To ask how much debt you are in?

[Sunshine3013]

Just that really.
Wondering how much debt the average person is in.. Including mortgage, loans, credit cards, overdraft?

Just curious!

DISCLAIMER - DHs business got a huge contract 8 years ago, we live in Yorkshire so we were very lucky to find a “project” house fairly cheap that we could afford to buy outright through auction with the profit from this contract and renovate it well. DH is a high earner so we bought our cars outright and obviously as we don't have loans and a mortgage to pay, we can afford to buy things when we want them- sofas, white goods etc. Meaning no small loans and no overdraft.

I would say it’s a combination of hard work & luck.

I don't know anyone in real life who doesn't have debt be it from credit cards, loans, car payments, etc

They are out there.

It's the but I live within my means that's pissing people off

Well to an extent but I know people who have 100% interest mortgages and much larger houses than I do despite earning about the same; they have car loans for status symbol cars and use credit cards to pay for expensive ski-ing holidays.

So some of it is living within your means. Yes I am fortunate that I have enough for the basics and I don't forget that, but lots get into debt for a lifestyle.

Only my (massive) mortgage. And a bit on my credit card which will be paid off at the end of the month.

@jonny9487

I owe money on credit cards but I have about 10x the amount in savings.

That's just madness.

Makes perfect sense if it’s an interest free credit card, and you can then earn interest on the cash sitting in the bank. That’s what I often do.

@halvedfees

Jesus this really is a bragging thread. Does it make you all feel superior in some way, and give you a little frisson? Do you ever think that boasting about your "luck" is very depressing for the average person, and even more likely to send them down a spiral of despair and feeling that they are even more of a failure than they thought they were?

The OP asked.

Zero right now but looking to buy a new house so will be looking at around 300k for the mortgage.

I would suggest that if anyone is struggling with debt, the sensible thing would be to avoid threads such as this. The title is pretty clear, and it's obvious there will be a wide variety of answers. Whilst I don't overly see the point of the thread, we have to all take some degree of self responsibility for the content we view. If the title was something else and people mistakenly clicked in I can see why that would be bad, but it's not the case.

This is so dependent on stage of life. Up until very recently I have had loads of debt, student loans mainly, but we moved here from overseas and essentially started all over again in our mid-thirties. Add to that childcare costs, it was nearly impossible to pay anything down. Now that the childcare costs are far less, the debt could be addressed. My mortgage is huge for my age (will be in my late-sixties when paid off at the rate we're going) but need a home, so that debt is necessary.

@poppycat10

It's the but I live within my means that's pissing people off

Well to an extent but I know people who have 100% interest mortgages and much larger houses than I do despite earning about the same; they have car loans for status symbol cars and use credit cards to pay for expensive ski-ing holidays.

So some of it is living within your means. Yes I am fortunate that I have enough for the basics and I don't forget that, but lots get into debt for a lifestyle.

I agree.

We all make choices that affect our finances, with extremes at both ends from not spending anything to giving no thought whatsoever to the consequences. Many dont consider the future either and have no back up plan should it change.

Where we live, how many children we have, how many hours we work and in what job, cars, clothes, holidays etc all impact on budget. Some are prepared to compromise and live within their means to avoid debt whilst others aren’t.

Jesus this really is a bragging thread

Doesnt have to be.

These threads would all be more useful if people avoided actual numbers and gave percentages. Eg "my mortgage balance is x times my income" or "I have 2 credit cards, combined balance is about 4m of my salary".

Its true some people effectively have no means to live within but equally plenty of people choose to borrow for lifestyle purchases.

Also to those who say if I can't afford it don't have the cash I don't buy it, sometimes you don't have a choice.
We have tried not to use our cc for 6 months , but couple weeks ago dh car broke it will now be £1600 upwards to repair.
He drives from job to job with some tools so a car for work is needed.
We have no choice but to put this on a credit card and its not an expense we would of expected, we bought a newish car expecting it to last us a few years , with couple hundred pound wear and tear bills a year. We had no way of knowing the peice of crap would have a major engine failure at 6 years old and a just below average mileage . So £1600 we have no choice of dh has no job , its the only card we had cleared as well so Im gutted

We have a mortgage (it’s terrible to say I’m not sure how much is left on it!) in joint names, and use our overdrafts a bit, though we’ve just got to a point where we’re more in the black than the red.

