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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder if we have a lot more debt?

165 replies

Noseytoday · 03/09/2018 12:44

We have £7k of debts, mixture of major house repair work, holiday, getting pregnant much quicker than expected and so not having long to save for maternity leave. We are now focusing on paying it off each month and its going down but it really stresses me out. My DH isn't as worried, he thinks a lot of people probably have similar. Does this sound fairly normal or not?

OP posts:
Sandstormbrewing · 03/09/2018 14:00

We have around 5k debt (plus mortgage) but around 8k in savings. We haven't paid off the debt as most of it's interest free (and the bit that isn't is paid of monthly, but it's accumulated on a cashback credit card so we pay no interest but get money back) and the savings is currently earning a decent rate.

We're about to remortgage though, and add to that for some work on the house so will probably need to pay it off before we can do that.

I have some of the least debt of my friends, and very few of my friends have the savings to pay it off, so it is 'true' debt. If we had 5k of 'true debt' I'd be worried.

SandysMam · 03/09/2018 14:01

I really don’t think students loans count though. Even Martin Lewis says not to pay back students loads if you come into money, it’s pointless.

IronQuill · 03/09/2018 14:03

NC for this

In my early twenties I amassed £8k of debt, unavoidably due to serious ill health. I took out a debt relief order as I had little chance at the time of ever paying it back.

Late twenties now, haven’t had a penny of debt since. My partner and I are on £70k combined, no kids yet. Only debt we have is student loans but the payments are more than manageable and the qualifications are why we’re doing so well now. We have about £12k in savings as we’re saving for a mortgage and planning our first child next year.

OH is very debt averse, as am I since the horrible experience of getting into so much debt and being strangled by the debt spiral of interest and unable to do anything about it due to being too ill to work and not entitled to any benefits and running out of sick pay. Such a horrible time of my life and I’m very thankful the DRO was there to bail me out, enormously thankful. I never want to be in debt ever again, unless it’s a mortgage.

Mumofoneprem · 03/09/2018 14:04

I have £1600 on a 0% cc. Repaying £100 per month. Not particularly worried but trying to get rid of it before starting to save. I also have car finance but I see that as more of a car rental than actual debt as I will never repay the full amount.

moonlight1705 · 03/09/2018 14:08

We've got a very detailed spreadsheet of savings and debts. Most of our debts are due to having a new conservatory and boiler fitted this year which are both on 0% interest for a year.

We have the £12K in savings and move it around to get the best deal which gives us a good amount of interest back.

Waitingonasmiley42 · 03/09/2018 14:08

@Moreisnnogedag debt is interest free at the moment so will clear it once maternity leave is over.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 03/09/2018 14:09

No debts or mortgage now but we took out a massive mortgage to buy our house many years ago, and that has resulted in millions of equity gains. Sometimes it’s worth getting into debt, to invest. But not for frivolities, and you need to have a plan to pay it all off. Even the best laid plans do go awry sometimes, so I don’t judge without knowing all the details.

MJandKB · 03/09/2018 14:10

We have no debt at all, my parents and DP's were always in debt so think we both have a fear of it...

LeftRightCentre · 03/09/2018 14:11

No debts here but please, please, please do not fall pregnant again until you finish repaying your debt if you want financial stability - use two form of contraception if need be. SO many on this board get into serious financial problems by having too many kids too quickly.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 03/09/2018 14:12

Btw mortgage is a debt, and a really big one. Many people don’t seem to count it as one though!

LakieLady · 03/09/2018 14:16

I think most people don't count a mortgage as a debt is because without a mortgage they'd be paying rent, which in some cases would be more than the mortgage. They'd be worse off if they didn't have the mortgage, not better, plus it buys you an asset which is likely to appreciate and may well provide your children's inheritance.

Holidayshopping · 03/09/2018 14:18

We have no debt at all, my parents and DP's were always in debt so think we both have a fear of it...

Did you buy your house outright then?

theunsure · 03/09/2018 14:24

It’s not debt to me if it is planned, manageable and you are on top of repayments. Having some credit cannoften be a good way of managing finances. Even the super rich take advantage of credit!

I have 2 mortgages (BTL and residential) which are not a stretch and will be paid off without issue. I have a car loan (£16k), also manageable.

No credit card balances at the moment but about to buy new sofas and will use a 0% finance option even though I could use cash. Would rather keep the cash for emergencies instead.

I’m perfectly happy with my “debt”.

