To ask how much, if any, credit people have?

[Allinadayswork80]

Not wanting to offend anyone, but having seen previous threads asking how much you you earn, etc. I hope this question wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask.

Curious to know how much credit/debt people have and what for? I was brought up with the attitude that if you can’t afford it, you don’t have it but I also have friends whose attitude is “life is too short and have what you want”. There’s lots of things I’d like, new clothes, upgraded furniture/white goods but we live within our means and generally only buy what we can afford or have saved for. Whereas we have friends with lovely newer cars, latest clothes, American fridge freezers with ice dispensers etc. all on credit. I personally would find this stressful. I’d love to know the general consensus on peoples’ attitudes towards credit and if I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face?

none

I used to have the "life is too short" attitude and ended up owing about £30k on credit; it took concerted effort and an IVA to get rid of that debt. Now I've swung completely the other way, I don't buy things unless I have the money already and honestly wish that people would be less wasteful and more frugal.

I only use credit cards for convenience and pay them off every month. Only debt is my mortgage.

However I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using credit as a way of spreading cost as long as you doing with your eyes open. It’s fine to eg spread the coat of a holiday over a few months if you can’t pay it all at once. But be conscious of what you’re doing and have a plan to pay it off. Where it all goes wrong is when people treat their credit limit as cash in the bank, spend if all and then sit there for years making the minimum payment.

Not everyone uses credit to buy a massive TV. I use my credit card for things I can't otherwise afford like school shoes or the supermarket shop. I don't have a flashy lifestyle at all, but my credit card is an absolute lifeline when I have no way of affording the basics some months.

We always have a couple of things on finance at a time, we are used to paying the monthly amount. So previously it was my car, then when that was paid off we bought a new bed and mattress anf sofa which was a few grand, then that has just been paid off so we have had new windows and doors done.

Everything is always interest free and over no more than 2 years. To us it is just another monthly bill that comes out

I have £200 in credit card debt which I’m trying to pay off. I went bankrupt a few years ago owing over £10,000 so I’m desperate not to end up in the same situation again.

I have my mortgage. Otherwise, I use my credit card monthly to keep credit score and get clubcard points however pay it off regularly never paying interest. I also sometimes get 0% finance deals only because it makes sense to save money myself and pay later. I can do that because I have enough self control not to spend the money in the meantime and I never do it unless I already have the money in the bank for the item

I am like you, OP. I have a credit card, but it is for emergencies. If I do not have the money then I do not spend it. I have an absolute fear of being in debt (aside from mortgage) due to being in a precarious financial position growing up. So i genuinely feel alot of comfort knowing that everything we have is ours and cannot be taken away from us. That said, we earn an okay amount and live within our means, although I know some people think we might be struggling due to do old cars etc. I save for things I want such as holidays.

I used to work in a role where I had a very intimate knowledge of the finances of other people. It amazed me that some people genuinely seemed to not understand what debt was. I recall one woman who insisted and insisted that her ex had loads of money. But it was quite literally ALL on cards and he had only debts. The house was being repossessed and so was everything else. But she seemed genuinely unable to understand that none of their assets actually belonged to them. It was really hard for me to comprehend. It was devastating for the poor woman when she realised her ex literally owned nothing and was bankrupt. We ended up waiving her fees entirely.

Credit is the amount you can borrow
Debt is the amount you owe.
I think you mean debt Op?

To maintain a good credit rating I have mobile phone contracts and I shop on a CC which gives me vouchers.
Paid off in full each month.
No mortgage, car cost 5.5K paid cash.

I have no debt.

None because I am impulsive and know I could get myself into debt easily, I had an overdraft of £1000 when I was 18 and didn't pay it back until I was 22. I have a credit card with a £1200 limit on it, I use that if I'm staying at a nice hotel that requires a damages deposit. That's it.

@IcedCoffeeMilkshake

I am like you, OP. I have a credit card, but it is for emergencies. If I do not have the money then I do not spend it. I have an absolute fear of being in debt (aside from mortgage) due to being in a precarious financial position growing up. So i genuinely feel alot of comfort knowing that everything we have is ours and cannot be taken away from us. That said, we earn an okay amount and live within our means, although I know some people think we might be struggling due to do old cars etc. I save for things I want such as holidays.

I used to work in a role where I had a very intimate knowledge of the finances of other people. It amazed me that some people genuinely seemed to not understand what debt was. I recall one woman who insisted and insisted that her ex had loads of money. But it was quite literally ALL on cards and he had only debts. The house was being repossessed and so was everything else. But she seemed genuinely unable to understand that none of their assets actually belonged to them. It was really hard for me to comprehend. It was devastating for the poor woman when she realised her ex literally owned nothing and was bankrupt. We ended up waiving her fees entirely.

