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Original poster

How many of you have racked up huge debts?

131 replies

Twiglett · 16/09/2007 08:44

OK, up front I appreciate that this could be taken as an arsey thread but its not meant to be.

I was brought up not to borrow money and our only debt is our mortgage because quite honestly we were scared to incur other debts and went without instead

I find it difficult to truly understand whether this whole 'looming debt crisis' is for real or a media-invention

Do people re-mortgage every time their house value goes up, have you racked up loads on credit cards and taken personal loans every time they're offered .. if so why?

OP posts:
BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 16/09/2007 13:36

We were debt free until about two weeks ago, then DH' car rolled over and died. We now have a car loan and I hate it.

We thought about selling some stocks and shares but decided against it.

However I intend shifting, 6 months repayments into a seperate account as a buffer.

We had a holiday this year and saved for it.

We are going to Dublin in January and paid for the flights with switch.

With the exception of Gess, I don't know anyone who has racked up credit card debt for anything other than fripperies.

I love Christmas and have started buying bits and bobs now, I could buy them in December but why not spread the cost ??

If you don't where the money is coming from then don't buy it. QED.

sallysparkle · 16/09/2007 13:38

We've got into a bit of strife recently and I was only able to pay minimum payments on the credit cards for a while. We were then given (we didn't ask for) huge credit limit increases and were bombarded with blank credit card cheques. They knew we were struggling and homed in on this. I find that scary.

bozza · 16/09/2007 13:41

We have had odd bits of debt over the years, mainly through the sense of entitlement, but always done "buy now, pay later" or 0% to avoid the interest, and budgeted to pay it off within the allocated time. Also we have had cars on finance in the past but we don't do that anymore, we pay £100/month into a savings a/c to pay for a new car. We were thinking of replacing my 5yo Fiesta but as I am currently threatened with redundancy we have held fire on that one.

We are in a safe position debt/equity wise with the house. We owe about 40% of the value.

filthymindedbolshevixen · 16/09/2007 13:43

Twig, We have a modest mortgage (by today's standards) on a house we have outgrown. We don't move becasue we can't afford to. I owe £300 on a credit card which I can pay off next month. DH owes £400.
That's it. No store cards, no extra credit cards, no HP. If we can't afford it, we don't have it.
(we have a small safety net of around £6,000 for mergencies).
I do worry in case one of us loses a job or becomes ill or something.

WestCountryLass · 16/09/2007 21:10

Interesting thread!

We have a mortgage and some equity in the house. We have our house on the market and are considering renting but everyone says what a waste of money it is. DH is very stressed though as mortgage and a loan are quite high. My thoughts are that we could rent, pay off the debts and use the equity to buy another house eventually but he does not feel like that and I know nothing apprantly...

Hurlyburly · 16/09/2007 21:25

I have a debt of around £24k. It just grew and grew. I have no idea how it happened. One minute I was consolidating my overdraft with my car loan. Then I was extending my overdraft. Now I'm in quite a lot of difficulty with it. We don't have a mortgage though - we worked and saved hard to pay it off - so this debt issue is a bit of a shocker now.

Peachy · 16/09/2007 21:31

Not these days, just a frew hundred pounds overdraft that we could easily clear (mine only stands week before student payment installment, dh could copver his from his savings)

BUT we used to owe loads- about £30k I guess. When dh got ill and I was due to have ds3 within a few weeks it came crashing down into a huge nightmare- we ended up selling house and clearing debts. Nightmare time and we're in rented but sooooo worth it in the long run, knowing that we'll cope whatever life manages to throw at us financially now

But it was awful at the time, and your eally just don't think its going to happen to you. then it does.

Hideehi · 16/09/2007 22:49

People have been calling the top of the housing market on www.housepricecrash.com/co.uk for the last 3 years.
It should have crashed but it hasn't and the only logical reason for it is first time buyer being offered increasingly large multiples to borrow.
I've known two people loose their homes and it's just the most awful situation, entirely their own fault but not the children's and they suffer in many ways.

LadyOfTheFlowers · 16/09/2007 23:01

Err, Moi.
And after a quick scan of this thread, none of you have as much personal debt as me/us...

LadyOfTheFlowers · 16/09/2007 23:03

ah! there is someone with more than me.

i feel a bit better.

