Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Personal debt, not including the mortgage. How much is yours?

130 replies

nkf · 02/11/2008 14:47

Like many people in the UK, I'm working out how to get through the recession. I currently have one loan (taken to pay for a training course). £2,500. It feels bad enough. Have cleared credit card and am working out how not to go overdrawn this and every month.

How about you lot?

OP posts:
MegBusset · 02/11/2008 17:05

No debt (I do have a credit card which I use for anything I buy online as it's safer, but pay off in full every month).

I ran up £10k of debt between the ages of 21-23 when I had terribly paid jobs and used credit cards to pay for food and rent etc (as well as alcohol and cigarettes). Paid it off by the age of about 25 by working two jobs and budgeting properly. The feeling of becoming debt-free was amazing and I've really learned my lesson about debt.

I do have a mortgage though (not £1m but still seems scary enough!).

Original poster
nkf · 02/11/2008 17:07

Lots of people I know are struggling to remortgage or take out loans. My brother in law was turned down for a mortgage. It hasn't happened to us yet but if the house price drops are true - and I;mn sure we are, our equity has taken a considerable hit.

OP posts:
Original poster
nkf · 02/11/2008 17:07

I'm sure they are not we are.

OP posts:
Original poster
nkf · 02/11/2008 17:08

I'm sure they are not we are.

OP posts:
wonderstuff · 02/11/2008 17:25

Oh dear, I clicked on this thread hoping it would make me feel better! We have over 10k ccard debts, partly as a result of living beyond our means when we were young, but mostly as a result of dh having frequent back problems, satutary sick pay isn't enough to live on so a fare amount was food bills when we had nothing left after the mortgage had gone out. Every time we think we are getting straight he puts his back out again

bronze · 02/11/2008 17:34

Ours is quite high.
About 11.5 grand. It was horrendous seeing it happen. We were ok with just a small debt then something happened where I wasn't able to control the finances and we had to spend without being in control which then sent us into one of those downward spirals. We've stalled that now and are paying back but its going to take a while. On a good note our mortgage is below 100k.
I agree with Expat its not all about spending on consumer goods and living the highlife. A lot of ours has been about surviving.

twinsetandpearls · 02/11/2008 17:38

Some of ours is to do with living beyond our means, I was a SAHM for five years and eventually the money ran out so we used credit. I also went back to work part time so lost any benefits but earnt a few hundred a month but I was happier working rather than living on handouts and it lead to me earning a reasonable wage now. But most of it is to do with just living and as I said my medical bills and that makes me angry really that I am now paying fpr medical help that I should have been entitled to.

Othersideofthechannel · 02/11/2008 17:40

Not including the mortgage, zero. I managed to pay off my student loan during my first years of work.

I was brought up to not buy things unless I had saved up for them in advance.

However, we would have had to take out a loan to buy a car had my mum not died and left me some money.

LIZS · 02/11/2008 17:43

Aside from car lease (which is via dh's work) and mortgage, we have none that isn't settled each month. May need to buy a car next year though so that will need a loan.

findtheriver · 02/11/2008 19:43

Mortgage only. Anything else would worry me too much I think.

SlartyBartFast · 02/11/2008 19:53

the food shopping had to go on credit card this week
sigh.
NEEd to budget

Tinker · 02/11/2008 20:00

Mortgage only. But realise I'm very lucky to be in that position. Spent a number of years borrowing on ccs to pay childminder or to reduce overdraft etc.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 02/11/2008 20:08

honestly - a lot. the biggest is a loan that we took out after dh wracked up some debts, I nearly left him but decided to make it work. It means a chunk of our money goes to paying that off. I'd say 1/3 of my wage goes on the mortgage, 1/3 of my wage goes on the loan, 1/3 of my wage goes on childcare. DH's wages cover all the other bills plus some money to squirrel away.
He's changed jobs, and providing everything goes the way we hope it goes, we'll be better off monthly. We're aiming to be debt free (exl mortgage) in 7 yrs. It seems like a lifetime away, but its a light at the end of the tunnel. A small light mind, but a light non the less.

