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Original poster

How Much Do You Owe in Credit Card/Store Card/Loans

79 replies

MoreSpamThanGlam · 20/01/2008 16:58

Have had a few conversations about this over the weekend.

Some were staggering, but "justified" because they are on a high income. Others were low, regardless of high income. 1 was no debt whatsoever (she is the most calm and non materialistic funnily enough).

I had 1 friend that was mortified to admit she owed £5k over 3 cards and had a long term well paid job and was losing sleep over it.

Mine? Ive just filled in my Bankruptcy forms....

OP posts:
Sobernow · 20/01/2008 18:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BecauseImWorthIt · 20/01/2008 18:28

Relatively small mortgage, and about £350 on my credit card from a spend last weekend. I will pay this off in full when it's due - and then owe nothing.

I get paid in a haphazard way (combination of low salary supplemented by dividends at random intervals) so I try to get ahead of myself and not build up debts on the credit card.

I'm a lot better than I used to be, and now confine my spending to one credit card that is for me and one that is for the family. Where possible I pay them off in full. I also took the precaution of setting up a direct debit so that the minimum payment is always paid - just in case I forget to pay the bill - so I avoid late payment fees.

WideWebWitch · 20/01/2008 18:29

Loads but ok relative to income and all on 0% so it's not costing us anything to service.

HappyMummyOfOne · 20/01/2008 18:29

Just the mortgage for us, no store cards as never been tempted by them. Have a credit card for shopping on the net (far safer than debit card) but I have a separate online account to transfer the money into and always pay the bill off in full each month.

Original poster
MoreSpamThanGlam · 20/01/2008 18:30

Well filing for bankruptcy is not as easy as it sounds.

I have had a long history of earning loads, starting own business, buying 2 properties, getting wrong mortgage via conman (struck off for fraud and obtaining money by deception), doing a years worth of work for a company that owed us over £100k (so living on cards and loans) and then they took the money and liquidated. Downhill spiral.....house reposession, bailiffs, now in temporary accomodation with 3 children. so anyone that sais its easy - it bloody isnt. i am in a benefit trap - i have moved 3 times in 6 months and if i go back to work i have to move again to cheaper property (even though I am where council put me in the first place) as the government wont top up my rent. its an all or nothing situation that irks me.

So i thought I would go back to college (just started last week), file for bankruptcy and get my kids settled, then once I am finally rehoused (ha ha) I can start work with a clean slate.

I have to submit my statement of affairs to the court and the official receiver looks them over. I have an appointment with him to go over my details and i am then declared bankrupt for up to 1 year 9although it stays on your file for up to 7 years (my credit rating is shocking so whats the difference?). when I go back to work I may have to pay a percentage back to my creditors over 3 years. its very complicated and long winded and I have been filling in my forms all wekend...

I admire those of you that have made the right decisions and the best thing to come out of this is that my kids know the value of money, they understand mortgages, interest, overdrafts and generally that you get more at Nettos than sainsburys . all of which would not have happened if we had just carried on.

OP posts:
Original poster
MoreSpamThanGlam · 20/01/2008 18:36

Thanks Lulu - it is a clean slate, im kind of over my PND now (still have my therapy though) and trying to see everything from a positive angle rather than a negative one.

The house was in negative equity, it was reposessed and sold (new people in there now - I see it every time I take ds to school ) so the owes on that too go into my bankruptcy pot.

OP posts:
bozza · 20/01/2008 18:37

That sounds complicated!

We have about £600 on a 0% credit card - this was Christmas presents plus DH's rather expensive new glasses plus prescription sunglasses (as he travels for work these were also necessary and the total was over £300 just before Christmas). Will probably pay it off by summer. Also c£90K on mortgage to pay over next 15 years but on a house worth £250K.

Original poster
MoreSpamThanGlam · 20/01/2008 18:40

Oh bozza - you dont know how blissful that sounds....

OP posts:
princessmel · 20/01/2008 18:40

None of our debt is on crdeit cards or store cards. Its all mortgage , overdraft (so we can eat!)and a loan which we had to take out after we got ripped off by a door to door salesman

Shitemum · 20/01/2008 18:41

oh lordy, no-one owes as much as me...

bozza · 20/01/2008 18:45

But I did forget to mention the £1200 overdraft. Although about £350 of that is just cash flow.