TheWinterofOurDiscountTentsMk2 · 03/09/2018 14:25

It’s not debt to me if it is planned, manageable and you are on top of repayments

it's debt either way, however you like to rationalise it.

PurpleTigerLove · 03/09/2018 14:25

No debt here , paid student loan off as soon as I could after starting in a decent paying career . Have only ever bought second hand cars with cash . No mortgage on our house .

I couldn’t cope with owing anyone anything but not everyone is the same . Start paying off as much as you can as soon as you can .

Whatthefoxgoingon · 03/09/2018 14:26

I would still class mortgage as a debt (it’s a loan you’re paying interest on) lakielady, it’s just that it’s a “good” debt. A debt worth going into. I appreciate your point of view is different. Smile

MynameisJune · 03/09/2018 14:29

We have our mortgage but only 6 months left as we’ve worked our backsides off to pay it off in 4 years, yes we’re lucky we earn well but we’ve also sacrificed new cars/fancy holidays/constant new clothes/meals out etc to do so. We have no other debt and hope to never again. It’s been a lot of pain at times mainly due to seeing others on social media doing alsorts of things but it’s short term pain.

We are in our early 30’s, and we’ll have no mortgage or debt to service. From next year we’ll be able to do as we please (within reason) and not have to worry about anything.

It’s liberating being debt free.

DieAntword · 03/09/2018 14:30

We have no debt. We got up to 3k at one point but thankfully cleared it. I hate seeing money I could have spent on other things hemmorage away on debt payments.

BoomBoomsCousin · 03/09/2018 14:35

It's not entirely unreasonable to not class mortgage as debt if you aren't in negative equity as the debt is more than balanced by the value fo the house, so your balance is positive. It would be unreasonable to not class your mortgage as a debt if you also counted the full value of your home as an asset.

MrsStrowman · 03/09/2018 14:35

@Holidayshopping maybe they rent. Personally a mortgage is the one debt I'm comfortable with (I didn't see my student loan as a debt either more of a graduate tax) , is rather a mortgage than the cost and insecurity of private rent

MaryDollNesbitt · 03/09/2018 14:36

Zero debts at all.

I've never had a credit card. If I can't afford it, I don't get it. I save a little each month for emergencies/annual car insurance/appliance repairs or renewal, and so on. It was always drummed into me growing up to live within my means, and it stuck. I honestly wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I owed anybody (a person, a bank, a company) money. I think I'm the only one of my friends (early thirties) without a big mortgage, huge student debts, wedding repayments, car loans, credit card debt, etc. I would be a frantic mess trying to manage it all!

I look at many of my friends and while they might have flashy cars on their mortgaged driveways, they may go on holiday every year without fail and their two or three children may be beautifully dressed and enrolled onto every extracurricular class going, the outlook is certainly not rosy behind those closed doors. It's all a front. You would think they're doing really well, but they're up to their eyeballs in debt and living off credit cards every month. They started getting into debt as students and have simply continued adding to it ever since. It's almost become 'the norm'. Their 'meh' attitude to debt is enough to induce hives. I can feel my skin itching listening to the way some of them go on sometimes Sad

Original poster
Noseytoday · 03/09/2018 14:36

No debts here but please, please, please do not fall pregnant again until you finish repaying your debt if you want financial stability - use two form of contraception if need be. SO many on this board get into serious financial problems by having too many kids too quickly.
No chance of that!Grin

OP posts:
MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 14:53

Yeah if people have savings that would clear their debt why wouldnt they? Im 37k in and i dont own a house or a car. Live with relatives and now am looking for a full time job. I would clear them in an instant if i had the savings too. Op your joint jncome seems sufficient to run a home and car and put aside some each month for your debt.

genivert · 03/09/2018 14:59

There is absolutely no safety in numbers - whether posters on here normalise that amount of debt, or your friends and family assure you they're similarly debt-ridden... the legal obligation and stress involved in not being able to make repayments looms the same!

Just get rid of it if you can - it sounds like you can from the extra info you posted, don't tie yourself and your future options down for no reason.

theunsure · 03/09/2018 15:00

@MarthaArthur

For lots of reasons! There is nothing wrong with using credit. eg If I want a car that costs £60k it would be utter madness to yse £60k cash to buy a depreciating asset. A PCP deal where you only borrow the value of the depreciation with a low interest rate is a much better financial bet.
It isn’t always good to use cash-any financial advisor will tell you that.