It is possible to get out of debt. Hard, but possible. My sister ended up with a load of debt because she got with some tosser who ran up a load of debt on store cards / mobile phones / credit cards she'd stupidely given him as 2nd card holder. He buggard off and left her with a load of debt. She's worked her ass off and is now debt free (exl the mortgage) so it can be done.

SlartyBartFast · 02/11/2008 20:16

did you just budget elf? or anythign more drastic?

FeelingLucky · 02/11/2008 20:17

Zero debt except 2 mortgages (one is covered by rent) and cc paid off in full every month.
Having said that we may have a bit of a cashflow problem until Feb next year so have just got ourselves a 0% interest credit card for 10 months. Thought it would be really hard to get, but only took 5 mins to fill out form and have it approved over internet

plus3 · 02/11/2008 20:23

deep breath..

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 02/11/2008 20:31

budget budget. take control of finances. I look at every line on the stmts and see if we have spent cash wrongly
i keep an excel sheet with all income and outgoings. we have all onet going in/out one acc, money to our personal accs to cover personal bills if nec and 2 standing orders of 50 per month to other accs, one saves for xmas, the other is dd's acc and when it builds up we can use it to pay off other stuff where the interest on savings is lower than interest on debt
turn off lights when not in use and use a lamp not main lights, turn off most elec by the mains inc oven. switch gas off at mains expt for winter.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 02/11/2008 20:34

budget budget. take control of finances. I look at every line on the stmts and see if we have spent cash wrongly
i keep an excel sheet with all income and outgoings. we have all onet going in/out one acc, money to our personal accs to cover personal bills if nec and 2 standing orders of 50 per month to other accs, one saves for xmas, the other is dd's acc and when it builds up we can use it to pay off other stuff where the interest on savings is lower than interest on debt
turn off lights when not in use and use a lamp not main lights, turn off most elec by the mains inc oven. switch gas off at mains expt for winter.

PavlovGuyFawkesCat · 02/11/2008 20:36

6k

SlartyBartFast · 02/11/2008 20:37

thanks elf - will try

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 02/11/2008 20:44

spending diary is also good, easy to think you;re good with cash or spend wisley until its in black and white of how much was spent on a coffee/muffin/magazine etc

I dont buy mags or papers anymore. I only get my hair done 2 times a year, sister is a hairdresser so 2 x yearly cut and colour is 60

I started off with an excel sheet to list incoming and outgoings. you can see where things can be trimmed when in black and white. but do allow a treat - budget in something small else you'll feel like its too restrictive.

lazyhen · 02/11/2008 20:48

Oh dear - 18k here. Just general greed I think... DH was always crap with money and then we got a car.. did the garden..

We'll be debt free in 2.5 years or sooner if we sell the house we're in and release the equity.

I hate hate hate being in debt but then I feel like I have LIVED and really enjoyed myself, and it's debt that we can (just about afford), so I'm not losing too much sleep over it. I can't wait for Spring 2011 when we'll be about £600 better off each month. It'll feel like a lottery win!

callmeovercautious · 02/11/2008 20:57

Now we are debt free but when DH was out of work 8 years ago we ran out of savings and were using the CC. Got to the point that we were both going to have to stack shelves at night to cover the next mortgage payment.

Luckily as we were discussing the next days trips to temp agencies the phone rang - a friend asking DH if he would consider changing jobs and working for him

Best moment of our lives at that point (pre DD ).

We learnt a lesson, we now have much more saved and don't borrow for anything, we are also putting every spare penny off the mortgage. We want out of debt all together asap.

nannyL · 02/11/2008 21:28

mortgage and student loan (where i get more interest on the £ in my accounts than SLC charge me so i make money by having it) and thats it

ohdearwhatamess · 02/11/2008 21:42

No debt other than monthly credit card bill for internet purchases (paid off in full each month).