How much debt are you in?

[eyelinerpencil]

Was chatting to a friend earlier who is in over 500k of debt, which she thought was ok but I think is astronomical.

250 mortgage
At least 100k student loans

No consumer debt.

I don't see mortgage as a debt (unless in negative equity).
I see the mortgaged property as something I co-own with the lending bank and gradually own a bigger and bigger part, one "rent" at the time. But I generally could walk out, sell the house, get my part of the value, no debt as such.

I'm not sure student loan counts as a proper debt either - it is a weird pseudo tax, but if you lost the income, no-one will come to collect that month's payment, so it is a burden , but not the critical one.

I have about 2.5k on a credit card, it will be paid off in around 6 months if I can be bothered.

I have friends that have 10s of thousands on various cards, car loans, bank loans etc probably about 50ks worth not including their mortgage, I find it terrifying but they are adamant it's a good thing because it means they are allowed better borrowing.

Mortgage and about 20k on 0% cards that I.move around as needed. Im an SP with two expensive teenagers. That 20k has built up over the last 10 years but will go when I can downsize and free up equity. Im not worried about it. Life id expensive and so long as you keep the plates spinning its ok.

I don’t think a mortgage should be included in this. It’s an investment as others have said.

We own outright so don’t have a mortgage or rent to pay. We do have around £7k in debt - we have a credit card with a high limit on it and we book our holiday on it every year and then pay it off throughout the year. Sometimes it gets paid off before the next holiday, sometimes it doesn’t. We don’t really worry about it, always pay off a lot more than the minimum and move it around if we get a better 0% offer. We always keep the card open though even if we do this as we like the high limit we have on it (very aware they could just reduce this). Mumsnet is very anti debt but I think as long as you’re sensible and can afford the repayments even if someone lost their job etc (which we could do) it’s not a problem. We’ve had some fantastic holidays! 🙈😂

I have no debt of any sort other than the amount currently on the credit card which is paid off every month, but I am edging towards retirement. I would not think it remotely odd if a younger person living in the the South East/London had 500K of debt if all/the majority of that was a mortgage. Paying mortgage payments isn't really any different to paying rent each month, and the mortgage payments might be lower!

I do think it's eye watering that 500K is considered "normal" though - that is a huge amount of money by any measure.

0 and its not a stealth brag. Im poor 😆 but no credit or anything.

348,000
Most of that is mortgage. I have two loans that are nearly paid off, car finance and a bit on a credit card.
We have been renovating a house we bought two years ago and it’s been expensive!!

I was on about 80k for most of the period of the mortgage. DH was earning similar. We paid it off during over about 7 or 8 years during the period of very low interest rates which was much easier than it would be now.

I’m late 40’s now.

No help with deposit but we bought a relatively modestly priced house compared to our salaries so it was achievable.

I now earn well in excess of 6 figures with no mortgage so I max out my pension contributions. It means DH and I will both be able to comfortably retire well before DS leaves primary school with enough to buy a more expensive house at that time if we choose to and still fund the family forever with no lifestyle changes.

Our biggest challenge will be the new pension IHT rules which will mean we’ll need to structure how to withdraw and pass on huge chunks of our pensions funds to DS over time to avoid a colossal IHT bill.

Most people in our situation ended up buying much more expensive houses. If you work out the additional cost of that including mortgage interest over the years and then calculate how much capital you would have if you had instead invested the same money you will be shocked. You end up with a pot of money that is several times more than the additional value of the houses the others buyers eventually ended up owning. That buys you a lot of freedom to enjoy a very early retirement with a high income.

zero. House bought outright and no other finance. Actually I lie, I bought something online with credit card the other day, so £120 which I will pay off in full.

£1400 on credit card which will be paid off at the end of the month, don’t have any other debt. Mortgage paid off.

I am in my 30s with two children and a partner. I currently have:

• £250k outstanding on the mortgage. This is likely to increase as we want a bigger house.
• £10k loan used for a car
• 2k left to pay on student loan (will be paid off this year)
• £2k on credit card (will be paid off on payday)

All of this has been on what I see as investments except for the car which was a necessity. I.e. buying a home has given us stability and equity, going to university was necessary to get my job which is relatively well paid, the credit card covered materials for the garden interest free which means I can keep money in my savings account where it is accruing interest.

Unsustainable and poorly managed debt is bad but borrowing can actually be a good way of building equity. I grew up v poor so this took me a long time to learn compared to my friends from well-off families.

Had a mortgage of course (paid off at 42) but neither of us have ever had any other debt (loans, CC etc).
Even before we met we both worked on the principle that if we don't have the money, we don't have the item. Have always saved and paid for cars etc outright. CC used for most days to day purchases but paid off in full at the end of the month.

Our remaining mortgage is £275k so that’s my debt currently. We will be upsizing soon though so it will go up.

Including mortgage- £67k (I suppose half of that actually as husband is joint owner)

roughly 4-5k not mortgage.

I know it’s not that high but one is expensive debt and we don’t have a high income really….

250 mortgage
At least 100k student loans

No consumer debt.

We have about £500k/18 years left on our mortgage- we’re late 30s and don’t really consider it debt as we have about £600k equity… we also have savings.

but yeah… we’re in 500k debt! Not in the least bit bothered and always felt it’s normal.

Mortgage isn’t a debt, it’s a future investment.
Student loans repayment is a tax when above the threshold but should you not be working for any reason you don’t pay it.

You have to spend money to make money.

For example, we bought our house in 2011 for £270,000, it’s now worth £650,000. So even if we were on an interest only mortgage, which we are not, we could sell tomorrow, pay back the bank and have £380,000 in our bank for our next property.

Zero, I do all my spending on credit cards for the cash back, then pay it in full every month. Mortgage paid off years ago

None and have never had any debt.
university in the 1980s so no student loan/debts
dh and I lived overseas for 25 years and bought house for cash when re returned to the uk so never had a mortgage
I realise my situation is not the norm.

No student loan or CC debt. Have 55k owing on our mortgage which will be paid off in 2 years.
We aren't massive earners but got very lucky with buying our first flat which was in an area that shot up in value. When we sold we could've got a much flashier house with a much bigger mortgage but decided that we preferred the financial stability of a smaller mortgage. We don't live a flashy lifestyle, drive an old banger and overpay the mortgage every month.

While it can be interesting to include them, mortgage and SLs are not really standard debt. When people tak about debt, it's usually unsecured debt.
Like I wouldn't even count car on payments if we had it

150k mortgage halfway there
£600 student loan (I am so close!) husband had £800 left
£3k credit card that will be paid off before the interest free period ends in January
Both cars are on PCP

We have made a conscious effort this year to get out of debt and have overhauled our spending. We have cleared our overdrafts. It’s so hard sometimes though it’s like one step forward and two steps back!

None. Paid off mortgage, pay credit card in full every month.

I think its all relative if its astronomical or not. How old are they? Close to retirement or early 20s? Do they live in a expensive area? Did they go to university? How much of the debt is unsecured?

Mortgage and student loans could easily hit £500K for someone living in London and on the higher student loan.

We have £130K left on our mortgage but about £200K equity in the house. We could sell and pay it off but we see a mortgage as an investment. The idea when we turn 60 is to downsize and own whatever we get outright. Not own the bigger house outright now.