Leaving Ireland to avoid Debt

T

Tomo1998

New Member
Messages
7
Hi,

I’m in my 20s and due to a few poor decisions and a hell of a lot of bad luck I owe 12 grand to Revolut and 5 grand to AIB. I’ve never missed a payment and I refinanced an amount of the AIB loan, from AIB to revolut, about 6 months ago. I’ve never missed a payment ever and my original loan with AIB was for student loans and is about 2 years old now.

To make a long story short my degree is practically useless, I’ve been unemployed now for almost 3 months, I’ve applied for over 250 jobs and heard back from barely any. I’m extremely frustrated with the position I’m in and have frequently thought about leaving the country and not continuing to pay the loan. I’m barely surviving after cutting out basically all of my social activities. I believe a new start would be perfect for myself and my mental state.

Essentially I’m inquiring as to the repercussions of such a decision. One of the countries I’m considering relocating to is in the EU, while the other is not. Would I be chased for these loans? If so, at what point would I not be? I’ve contacted MABS previously back when it was an AIB loan and I was looking for a DRN but was told I do not apply. Out of ideas on what to do here.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I would suggest that you have come to the wrong place to seek advice on how to purposefully renege on debt that you willingly took on. It's the rest of us that pay for it.
 
I assume it’s due to the time of year and winding down of HR in December. A lot of them have been roles applicable to my degree, I’ve been told numerous times that I don’t have enough experience but I can’t get experience if no one will give me a job. I’ve also applied for entry level roles to be told that I am overqualified. I assure you that I would not say it if it wasn’t true, regardless of whether you find it hard to believe or not.
 
Similar thinking as above. If you feel that you can't find a job in a country with full employment, where in Europe do you think it would be easier to find a position? I don't know when you started applying for position but from experience, generally speaking, end of November/December is a difficult period in terms of long-term position availability. Did you think about what you can do to improve your employment chances?
 
What did you do with the money borrowed?

Edit: read again & I see you took out loans when you were studying. But I don't understand the reference to bad luck unless you were gambling?

Did you have to provide a guarantor?

How will you fund your travel and initial accomodation?

What do you propose to work at if you travel abroad?

You wouldn't be the first young person to have run up debts; there are solutions, but the first step is to take ownership.

Mods: I wonder is this post in the right place?
 
24601 said:
I would suggest that you have come to the wrong place to seek advice on how to purposefully renege on debt that you willingly took on. It's the rest of us that pay for it.
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I’ve worked and paid my taxes like everyone else. I’m only inquiring as I seen another thread on here ask a similar question.
Protocol said:
The other graduates of your degree, what happened to them?
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Some had connections to firms that the degree would be applicable to, I did not. Due to my previous work experience I went down a different path work wise as I was getting any opportunities that were applicable to my degree. Some others are entry level jobs with companies that I have applied for and have as of yet not heard anything back.
DannyBoyD said:
What did you do with the money borrowed?

Edit: read again & I see you took out loans when you were studying. But I don't understand the reference to bad luck unless you were gambling?

Did you have to provide a guarantor?

How will you fund your travel and initial accomodation?

What do you propose to work at if you travel abroad?

You wouldn't be the first young person to have run up debts; there are solutions, but the first step is to take ownership.

Mods: I wonder is this post in the right place?
Click to expand...
I originally took out the loan for student fees. I then topped up the loan for a car just before car prices went through the roof. After I finished college I found myself without a job for a number of time which ate into the loan in order for myself to survive. I have 3 grand of the loan saved up in a credit union account, which I was hoping to buy a car with. Which is once again being eaten into because I’m struggling to get by at the moment. I did not provide a guarantor. With the finances saved up I am looking to facilitate a move abroad. I have experience in a number of feels but I believe the usual route is to secure a role in hospitality until you get a move into a more financially lucrative role.

I understand the ownership aspect also and appreciate your response.
 
Tomo1998 said:
I have experience in a number of feels but I believe the usual route is to secure a role in hospitality until you get a move into a more financially lucrative role.
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I'm assuming you are referring to when you get abroad (and feels should be fields). Have you not tried this MO here ? As people have pointed out, there are plenty of jobs here in hospitality.
 
What you could do is reduce your payment of the loans to minimal only, and tell them that you are unemployed, hoping to move to another country to get a job and will resume payments as soon as you have a steady income.

MABS would be able to assist you with this, especially if they could get the banks to freeze the interest and you just pay back the capital.

The issue(s) you will face are
Funding your move abroad
Setting up a new bank account for your wages
Having to eventually deal with the €17K debt

The debt may only become an issue if you ever decide to move back to Ireland and want credit for a house or a car, at the moment they are probably unsecured debt.

MABS have a lot of advice on their website and they have a protocol with the Irish Banks.
 
You're in a difficult spot. It's a depressing experience having studied and finding it difficult to get a job. Especially with debts hanging over you. I can see the temptation to run away. But what are you running to?

Whatever about what you're leaving behind you'll find yourself in a foreign country, the same employment issue (no job, lacking experience and likely in a country that is economically worse off than Ireland), accommodation challenges and no access to credit. Will this be a better outcome?

Emigrants in the past were leaving an economic downturn in Ireland for a better performing economy elsewhere. That's not the current situation.

What if you want to come home? Your existing debts won't disappear. Rather you'll have to deal with them when you return.

When you day you've applied for 250 jobs over what timeframe are we talking about? Might it be that you're not spending enough time on the applications? Might it be that you're aiming to high?

