Curious how much debt is normal?

[Mummabear04]

Just being nosey really to see what's the average for other people but how much debt are you in excluding your mortgage? I have just under 4k of debt between DH and I due to student loans but don't have anything else other than the mortgage (we have put paying back our loans first and only saving a little each month instead). How about you?

Zero. Not even mortgage. I saved a lot in my 20s and 30s. When I got divorced I bought a house with my half of the settlement. Approaching 50 now and it's lovely being debt free.

I have never had any dept except mortgage

im nearly 50 years old

None. I purchase everything on credit card but it’s paid off in full every month.
My only debt is a mortgage.

I simply don’t buy what I can’t afford. Big purchases are saved for

Mortgage (small now) and student loans only. I've never 'done' debt for cars, furniture, etc. - I just buy what I can immediately afford or save up.

How old are you OP?
I have no debt apart from mortgage and husband who is 35 will finish his student loan this year (he took an extra year of study).
Debt would stress me out!

We pay £460 a month on finance for our cars but other than that nothing else on finance and no debt except our mortgage.

Edit: I have student loans left but don’t really think of them as debt. I’m not currently paying them off at the moment anyway as I’m part time and don’t earn enough.

This question needs to have an age caveat! We have no debt, mortgage paid off and no student loans. This is because we were lucky enough to be born when there were no tuition fees, access to student grants and two days out of university buying a house when houses were only twice our annual salary. People leaving university now can’t do this no matter how much they try.

Car finance, however I always end up in plus equity after three years so it pays for the next one without any further deposit required usually. No loans, pay small rent to dad for living in his house, and just the credit card which I pay off every month on living expenses.

Mumsnet is very middle class so I don't think you'll get an accurate picture here. Lots of posters seem to earn well over the national average so it's unlikely you'll see lots of stories of debt here.

Enormous mortgage. I was about to say nothing other than that, but the car is on a lease so £280pm.

Shockingly, some working class people don't have much debt too!

Quite a lot I think c20k between DH and me. But it’s mostly 0% and we have good assets and salaries. It’s just more efficient this way.

Zero.
Mortgage paid off years ago
Never had a student or car loan

How long is a piece of string. If you earn £20k a year and have £5k in debt on interest, you are in trouble.

But if you earn £100k and have no interest free debt, then that’s not smart either.

With all these finance questions, the answer is relative to your income, where in the country your live and your outgoings. Random people giving you a debt number without all this background tell you nothing.

By the way, those who think all debt is bad, basically don’t understand investment. They are not financially literate enough to ask advice from.

I actually think it’s more common amongst middle class people to have some debt, people tend to borrow more at lower rates when they can pay it back easily and have good credit ratings. It isn’t the same as having very high interest debt in order to survive day to day that is often seen in lower income circles (and yep I’ve lived in both extremes)!

Excluding the mortgage (long paid off) I've never had any, and it's certainly not because I was always able to afford things

I am however of the generation who either saved up or went without and happily chose second hand when I couldn't afford new - all of which many now regard with horror

Late 30s, none except mortgage.

Average unsecured debt around 2.5k per family in uk in 2023

Probably more accurate than an mn survey

Better protection when buying on line.

Plus for me means I can spread costs of Christmas over longer time frame.

So last months credit card gets paid off in January after next money hits my bank account at start of the month- and the last of the Christmas shopping today get paid of in February - gives more time and pay-packets. Also often get gifted money in January as it's my birthday - so that can help as well. Plus stuff usually for kids needed now - but don't have money can stick on credit card and in that month next pay packet put aside the money.

As it gets paid off automatically next month it can't build up and up but can give me more time to pay for things.

Student loan and £10k that went on solicitor fees when we divorced - have paid off the other £25k. Plus the mortgage.

I have car finance and a small
amount on a credit card. Ideally I would like to have none but we have worked hard to get ourselves out of a lot of debt that we were in a few years back

I agree - I think richer you are more you can afford debt and more willing banks are to loan to you.

No debt, paid off student loan 15yrs ago. I did have a few credit card debts, but cleared the last 5-6yrs ago. It’s nice to have savings now

Bloody he'll the first several posters have 0 debt??