mean, who’s blog is it anyway?