GrapefruitMoon · 20/01/2008 18:55

Does anyone think that the cost of living has got higher recently? Just wondering because for the first time ever we have an overdraft (not just one at the end of the month that gets cleared when pay goes I mean). I can't see where the money is going - kids mostly have hand-me-down clothes or are given by relatives, rarely buy new for myself, etc. We've also cut down a lot on after-school activities and so on.

DoubleBluff · 20/01/2008 18:57

I am finding things much tighter at the moment.

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 20/01/2008 19:00

GM

The cost of living is creeping up..........it is sneaky but it is happening.

Six months ago, the butter we buy was about 80 something pence....

I noticed this week, it has crept out to £1.09

ScoobyDoo · 20/01/2008 19:04

I agree, my shopping bill seems to be creeping up which we can't really afford so need to find a way to get it back down!

littlerach · 20/01/2008 19:05

LGJ, my friend swear that all dairy has gpne up in proce since the summer.
And that lots of the supermarkets have put up their prices on larger buys, like big bags of pasta and rice.

nannyL · 20/01/2008 19:13

£0.... have a mortgage though, which as of last month now has a balance of

loolop · 20/01/2008 19:18

Ooh am feeling really bad after reading this!! We owe 156k on mortgage, 30k in loans and credit cards (built up over me being a student and DP not working for a year) and we are just about to borrow an extra 20k for new kitchen, boiler and garden - am thinking maybe we should nt now! Have 1 DD 11mths and earn around 50k between us so can afford the payments (although mortgage is interest only!) Am now scuttling off to think if we really should be borrowing anymore!

seb1 · 20/01/2008 19:20

I was also reading in some cases you used to buy a packet of 400g of X for £1 now you are getting 300g for £1.

fortyplus · 20/01/2008 19:22

There was a thread a week or 2 ago from someone who owed £50K.

I don't have anything owing on credit cards - the Christmas ones totalled £1600 but we had enough in the current account to pay them off.

But I'm OLD - it wasn't always like that

fortyplus · 20/01/2008 19:25

Here you go - there were some good tips for reducing debt - some of them from me [smug]
here

AnAngelWithin · 20/01/2008 19:26

none. me and dh had debts of over 30,000. we filed for bankruptcy 2 years ago. best thing we could have ever done really at the time. have no mortgage and although i kind of begrudge not having my own house, i am glad i haven't got a mortgage round my neck, struggling to pay!! We are in a better financial position now than we have ever been before. We aren't REALLY well off, but we manage and have some money over each month for what we want.

don't worry yourself about the bankruptcy. honestly. its not as bad as you think. there is such a stigma attached to bankruptcy, but its not that bad. I am glad we don't have the debt hanging over us and i don't give a stuff about not being able to get credit now cos then theres no reason to be able to get into debt again.

dooley1 · 20/01/2008 19:26

blimey loolop - I admire you!! I find itimpossible to borrow if I don't have the money. But then you earn a fair whack more thma us!!

Drusilla · 20/01/2008 19:27

I read somewhere recently that apparently the price of wheat has gone up by something like 30% globally. So all dairy products going up in price due to the increase in the cost of feeding the animals

choosyfloosy · 20/01/2008 19:28

At the moment I am building up a student loan and that's it, nothing else, though due quite a lot to the generosity of parents. The first time in my life since the age of 11 that I've lived in a household without major debt. Unfortunately the experience aged 16 of my dad going bankrupt, nasty phone calls to the house, electricity being cut off, bailiffs calling, having to move etc didn't teach me not to spend - it just taught me debt and financial nightmares were a normal kind of way to live. DH is brilliant with money but so was Xh and I was still in debt living with him. It's openness that makes all the difference.

I have to say loolop, in your case I wouldn't borrow that money until you have paid off the 30K, but I would understand why you would want to. the thing is, what would happen if you got pregnant accidentally?... what if your dh or you got really ill (this happened to us last year)? We have a kitchen that's falling to pieces but I couldn't care less. Our 4-year-old has done serious trashing of the house since becoming mobile at 10 months so I'm quite glad we didn't spend loads on it at that time. best wishes...

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