to ask about your debts?

[BasinHaircut]

Inspired by another active thread im just wondering how much debt people have (outside of mortgage debt), what sort of debt it is and how they manage it?

I dont really like discussing money IRL so would be fascinated to know how other people operate.

ill start:
0% interest credit card, about £2k, paying off over 2 years (new bed and TV splurge)
0% interest sofa payment, about £1k, paying off over 3 years
Just about to take out a £15k loan (not 0% interest sadly) for a new kitchen over 5 years.

All of these debts were taken on after budgeting the required monthly payments and with a clear end date planned. Even so it seems like a hideous amount of debt.

We could actually pay the sofa and credit card off in full right now but seems more sensible to me to pay off monthly as they are both interest free debts and keep the cash in the bank.

[SayAGreatBigThankyou]

Two cc debts totalling just over 10K (car and extension) but that should go this month, and a big mortgage.

[Toofat2BtheFly]

£150 per month on the car finance (17 payments left,Cba to do the maths !)
£500 ish on a catalogue
£400ish on my credit card
£300 ish on some debts that found me from years ago (£25 per month until thats finished)

Dh has £600ish on his credit card from a car repair.

We try to pay over the minimum payment each month even if its just a few pound more but life gets in the way ....we have no overdraughts so at least we start and finish the month in the black or at least upto date on payments.

We consider ourselves lucky in comparison to others,many of our friends need to use credit cards just to eat

[PNGirl]

Student loans don't appear on your credit file as far as I know. Your reduced wage is taken into account though. Mine has interest added around the same rate as I pay it off so I'll probably end up with ot written off too .

[BabyDubsEverywhere]

Can't remember who asked, but I don't worry about my student loan as I doubt I will ever work in any real capacity again - I certainly wont earn enough to have to make any repayments. I am studying for pleasure and because it helps with my dire mental health.

[PNGirl]

Just checked and mine is cancelled when I reach 65.

[SerenityReynolds]

About £200-300 a month on a credit card that is paid off in full every month. Nothing else except mortgage.

[Twistedheartache]

Just the mortgage (240k ish) & about £250 on a credit card that I really must pay off.
Even though it costs me a few quid in interest a couple of times a year I like to pay minimum payment occasionally so that HSBC don't reduce my credit limit & same with overdraft.
Every so often I spend on it & the only time I ever asked for a short term increase due to a santander cock up they said no.
Oh & £40k to my parents once I stop paying childcare & can remortgage. It's a pension for them so no interest to pay & no time limit

[EverySongbirdSays]

Couple of hundred on a card and that's it, nothing major. Don't really consider my SL as "real" debt but I've paid so little of it that I actually think I owe more now than I originally borrowed.

[ample]

Agree it's so easy to get into debt and takes much longer to get out of it - not meaning mortgages, but credit cards with holidays, purchases etc.
We needed a new car so transferred cash into our cc to pay for it (I didn't swan into a car dealership with £6k worth of bank notes in my bag) so I used the cc but didn't have the debt.
I like to pay off cards each month. A wise man once said you only get into debt for property and only if you need to

[AbbieLexie]

Mortgage has only 18 months left and I will have paid it off 10 years early. Have paid any extra to this and sometimes that's been pennies! Did have huge debts (50k+) when marriage ended but have repaid them as left an inheritance. Using 5 credit cards at one point to put food on the table. Those days are past and not to be relived. In some ways a small price to pay for my freedom. Credit card paid in full each month. Use a planned overdraft for my emergencies. Have some savings. Some planned major expenses for work to the garden coming up so no spare pennies to the mortgage. MSE was my saviour.

[LobsterQuadrille]

£10k left on my mortgage on a £350k property. I could pay this off but it's only about £60 a month. I hate being in debt and have never had a credit card. Mention of all these student loans worries me - DD is off to university this year and I am unclear as to what "most" people do in terms of financial assistance to their DC.

[gwenneh]

We owe about as much as you do between my student loan and the two credit cards.