When I say we live within our means I simply have to add that we are fortunate enough that our means are enough. There is a bit set aside for emergencies after a horrifying boiler breakdown bill really impacted us about 10 years ago, but we do really take note and juggle. I feel incredibly lucky that we are financially stable.

£185.55. That’s the balance on my credit card which I’m about to clear. Other than the mortgage that’s the only debt we have. No car financing, no loans etc. When I was single I carried a great deal more debt - probably £6 or £7k but running a flat in London and actually “living” can be expensive for a single person. I think if people are clever and make acquisitions like sofas and white goods using interest free credit then that’s a sensible way of proceeding. I’m probably not a person who waits and saves up my money up front before making purchases although I’m lucky to already have the American fridge freezer with the ice dispenser.

I have a mortgage and a car loan. The car loan is because I got a 0% finance deal. But my next car I might well lease. It makes no sense to tie your money up in a depreciating asset with maintenance costs.

With a lease, I get a new car under warranty that won't cost me unpredictable amounts in repairs and the lease company takes the risk on the residual value when I get rid of it. Which I think is important if we consider how car technology is changing so much with the move towards electric vehicles.

Do you mean how much debt do you have?
I have one cc with a limit of 6,800.... I have a balance of zero....I only use it to pay for large items and holidays.... then all paid off at end of month

Mortgage, 2 x PCP cars and no credit card debt.
About £50 on Very/Klarna pay in 3 instalments.

I’ve got about a grand on a credit card from Christmas, but I’ll clear that in the next two paychecks.

Don’t often use my credit cards, although I have a £15k limit on one and £10k on another!

I try not to run up debts I can’t easily pay off, having had serious debt at one point in my life.

My debt is approx 20% of my availability credit. I could pay it off in full but it’s at 0% so not worth it

DH and I were brought up like you OP. Only debt is the mortgage. We paid our last mortgage off very early and bought a much bigger house on a smaller additional mortgage; still paying this one off but will hopefully get rid of it next year.

Always save and buy everything outright, including cars. We use a credit card to buy online shopping(safer) and to collect rewards on bigger items, but pay it off in full every month so it's not debt.

I couldn't sleep at night if we had debts hanging over us, especially for unnecessary spends like new tvs, cars etc, and didn't have savings. This is the one thing we were so grateful for when our entire income suddenly stopped due to the first lockdown.

Our only debt currently is our mortgage.
We are lucky in that we have a good amount of disposable income so if I want a new nice bag or something I can pretty much get it, within reason.
We have things like the big fridge you mentioned but we got ours in the sale and paid outright. Same with our TVs and other tech.
However I don't think there's anything wrong with manageable debt. So for big purchases that offer 0% finance I think that's fine if the monthly payments are manageable.
Or using a credit card to pay if you know you can have it paid off easily/quickly.
I know people who would just put everything on credit and bury their head in the sand about paying it back. I worked in a call centre on minimum wage with people at my level driving Porches and wearing Gucci. They would laugh about their credit card bills.
I think there's miles of space between being like them and thinking all credit is bad.

I don't currently have any debt. We were poor growing up but my mum always stressed the need to live within our means and never took out loans.

I do have a credit card that I got as a student when I was going studying abroad. It still has a €1000 limit on it. I use it for things like buying concert tickets for a group, medical expenses that I'm going to be claiming back from insurance, or for ordering things online. I pay it off every month.

I had a loan that I took out to pay for my Masters but I paid it off in 1.5 years instead of 4 years because I hated having it hanging over it. It was an awful feeling and has made me resistant to getting loans in the future.

I use my credit card for everything as it gives cashback, however, it's on a direct debit to be paid in full each month and I always have enough in my current account to cover it.
I don't buy anything I can't afford outright(mortgage aside), but I do put most things on interest free credit or a credit card if I can. This also offers me more buyers protection.

I bought a computer on credit with Apple and pay £72 a month for it. It's an amazing machine and I have no regrets. Only 5 payments to go! That's the only credit I have at the moment though (and it's actually a business expense anyway).

In our younger days we borrowed on credit card or personal loans/finance for cars or white goods/furniture - but we did so responsibly and within what we could afford. I worked for a bank in the 1980's and getting into financial difficulty would have landed me in very hot water at work. They even used to look at all cheques issued by staff and check them to your bank statements to make sure you hadn't anticipated your salary by issuing cheques the day before payday without money in your account to cover them!

Now we don't have credit - credit card is used as an insurance for purchases only but paid off when the bill arrives. But we are near retirement age and mortgage is repaid.

No credit cards but a small £500 overdraft for emergencies and 0% finance for carpet and boiler.

We could have afforded both by paying in full, but I am just about to start maternity leave so we decided to pay half upfront and finance the rest to balance savings with monthly payments due.

Have never used finance that wasn't 0%