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.

Nothing. No mortgage, I rent from the council and can't see that changing any time soon.
No credit cards. No overdraft. I don't have much money and don't want to spend what I don't have.

Surely it’s not really about “debt” but how manageable it is. Even huge profitable businesses have “debt” in some form, but it’s about its affordability. I have some debt on credit cards, but they are 0% credit cards and I have enough in savings to clear them if I needed to. The money in savings works harder accruing interest than it would by clearing off a 0% credit card unnecessarily when small monthly payments eventually clear it just the same. This approach can actually improve your credit score too.
But spiraling debt with high interest rates is a whole different type of “debt” iyswim.
A mortgage I don’t see as “debt” as such (you need somewhere to live so it’s more an investment) nor government student loans as they eventually disappear and you don’t repay or get penalised if your earnings drop below the repayment threshold.

Zero

But not cos I’m clever or prone to good choices,

Store cards became a thing when I was a teen in the 80s. Debenhams made the grave error of letting me have one when I turned 18.

One FREE MONEY SHOPPING SPREE ! later, we both decided it wasn’t a good idea and my credit rating was wrecked cos I couldn’t pay it back in a timely fashion.

I never asked for any credit since then because there was no point given how badly I’d blotted my copy book.

And thenI left the country to places where credit was much more regulated. I figured between being foreign and fiscally unreliable on paper I’d save myself the embarrassment of being refused by just not asking.

Got diagnosed with ADHD over a decade ago (in Italy, where an adult ADHD diagnosis used to be almost unheard of, to the extent that no medications were approved for adults) and I think that early bad brush with limited credit probably did me a favour. Because had I been less humiliated by my “she’s crap with money and unreliable” certificate via credit rating, and eligible for more serious amounts of credit, I think I’d be drowning in debt at this point.

Similar to your pal. Teeny bit less - about £450k. Plus 10k or so on a loan which I could pay off but it's lower interest than I'm making in my ISA.

It's not a hugely unusual amount to owe on a mortgage.

Zero

YABU
Mortgage isn’t debt like credit card debt for example, it’s an investment in home ownership
she has to live somewhere and would be renting otherwise ? Unless she’s an heiress!
the bank will have deemed her able to pay it off

I'm a LL and have 10 houses on interest only mortgages so on paper huge debt but if all houses were sold I'd have more than £700k left as each house has equity and I paid 25 percent deposit for each house. I don't see mortgages as debt if selling the houses would clear debt.

Mortgage of 186k
Credit card on 0% og £1600 which I'm paying the minimum on as it'll be paid off that way before the end of the 0% period.

I don’t view a mortgage as a debt, if I didn’t have it that money would be going on rent anyway.

So me personally £7-8k which I’ve got down for £16k, as a couple £14k which we’ve reduced from £50k including a car.

We were both just terrible with money and racked up a lot of debt between us. Car is paid off this month, and debt will be paid off in the next year or two.

I have a bit of student loan left but I have WAY less than most people my age (26). I got bursary’s for my course but in first year I did take out the maintenance loan and spend a bunch of money just because I’d always been really poor. After that I was actually really sensible and lived within my means, worked, and used my scholarship/bursary to pay my bills. I also owe my dad £5 because we had a bet. 500k is insane.

If you count the mortgage then there’s obviously more but it’s not actually that high we’ve done pretty well paying it off. I know it’s bad but I can’t tell you the exact amount right now.

I wouldnt include a mortgage as a debt, no matter how big (unless you cant pay it!).
My mortgage is paid and I have zero debt.....but I also have zero savings so I dont consider myself 'safe'.

This is mumsnet, where the rich come to hang out all day! I don't particularly think they are lying, they've just managed to find a forum where they all congregate to discuss their wealth. Good luck to them but its very far from how regular people live.

At 64 no debt and Ive paid off my mortgage. Im far too close to retirement to be in debt and any spare cash is going into my retirement fund.
The thought of £500k debt makes me feel physically sick OP.

My in laws did the same as your friend - they ended up having very little equity in the house and having to work to pay the mortgage until they were 70. Definitely poor financial management and it does catch up with people.

About £2m 🫣 (all mortgage, no loans or cc)

House prices and student loan will do that.

Welcome to the C21st.

Is that her mortgage alone or does she share it?

No unsecured debt. Around £400k mortgage debt across two properties.

Close to retirement and mortgage minus savings now in single figures. So looking forward to that last payment then zero debt.
Can’t be avoided sometimes though when families are young.

No debt but no savings either and no hope of ever owning a home

Wow! You must be rich 😁

Not one penny, no credit cards, mortgage paid off.

I loathe debt and the easy access has caused so much misery and insane house prices.

I/we have about £200k on 0% credit cards, which we use to offset our £150k mortgage so we pay no interest, the remainder is in the highest I terested savings accounts we can find.

Been doing this for about 15 years, have paid very little interest on the mortgage.

No debt yet.

True! I'm always amazed as I consider myself pretty lucky financially, have disposable income and no money worries. Small terraced house, one car, no kids and two of us able to work full time in professional jobs (not amazing pay but solid enough) I have no idea how people manage to pay off mortgages and have lots to save when kids, family sized houses/cars, nursery fees etc are all added in.

I still remember what it was like having some debt and not panicking about it. When I was younger and skint, £50 of debt was terrifying. It's so different if you're able to have an income larger than your outgoings.

I don’t feel very rich I can assure you 😂

but yes, objectively if we sold everything we’d have at least 2m cash.