[RaspberryBeret34]

I have about £5K on credit cards :( most of which was due to financial issues with ex while I was on materntiy leave (he refused to contribute to house/bills) so not really my choice. I do need to try and get it paid off a bit quicker now or at least see if my (currently very low) salary can get me any 0% deals (I suspect not) or if I can balance swap between the cards I have for a better deal.

[smellsofelderberries]

We have no debt aside from the mortgage (about £290k). We overpay on that by about £500 a month as our interest rate is crazy low. Also have a decent amount in savings. If we didn't overpay then it wouldn't be due to be paid off for another 23 years

We plan on buying a new car later in the year and as yet unsure whether it will be a lease or if we'll take out a loan for that, in which case that will be about £15k.

[Greyhorses]

We have been stupid with money in the past and I dread to think how many thousands we owe... somewhere around the 30k mark
That includes two cars on finance, sofa, phones, credit cards etc.

We also have a mortgage on top.

I don't think we will ever pay it back!

[Jaimx86]

None. Just our mortgage.

Never been in debt, and, health and circumstances willing, don't plan to. If we can't afford it, we don't have it. We put enough money away each month to cover new boiler, car etc when the need arises.

[LaBelleOtero]

None now. I got into a mess with credit cards about 15 years ago, bailiffs et al, and since paying them off I haven't dared go near another one. But I am now scared of spending money I don't have. I could look to get a mortgage on a house, but I'm afraid too. I'd rather rent and stay in the black.

[BasinHaircut]

To the people who didn't want to sound 'holier than thou' I totally understand how you feel about debt.

Much hand wringing was done by me before we decided to get the kitchen done and pay it off rather than save for it first. It's totally against my natural tendencies to save first and have later but the kitchen needed probably at least 3k spent on it to make it workable for now whilst we save, so even with interest on the loan (about £1.5k) it will eventually work out more economical to do it this way.

I have had to break it down like this to convince myself to do it. My sister thinks I am hilarious as she recently borrowed £20k for a car knowing she would be going on mat leave in 6 months without blinking! Now THAT would bring me out in a rash I'd be so stressed!

[crazywriter]

13k loan after consolidating debts. DH and I had a few difficult years with little money sense. We've both corrected that now and consolidated to make payments easier.

1k on a credit card just to protect myself with a large payment last week. That will be cleared later today when I do the finances as the money is in the savings for it. I'm always sceptical with large payments so protect myself with the credit card and now always make sure the money is in the savings ready to clear it. I've learned a lot for the past.

[youlittlecharmer]

Bearbehind I ignore student debt because he comes out of my salary like a tax, I earn little enough that I don't notice it (£16 a month) and no, it doesn't impact credit rating at all. Also, if my income drops, I don't have to keep paying it, unlike everything else.

I graduated in 2013 and my annual statement shows interest of £125+ a month...there's no way I'll ever make a substantial dent in that, unless I get a massive raise!

[crazywriter]

Oh and the credit card still has 4 years on it. Do plan to over pay it when we can but right now isn't the time for that.

[crazywriter]

I ignore student debt too. Wouldn't have a clue how much I actually earn on it as I lost the login for it and that's all they ever gave me. Unless parents got something and haven't said anything. I graduated in 2008 when fees were still low but did have almost the full maintenance loan.

I view the student loan as a tax since it comes straight out of my pay. Same with DH.

[AliceInHinterland]

£10.5k car loan (£200 per month over five years)
£260k mortgage with about 25 years to go (£1.1k a month)
I'm on maternity leave now, and money will be very tight until we get free childcare for both DC when I hope to be able to start overpaying!

[poocatcherchampion]

That is one expensive kitchen op
And it sounds a lot like you are justifying the purchase to us.

Your choice of course.

[WinniePooh101]

A year ago I didn't have any and had £15k in savings....I took one year maternity leave, unfortunately company only pay maternity for 6 weeks so was on SMP for 9 months and then took a few months to find a job. DP is self employed and has had the worst six months in years. I now have £0 savings and £6k debt. DP has finally come clean and at the weekend I discovered he has £14k debt. So that's £20k debt between us (dear god).