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?

About 2k in student debt.
Halfway through a car on finance - so about 4k to go on that.
No store cards, credit cards or overdraft.
Some I cleared myself, some I had parental help with.

1. I live within my means.

OP: excluding the mortgage.

every other poster: just the mortgage! It’s ok if the chat doesn’t apply to you, you don’t have to answer

None at all, but that's because we're older and have paid off our mortgage, having bought our house nearly 30 years ago when house prices were more affordable! No student loan for the same reason. Never had anything on HP or any credit card debt (always pay off in full). Older people had it easier. I'd be very surprised if there are many younger people or middle aged without debt given the cost of housing, student loans, and how everything has gone up in price well beyond pay rises for the last 20 years!

We’re not in the UK but:

I bought a new car a few months ago - owe around £25k on that
Have around £5k on my credit card - will clear it when I get paid at the end of this month

FWIW, I’m 38 and only cleared my student loan last year (was paying the minimum each month as I’m overseas, so it went to the default amount)

We also have around £800k left on our mortgage.

I have 2.5k left on a loan that I’m paying monthly

Zero

None.

Student loan doesn't count as 'debt' (I'm 48 and have never repaid a penny and never will), but we have a mortgage.

£8k on one Card
£8k on another card

£10k loan not sure how much left on that

£1.3k Overdraft

• a shit ton of student loan - not repaying as don't earn enough

• mortgage

We have 0 debt. Mortgage and cars paid off. No loans/ credit cards.

I have none at all.

My DP has a student loan, PCP of about £8k and a loan of probably £10k for house renovations.

Not keen on becoming responsible for half of that when we get married, but he pays all the nursery fees etc as well as earning a lot more than I do.

None.

Went to ini before there were fees. Worked and saved during uni hols. Had over £3K savings at 21.

Never had any debt or loans except a mortgage. Saved for anything I wanted, paid for cars etc with cash.

In our 30s we paid off student debt and saved 50 K for house deposit.

First house we did full structural survey - fixed mortgage as we thought we'd be in trouble if they went up - had bit left over in savings. House turned into a money pit - everything done lead to further things needing doing - saving got taken in first week as we got burgled and had to get new doors - we ended up in debt and house price fell - then when we finally got to even keel decided have last wanted child - DH was made redundant.

So many people accused us of being irresponsible and feckless.

We got out just the deposit back but now over a decade and half later our income is 3 times what it was then - this second house needed little doing and we've manged to overpay from day one - we now have savings and no debt.

Some of our most vocal critics - they've split up and in much worse shape now than us some even no longer on housing ladder at all stuck in pricy private rentals or lucky to be in HA.

I have a student loan, I have no idea how much it is. I havent paid any off for nearly 8 years because I went part time after dc was born and I don't earn enough. It was £3k per year plus maintenance.

Zero.

Student loan (still owe as much as did when I graduated despite regular payments, as part time work, maternity leaves etc mean I only ever seem to be managing to pay off what seems likr ever increasing interest.)

And mortgage.

That's it, though.

Op, this is MN, people have lump sums, 5 year plans, and deeds to their homes by 30. 🙄

Nothing but I went to Uni on a full grant from the council. Am now almost 50. Student debt cancelled due to time elapsed and insufficient earnings.

Had new boiler but paid that off within about 3 years.

We could get into debt easily, if we did cosmetic things to the house but would rather be debt free. Will always prioritise a holiday in UK for DS, and all our mental health (believe me when I say we do need it), and over paying mortgage.

£25k in total on credit cards 😲.

£1700 is currently on cashback credit cards that are paid in full at the end of every month.

The rest is stoozed on 0% cards whilst the balance of £23k cash is sat earning interest in a 4.90% account.

I'm in no way comfortable with debt, had loans and cards in the past that took years to pay off. However, I do appreciate making money at the banks expense. Based on a year at the current borrowing it's a nice tax free annual bonus of £1127 plus all the cash back which is around £250 this year, nice easy money. I have to be extremely organised to keep on top of the balances, admin and cashflows but I do this for a job so no big deal for me.

This is a great response, and so refreshing to read. I was sick of hearing "I'm 50, and never paid out a penny, mortage paid etc" I worry how things will be for young people who can't even get on the housing ladder, working long hours, no money left to have the luxury of saving etc, and barely get by. Some people just fall on bad times as well. Sometimes it is unavoidable for some people. Sanctimonious threads like these... 🙄

I am in mid 50s now and I have never been comfortable with debt so avoid it (other than mortgage).

Once when dh was establishing his name/business (tradesman) when we were in our 20s we got into about £10k of debt, we were frugal, lived in a small flat with a 3rd hand couch and a mattress on the floor, the debt was just money we needed for month to month living.

Once he got established and had paid of the debt, we bough a new car (just a little Citroen) on credit. But other than that we have have been fortunate to be in the position, if we are frugal, to be able to save for rainy days/what we want. If we can't afford it we don't get/do it. It does mean we have to forgo some holidays, we never bought a new car again, or we need to wait for some things (such as saving enough for maternity leave and going back after 7 months). But I prefer that approach to debt, which can so easily get out of control if you don't/can't manage it.

I have 0 debt, I'm 35. Didn't go to university so don't have a student loan. No mortgage either as I can't afford one. I am a single person earning £29k and I don't want to borrow money and end up in a position where I can't pay it back.

I don't think you get a true reflection of real life when asking about debt on Mumnset. Those who don't have any will be happy to come on and tell you how lucky/sensible they are to be debt free and so anyone who has debt instantly feels uncomfortable and a little judged so is unlikely to join in the discussion.
I'm 45 and have a mortgage, a car loan and about £200 on a credit card (vredit card I'll pay off next month). However my DH and I have only recently this year just paid off a loan that we took out to get a new kitchen and two new bathrooms. We will probably have to take out 0% finance to re-carpet our landing, stairs and an upstairs bedroom in the new year as it desperately needs doing. It's hard to save at the moment with the cost of living the way it is.

It's a bit stupid to count a mortgage as debt unless you're in negative equity.

Also stupid to consider yourself debt free because you rent and don't have a mortgage. Someone who rents is essentially far more in debt than someone with equity in their home. Unless they want to live on the streets I suppose.

A student loan isn't a proper debt either is it? It's just a payment the same as tax and national insurance.

I do all my monthly spending on credit cards for 3 reasons, 1: I earn cashback 0.5% to 1.25% on every penny spent. 2: section 75 cover and general security, easier to spot fraud and cancel transactions, not so lucky with debit cards and 3: I only have 1 amount debited from my account during the month rather than lots of transactions. This also means I can keep all my money in a savings account until the DD is due out and can transfer the right amount in, means I'm earning interest on the cash on the short period between spending and paying it off.