What about getting an unskilled/general job to keep your finances ticking over. You can still apply for more qualified positions but at your stage of a career showing you have a job (not too mention having some income) is a good start.
 
Clamball said:
The debt may only become an issue if you ever decide to move back to Ireland and want credit for a house or a car, at the moment they are probably unsecured debt.
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This is an important point. Although you might decide to abandon your loans now, it will be some time before they are written off and then the result of that lasts and additional 5 years on your credit report. 17k debt sounds a lot but you can work through it.
skrooge said:
What about getting an unskilled/general job to keep your finances ticking over. You can still apply for more qualified positions but at your stage of a career showing you have a job (not too mention having some income) is a good start.
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Any job now pays almost €100/d (based on 7.5hrs a day at min wage). it will keep the finances ticking over as skrooge says.
 
This honestly seems like a very poorly thought idea. You mention that you ste not in a great shape mentally. A potential international move, under extremely good circumstances with employer support and relocation services can be stressful, but doing this on your own on a shoestring, could be incredibly so.
Few points
- First of all are you claiming any benefits/allowances? Make sure you have this in place
- can you restructure loan, possibly with credit union? Your initial priority will be to try lower payments if possible so you can meet obligations
- what is your living situation? Can you rent out a room or somehow lower this outgoing?
- im a little unclear regarding the car, did you purchase one? If so is it possible to sell this if you are struggling and revisit this later?
- when applying for a role, try to work with a recruiter and be more selective. Saying that youve applied for 250 roles indicates that you are throwing your CV at anything and hoping it sticks. You really need to fine tune your CV towards a specific job posting. Again, try work with a recruiter or get someone to review it. Ask someone that will spend the time and give solid feedback.
- be aware that if you leave without sorting out these debts, that they could have a much bigger impact longer term. You need to try protect your credit rating. You could end up with a much bigger headache if you just head off and dont engage.

If you are comfortable to give some details regarding the field and location for work, some posters might be able to give guidance.
 
OP, is there anyone in your family who can assist you, not even financially, but just to navigate the situation? Or a close friend? The nuclear option in this case is to run away to escape the debt so it should probably not be the first one you try...and even if you do it will still not make it go away fully.

Those debts are not insurmountable and you can find a way out of them if you seek help from MABs or by engaging with the lenders.

But sometimes it can be hard to see a way out from within so talking to someone might help, you don't have to solve this alone and you are probably quite young if a recent graduate and sometimes it is life experience that teaches us how to find solutions. You are not expected to know the answers but you can get help to find them. And asking questions here is a great start to that! Some great ideas by other posters.
 
Tomo1998 said:
I’ve worked and paid my taxes like everyone else. I’m only inquiring as I seen another thread on here ask a similar question.

Some had connections to firms that the degree would be applicable to, I did not. Due to my previous work experience I went down a different path work wise as I was getting any opportunities that were applicable to my degree. Some others are entry level jobs with companies that I have applied for and have as of yet not heard anything back.

I originally took out the loan for student fees. I then topped up the loan for a car just before car prices went through the roof. After I finished college I found myself without a job for a number of time which ate into the loan in order for myself to survive. I have 3 grand of the loan saved up in a credit union account, which I was hoping to buy a car with. Which is once again being eaten into because I’m struggling to get by at the moment. I did not provide a guarantor. With the finances saved up I am looking to facilitate a move abroad. I have experience in a number of feels but I believe the usual route is to secure a role in hospitality until you get a move into a more financially lucrative role.

I understand the ownership aspect also and appreciate your response.
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What area was your degree in and what sectors are you applying to?
 
Tomo1998 said:
One of the countries I’m considering relocating to is in the EU, while the other is not.
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Within the EU an uncontested debt can follow you if the creditor takes the steps to enforce locally. Otherwise for most jobs you will have start-up costs and suffer a wage penalty unless you speak the language very well (I’ve done this).

I don’t think the solution to your debt issue is emigration.
 
Tomo1998 said:
A lot of them have been roles applicable to my degree, I’ve been told numerous times that I don’t have enough experience but I can’t get experience if no one will give me a job. I’ve also applied for entry level roles to be told that I am overqualified. I assure you that I would not say it if it wasn’t true, regardless of whether you find it hard to believe or not.
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Know exactly where you are coming from as I saw a relative go through this scene recently. Vicious circle is the only way to describe it.
 
24601 said:
I would suggest that you have come to the wrong place to seek advice on how to purposefully renege on debt that you willingly took on. It's the rest of us that pay for it.
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I disagree. This forum is full of people looking for advice in areas that some people might question ethically. Landlords wanting to squeeze tenants (aka increase rents to market rates). Investors looking to avoid paying their fair share of taxes (aka tax planning).

Also, I don't believe for a moment that the rest of us will end up paying if the OP does not pay Revolut the 12k owed.

Having said that thay, I suspect the OP os going about the job search in the wrong way. Graduate jobs may be out if reach but there are plenty of non graduate jobs around. Contact some temping agencies and try to get some temporary office work. See where thay leads you.
 
Savvy said:
Any job now pays almost €100/d (based on 7.5hrs a day at min wage). it will keep the finances ticking over as skrooge says.
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General labourers on a building site is getting between €18-€21 per hour with 8-10 per day.
And you cannot fill the roles,an agency will have you working within the week and in some cases the very next day.
Things will be quite for the first couple of weeks after Xmas but pick up fairly quickly.
 
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