To think apart from mortgage it is possible to live debt free!?

[Moneytalkone]

Just that really, AIBU to think that it is possible to live debt free, that debt isn’t a necessity in life! Apart from a mortgage I suppose if you want to own a house. Had a chat with a friend who claimed that debt is given these days, it’s almost an accepted/expected part of life? What do you think?

It's possible to live debt free if you have a regular, decent income, you do you and your family all enjoy good health, life doesn't throw you any curve balls, you have affordable rent/mortgage costs, you have savings to cover eg car or boiler breaking down.

Any one of those missing means that debt is pretty much inevitable unless you have family/friends to turn to.

DoreenSamuel 'the right attitude and budgeting skills' is, for example, how someone on a low income with high rent but not enough to save gets by.

Redundancy, major accident, injury or illness, being evicted etc create financial problems that need hard cash, as well as the right attitude and budgeting skills.

That's not the same as there being no jobs at all, though... what if a job doesnt cover your outgoings and in fact puts you further in debt due to travel/ childcare costs?

Yes it is possible to live debt free with the right attitude and effective budgeting skills

oh the naivety

what if a job doesn't cover your outgoings and in fact puts you further in debt due to travel/ childcare costs?

Most people in that situation (especially those with children) can claim universal credit, as well as help towards childcare. Very, very few low earners don't qualify for any sort of benefit or government help.

They might struggle for the first couple of months while they get back on their feet, but that's not a reason to just never go back to work or get a job. Benefits are there for precisely that kind of situation - to help people who have fallen on rough times.

I definitely think it's possible, I manage. I do think it very much depends on circumstances though. For some it's easier said than done. If you live hand to mouth and your hit with a large financial bill or if your expectations and aspirations exceed your income then debt may be inevitable.
I can certainly see how it happens to those with no savings and can see how easy it to end up keeping up with the joneses so I'm grateful that at the moment neither of the above nor debt applies to me and hope it Continues.

adaline there are countless stories on this very site that display how inept UC is. It's quite possible that even if you could sustain the standard costs of survival by supplementing your income with benefits that something could come along and push someone to borrow- examples of which are on this thread. Car breaks down, no other means to get to work, boiler breaks down, etc....the idea that everyone has savings for such eventualities is lovely but not reality.

It's obviously possible.You just have to live on less money than comes in each month.

Anyone who is currently in debt is already living on less money than comes in each month - some of their income is being syphoned off to pay the debt. If they'd learnt that skill a bit earlier they'd have had savings and wouldn't have needed the debt.

No, I actually chose to have them in a long term relationship with two adults working full time.
you were hardly planning on working full time straight from birth, were you.
Again, you made a choice. I am not pretending to judge, I don't really care one way or another, just pointing out that it was all your choice.

It's easy to make excuses and pretend thats' the way things are, it's still a choice. otherwise, how do you explain that other people in exactly the same position or worst, much worst, do not accept it, and work their way up to get out of it? It's not luck.

I left home at 17. I had a series of basic jobs. I had no debt. I may have had few material possessions, no holidays, and spent most bit my remaining wages on food, after my rent. But I had no opportunity to get into debt as nobody would lend to me

Later, with now DH, we had no debt. We lived pretty much careless. Again we couldn't get debt we weren't a good risk when renting a room in a shared house or after we got a mortgage.

Later we managed some loans, in the hundreds and usually to take advantage of 0% offers. But we never took out large loans.

Then we got older, better jobs, are mortgage free and still have no debt.

We talked about this over the years and realise that we are very different from our peers. We are the oddity, not the norm. And some family members have called us boring

Careless = CARDLESS!!!

Yes, it’s possible. We used to be totally debt free. Very low income, supplementary benefits, baby, renting, owned an old banger, old mobiles, second hand furniture, never went on holiday, ate very cheaply but my dh insisted on no debt because he was so frightened we’d get into a situation where we couldn’t afford to pay it off. It was bloody miserable at the time and I certainly didn’t feel ‘privileged’....but it did help us to eventually get onto the housing ladder. fast forward 10 years and we have a much higher income and some debt too - have purchased ‘nice to haves’ such as sofas and cars using credit (still don’t have an expensive car though!) and we put some holidays on the credit card. For us being in debt (and it’s fortunately still very low) is a result of greater affluence meaning we feel more comfortable with a bit of credit. I do think it is possible for most people to live without credit but on low salaries it means a very spartan lifestyle.

Mortgage only here but last few years of it now.

I’ve been on my own since I was 16 with no back up if anything went wrong so I had a job and saved £10 a week increasing as I earned more so always had savings.
Never bought anything unless I had the cash in my hand so I’m kinda conditioned to do without until I’ve saved up.

DH came from a debt ridden family, Debt collectors knocking on the door taking TV, bikes, furniture. Growing up skint with nothing.