Oops, I’ve just realised how long this thread is and I obviously haven’t rtft. Sorry! I forgot to mention my student loans too, which I’ve just started paying back but haven’t received any correspondence from them for years as I wasn’t earning enough, so no idea how much I owe.

Mortgages around £200k with DH, properties worth more. No other debt, pay of credit card each month. Longer term plan is to sell 1 property and use equity to improve the second, but who knows what life will throw our way

Some are prepared to compromise and live within their means to avoid debt whilst others aren’t

And some people don't have sufficient means to avoid debt, even for essentials.

Debt isn't always necessarily bad, expensive, or avoidable.

We all have to live somewhere, and mortgages often cost less than renting, plus you own the property at the end of the mortgage.

Student debt usually leads to a better paid career, and under the current system, most people don't have to pay all the debt back before it's wiped, and if you're on a low income, you don't have to pay anything at all.

And unless you're being completely reckless, I don't see the problem with getting interest free credit for household essentials like washing machines. Obviously it would be nice to pay for these things out of savings, but not everyone has much spare money, especially when they're starting out. We still have the fridge freezer we got on interest free credit in the 1990s, so it's not like we've been profligate with our household appliance buying habits.

Pretty much just our Mortgage. My husband still has some student loan to pay off but I’ve cleared mine. Neither of us have credit cards. We have taken personal loans in the past but these are all now paid, and finance on furniture etc. I am mid thirties and he is a little older.

At its worst I had £32,000 unsecured debt. Holidays, lease extension on a leasehold flat, home improvements, divorce.

Now I have just the mortgage and save what I used to spend in debt payments into a mix of premium bonds and s&s isa.

So the answer today is no debt, but it hasn't always been this way.

None, late 30s and no mortgage on a modest house in a nice area. I am very fortunate to be finacially secure and it gives us alot of freedom. We did overpay our mortgage with my entire wage for several years and just lived off my DHs we also bought in 2013 when house prices were a bit more sane, however didn't do it all by ourselves and have lost a parent (I'd rather still have a mortgage and my parent to have met their grandchild). X

I don't know anyone my age (mid 30s) who has paid their mortgage off and isn't in some debt, car finance, loan, ect. MN is not a true reflection of the real world 🙄

@IsadoraMoon check out the mortgage free wannabe section on the moneysaving expert forum, there’s tips and people’s diaries of their own journeys.

@Perfect28 I slept on a mattress on the floor until I could afford a bed, some people (like me) are just really afraid of debt!

Single parent household. No mortgage and have settled with the fact I will never have one.

£300 over draft that I'm always in one way or another, want to pay that off.
£450 to pay off on a BNPL deal (sofa), not worried about it as I just pay off a bit each month. (Its interest fee)
£1300 left on car payments, again this is payed off each month, final payment in November.

Might have had an over payment of tax credits from last year which I wont find out about until April/may, last letter said it was in the region of £600 but then was told it might go down after they worked out my total earnings for the year, so I'll just have to wait and see for that..

Not really worried about any of them as long as I keep to the payment plan which I'm pretty good at doing.. I find I pay everything off on one thing, will be debt free for a while then something else comes up again (will need a new washing machine or something, always get things like that on an interest free BNPL as I dont have much savings and it makes sense to use it) so never totally debt free for long and it feels great not to have anything hanging over my head at the time.
Always try to spend within my means due to getting in debt in my early 20s and it was a harsh lesson...

Just a joint mortgage here, which is about 175k.
I've never had any debt other than that and student finance

No mortgage as house is owned outright. We use DH’s credit card for spends like grocery shopping/household expenses but he pays that off in full monthly. I have a credit card for personal spends for me which I keep at

@PattyPan
That's nice
You realise the mattress is the expensive bit of the bed though right?