What is an acceptable l;evel of debt?

[Katymac]

I have been doing some calculations and

70% of my total debt is mortgage (long term)
22% is long term loan (8 yrs)
2% is short term
6% is interest free

Is that an acceptable balance?

Is 70% mortgage low or high?

I am relatively happy (I think) atm a bit worried about interest rates - but I move stuff arround to get the best rate

An acceptable level of debt is one you can afford to pay back without bankrupting yourself. How it's made up is pretty irrelevant, isn't it?

Well yesbut I wondered if short term debt made up a larger or small proportion of peoples debt.......just nosy I guess

I dont think how your debt is broken down matteres, for eg, if you had no other debts and only a mortgage, then it would be 100% of your debt, its whether you can offord the repayments.

90% of mine and DH's debt is mortgage

and

10% is short term debt (credit cards)

We must swap our cards to intrest free actually now I think about it, and we have just got the mortgage out so it is going to be pretty high.

My breakdown is pretty similar to yours, but I'm not managing it terribly well, which is when it becomes unacceptable.
Your long term (mortgage) debt is one that will ultimately provide a dividend, ie a house, whereas medium/short term debt (loans, credit cards etc) usually produce goods that decrease in value, so should be kept to a minimum.
Hope this makes sense.

I think my 22% is the problem one

Maybe I should add it to my mortgage or pay it off

100% of ours is mortgage. Nothing else. I've only ever had mortgages, oh, and once, an interest-free loan for a telly. (I do have credit cards, but pay them off in full.)

But yes, as others have said, what sort of debt it is isn't the important thing, it's whether you can afford it that matters.

I think my breakdown is similar to yours Katymac- if you can keep going and pay off your 22%, then I think that's better than sticking it on to your mortgage as it'll cost you more in the long run.

straigth off the cuff answer: a debt that doesn't keep you awake at night, wondering how in hell you're going to pay it off.

87% mortgage
5% 5 years
The rest is cc but this is due to dp's expenses which get rolled out every month and it is paid off at least once every month, so although it freaks me out every time I see a cc bill, I need to see the bigger picture
We're very close to being 95% mortage only debt I think...
I'd be ahppier there for sure.

Also we did the Alvin Hall liquidate your asset wealth check
We score quite highly as we have a lot of equity (luck not good financial planning lol) and own two new vehicles outright.
Although I'm sure as hell I do not "feel" as wealthy as AH says I am

we now only have a mortgage - having struggled for a while with credit cards and juggling them etc. Three years ago when we moved we did a big financial shake up and made all our debt mortgage - this is great but you have to have the self discipline not to start the credit cards again if you can't afford something.

only have mortgage debt. but the important thing is having manageable debt

forgot the point of posting... we pay for everything on a credit card and pay it off every month - but I still worry every month when the credit card bill comes. I have always and still do worry as much as ever about money

I also looked at downsizing a little, we could easily get a smaller 4 bed for £70k less, leaving us with much much smaller mortgage, however do whinges about, less appreciation on a lower priced house, moving costs, getting this place ready to sell, the legal and estae agent charges.
I just am sick of cleaning 3 toilets!

financially I agree with a lot of what you dh says piffle - but I with you on the toilets - get the kds to clean their bathroom or put a sign on the door 'out of order'

I think we are at about 99% mortgage, 0.5% interest free credit card, 0.5% buy now pay later also interest free.

Rough calculations - the latter two are both about £200 so actually will be less than 0.5% of debt each. And we have about 60% equity in the house now.

I think the equity makes a big difference and why we feel comfy not saving much if any at the moment.
We intend to save all my income when I return to work - in pensions, property and to fund possible kids tertiary ed...
Mmmm saving, that'll be a new one on me
part of the reason dp lucked in on the equity was cos he bought a property after the crash as the owner had negative equity, so dp was easily able to step in. I also made quite a lot on my place from 98-2000 so we were both fortunate like that.
Does anyone factor inheritance into savings here?
DP keeps getting told by his Dad (quite wealthy) that he will have nothing to worry about when he eventually dies. I said to dp that is an awful way to plan our future - dp says he is being realistic, like his Dad is

I have a very un-manageable amount of debt

Allegedly they have made their own plans for supervised care in the future but I would feel better caring for my mum and PIL at home as long as possible though.
They are set against depending on their kids for care, they have said as much, my mother however expects me to care for her as she ages.
planning makes no guarantees though.