Money is the root of all evil.

WHEN the words 'loan' and 'overdraft' appeared in my email inbox last week, my heart leaped into my mouth - something it tends to do if anything vaguely financially orientated makes it through the sand and into my consciousness.

According to a recent survey, one in ten people in the UK, like me, are always in debt, with more than 38 percent dipping into the red at least once. Would I like to talk about my debts? With more of us than ever in the red I guess now is the right time to come clean.

I struggle to sleep with constant reminders of the dreaded minus figures that rule my Natwest student bank account. The bold statistics stare at me as I type in my four-digit pin, something that I rarely do. I have become sick of checking my account. All I get from it is a feeling of depression and anxiety. Will I ever be out of the red?

As shocking as it may sound, I have become so used to being in debt, I now see my £1,000 overdraft facility as 'my money.' Phone bills, rent, food shopping and car insurance reach the top of my worries. I wake up in the same way in which I fall asleep, repeating the 'minus nine hundred and eighty pounds' bank balance that I currently have. With only twenty pathetic pounds left, how am I supposed to even pay my phone bill? Let alone the rent, insurance, food shopping...

A survey of University of Central England undergraduates has shown that many students believe that financial problems are having an adverse effect on their academic performance. As a second year student, I completely agree. Those one in ten of us who live in the red - and our nerves exist in a chaotic world where every move, every thought is ruled by how close you are to that magic number: your agreed limit - will understand the way I'm currently feeling.

Even the slightest sound of a letter being forced through my front door leaves me in a state. Who ever came up with 'another day, another dollar?' In my case it's another day, another bill. My relationship with my overdraft has become the most important relationship in my life. The constant nagging in the back of my mind that I need to pay my pone bill or that I need to make do with ends meet for the month is like a weight hanging around my neck and tying me down.

Lectures are often a daze. They come and they go, just like money. I try to concentrate but as per usual figures, furious reminders and a red light that indicates the bloody red of my overdraft take over my mind. I have a part-time job as a bartender but that barely covers a week's worth of meals. The trouble is, when you have more money it still isn't enough. As they say, "money is the root of all evil."