Money
As a 19yo who also goes to uni, finances is always the problem for me. Got my PPL about 3 months ago and doing my CPL and IREX theory now but no cash for any more serious flying till about Jan.
However i do have a great job that pays really well and one where i can study at work as well though i am generally working about 28 - 35 hours a week.
Something i thought was a great idea at the time was to get my uni degree at the same time as doing my flying. I now realise that it is quite hard to do uni study, flying and flying theory as well as work and try and have some sort of social life. I am considering deferring next year (my final year at uni) but that only adds a year on and it simply means that it would be very hard to get a flying job while at uni so i may just get it over and done with.
However i am determined to do it. I love the flying and i have great instructors who are happy to help me in whatever areas i may need.
Money is still a problem though i strongly recommend having a budget and making sure you stick to it. Thru that i will have my CPL theory and IREX done in about 3 months, having another decent long trip, a holiday with my girlfriend, my MECIR by end of July and my CPL by this time next year. That budget took me about 3 weeks to work out but once this time next year comes around it will all be worth.
Another piece of advice was to be wary of using accounts and the like at flying schools. Initially i thought they were great if i was a few dollars short coz i went around instead of landing or something similar but all those few dollars add up. Currently im paying off quite a large account that just kept accumulating and from now on all my payments will be made in cash, because at least then i know that i can afford it and i wont be heading into debt. For some people it works, for others it can lead to trouble. Its just like a credit card and i also dont have one of those.