WideWebWitch · 16/09/2007 23:03

You'd all fall off your chairs then if I posted our debts! But I'm just not worried (for reasons already posted)

WideWebWitch · 16/09/2007 23:04

Ladyofthe f, how much? G'wan, tell us!

Kif · 16/09/2007 23:05

I've ridden the credit boom for everything it's worth. I've been up to five figure debts and back to zero twice in five years. In each case we've 'invested' it in projects/small business type things. We live pretty cheaply. Predominantly on cash - though we've been in 'buy your groceries on credit cards' tight spots.

I think by christmas we'll be back up to five figures personal debt. We're also getting a new car.

I accept it may all come back and bite us on the bum. However, the credit boom has really let us create opportunities (and money!) for ourselves starting from a very low base of no earning/no capital.

TooTicky · 16/09/2007 23:08

Sometimes a person is just crap with money - and his partner doesn't have a say in his personal debts or money management - but the family has to cope with the consequences.

twinsetandpearls · 16/09/2007 23:09

We have some personal debt, partly caused by the fact I am crap with money, we can clear it though so it doesn;t woorry me too much.

twinsetandpearls · 16/09/2007 23:12

Ours is about £14K plus a £95K mortgage. More than I would like if I am being honest but it is not an amount we cannot pay back and still afford to live comfortably.

rantinghousewife · 16/09/2007 23:14

Hmm, we're quite lucky. Due to the fact that dh is tight as a ducks arse careful with money, our only real debt is the mortgage. If I was in charge of the finances we'd be in hock up to the eyeballs.

Peachy · 17/09/2007 09:29

course if you took into account student loan, it'd be near £20k when I graduate- but its that or no degree. Lecturers have conditioned me to look on it as a 'repayable tax on receivibg supplementary education' and I cant face seeing it as debt!

Hurlyburly · 17/09/2007 09:30

Lady of the Flowers - it was me, wasn't it

ShinyHappySchmooo · 17/09/2007 09:34

Oh dear. Trying not to see it as an "arsey thread" but the thread title is asking "who" as racked up huge debts..

..and anyone willing to admit it, (many put heads into sand!) does not need to add themselves to an online list in order to be disapproved of and told off by a load of people they don't know. Surely.

Nemo2007 · 17/09/2007 09:35

We always had credit cards etc but used to pay them off every month. They were given away with copious amounts of money when we started uni..when you are just 18 and all of a sudden have £1000 at your disposal it can be a bit like dangling a carrot but it is within your reach.
Then I got depression and had to go off sick from work, that and having DS at the same time and DH lending £8000 to a 'friend'[I use the term loosely as he screwed us over and has not paid the money back]. We then ended up in huge debts that were completely beyond our means to pay pack as DH was finishing his PHD and I was on sick leave. We ended up quite suddenly with nothing at all, as a lot of you already know just before dd1 was born we looked into going bankrupt but it was recommended we got an IVA instead. It has worked wonders for us and taken all the stress away but we managed to keep our home.

Nemo2007 · 17/09/2007 09:37

oh and the debts alone totalled approx £30g including the 8g we leant out.

ImBarryScott · 17/09/2007 09:43

No personal debt, and a few grand in savings.

But - our mortgage is large. We don't have a flash home in a posh area (2 bed flat!) - we just bought too late for there to be anything truly affordable within 2 hours commute of our jobs.

So when mat leave finishes, and I start part-time work, our income will be less than essential expenditure. Not by loads, but around £50-100 per month I reckon. We're in the unfortunate position of me being the major wage earner, but also being the only one who can truly work flexibly.

I'm hoping we can get through DD's preschool years by living off the savings, but we may have to get a loan. I won't want to, but needs must and all that.

niceglasses · 17/09/2007 09:54

Yep, big debts here too, which we are trying to sort (by remortgaging probably).

I have to take a lot of personal blame for this as I have been reckless, but having 3 kids very close togeher, nursery fees, then giving up work has also had an effect.

'Have it now' culture has a role to play I think, but I think more than this too - other social/cultural things and of course personal.

Its interesting stuff.

Hurlyburly · 17/09/2007 09:58

I am really glad this thread is on because I am finding it very therapeutic.

The OP asked why people got into debt. No real answer to why other than piss-poor money management. It's not due to external factors like sickness etc.

Just, well I need a new car so I'll buy one and I happen to be a little bit overdrawn too so I'll bung that into the car loan. Oh and I haven't budgeted properly for the holiday and so on.