He worked hard but lived week to week pay with nothing to fall back on.
We are both big savers now, have a nice but very simple life, good holidays paid as the year goes on.

Saved up and going to Florida with the kids in a few weeks, all paid up in full bit by bit.
I do extra shifts at work and save it for this kind of stuff.

It’s a pain waiting for stuff but then it’s ok in the end.

We have a mortgage, but otherwise just a loan for our Boiler and sofas .No CC at all use savings or DC for emergencies .

you were hardly planning on working full time straight from birth, were you.

sorry, what? Nobody works full time from birth. I worked full time from I was 17. Not sure what point you’re trying to make here.

Again, you made a choice.

What choice? Do you think I should have given one (or both) of my children away when their father left us?(not my choice) Or when I got ill?(not my choice) or when the tax credits office list my paperwork (not my choice)

how do you explain that other people in exactly the same position or worst, much worst, do not accept it, and work their way up to get out of it? It's not luck.

It wasn’t a case of “accepting” it or not accepting it. The situation I was in was that one of the agencies providing a large proportion of my income fucked up very badly to the extent that I had very little money to live off and needed to get a credit card. I’m not sure what I did in that situation that you deem to be “not accepting it”.

I do think it is possible for most people to live without credit but on low salaries it means a very spartan lifestyle.

I don't really get this point. Debt doesn't create any more money (not for the borrower anyway, it does for the lender ). For the borrower all it does is reallocate some of your income from the future to now. You may have a less spartan lifestyle that you otherwise would have done right now, but your lifestyle will need more spartan than it would have been in the future because you'll need to pay the money back out of future income.

And as well as this, overall your life will be even more spartan because you'll have the additional burden of interest!

@fiddlesticksakimbo fair point.

It is possible, but you have to have a good amount of savings to cover the unexpected. We have some debt at the moment as the car was written off last year and we had a leak from the shower through the ceiling. We could have lived without the shower, but not managed without a car. We got one that was a little younger than our old one and now have some debt to pay this year. I suppose we could have used the insurance money to get another 10 year old one, and had no debt, but we chose not to. I don’t feel it’s a luxury item though!

I've been on both sides - scary amounts of debt and debt free now ( aside from mortgage).

It is so easy to see why people will use debt at some point of their circumstances necessitate it.

Debt does not always have to be bad. We had to swallow a few years of spending £1k extra a month ish that were more than our incomings whilst my husband retrained. We still had to pay working costs ( childcare / car) whilst his training was ongoing and unsalaried. He now earns in a professional career and we mitigated where we could by taking in lodgers etc. It was worth it because it has improved out prospects and long term job security/ earning potential. Without borrowing available to us we wouldn't have been able to do that.

We have also borrowed additionally to improve our home, and will do again in future. This has allowed us to add value greater than the costs of the works and invest in our biggest asset.

It depends on circumstances and generation X are much more likely to be able to live debt free than milennials. It’s not that they’re superior, it’s just that there has been a change in affordability and huge increases in student debt.

This thread has made me so bloody angry.
I worked from 14/15 years old.
Law degree from Russell group uni.
Accountant with big 4 firm.
Area manager for national newspaper.
Tiny terraced house.
Boom. 2008 happened and made redundant.
I took job at nmw. 0 hours contract. Kept child in nursery. Wasn't earning enough and had to get into debt to pay bills. In hindsight should have just claimed tax credits.
Still have not recovered. Always had cars 12-20 years old.
Not been abroad since 2005.
Still in my tiny midlands terraced house.
Boiler replaced after it completely broke.
Buy supermarket clothes.
Now also care for my mother.
Stepdad knocked down and killed crossing road last year. Had to find ££££ for funeral.

Luck really doesn't fucking matter.

Really wish I had that privileged position where a change in circumstances hadn't turned my world upside down.

My mum talks about how she bought her first house with my dad in the 60s. They bought a bed and 1 wardrobe and that was the only furniture they had for a year. They used deck chairs while they saved for a sofa. Then the following year they saved again to buy a dining room table.

People don’t have that sort of mind set now but it’s what was impressed on me as a child. If you can’t afford it you don’t buy it.

Of course it is. You live within your means, working more if needed.

So many seem to want it all and give no thought to finances.

@Norma27

There are lots of examples like yours on this thread that show exactly why some people are naive to just pride themselves on 'great choices' = no debt. It's simply not true is it.

Circumstances can and do change rapidly and the feeling of no safety net when you fall is awful.

Also some people don't understand the difficulty paying for childcare presents on many scenarios. It's a vicious cycle, especially for lone parents. If they work they need regular work that pays enough for regular childcare. They can't just 'work more' unless they have someone available to look after the kids.

There are some very overly simplistic views on this thread.