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Paid off the mortgage last year aged 46.
Car on PCP, but it's a 3 year 0% deal, and we have already put enough into an account to pay off the outstanding balance when the 3 years is up, and we will then run it into the ground like we did the last car.
No other debts - credit cards paid off each and every month.
Still never enough money for n+1 though, strangely....
Can the usual suspects reign it in a bit. Theres oily smugness actually leaking out of the bottom of my monitor. Its a really unpleasant substance, and almost impossible to clean up
I'm 43 & the Mrs is 40.
£260k mortgage debt but approx. 50% LTV. (house was valued 12 months ago at £500k)
At £1300 per month it is still a lot cheaper than renting (in the area we've chosen to live)
We also approx. £25k on various 0% credit cards, which is a hangover from extending our house (which added loads of value)
No car finance or anything else.
Not particularly bothered about it - household income is circa £90k and the debt will start coming down pretty fast when our childcare bills start to drop.
We've got the escape plan of selling up (houses sell in hours/days where we live) and buying a smaller house outright/with a teeny mortgage if anything goes wrong.
With hindsight binners, your suggestion up there ^^ looks waaaay more fun!
Mortgage, creddly cards, overdraft, I'm in it up to my fekkin' eyeballs, same as everyone else round here.
About 90k mortgage, 10k unsecured (car loan mainly).
Seems to me for most of us one's car choice is one of the biggest influences on personal wealth. A workmate thinks I spend a silly amount on bikes and related gear but his Audi Q7 depreciates by far more than I spend - plus he spends a grand on tyres/year he tells me.
Two bank loans, a new car on PCP for 4 years, 3 mortgages, and nice watch on 4 years 0% finance. I think that is it, but when totalled up not huge amounts, 60/40 secured vs unsecured. A lot of folk will have bigger prime mortgages.
I have a reasonable job, and whilst not that secure at the moment, I am relatively expensive to be shot of, 6 months notice plus redundancy. It is not my debt that keeps me awake at night. The business is unlikely to simply fold, famous last words.
I have probably always had debt in one shape or form for the last 25 years and having never been "stung" by it and with interest rates so low it doesn't bother me too much.
In recent years I think I have very much changed my thinking and behaviours to one where I don't like spending my own capital so I borrow other people's, who themselves have borrowed it from someone else, hence the watch, and my last few cars have all been on PCP deals.
I would never have bought something like a watch on credit a few years ago.
This thread is good timing as I am currently stressing about debt.
I am currently debt free (no mortgage as I rent) but am due to take out a loan for a new (used) car.
the thought of getting into debt again is very off putting, but I know that should things go awry on the job front then I'd sell the car to clear the loan. as long as my assets are within the same ballpark as my debt then things "should" remain stable.
Though I have also managed to save two months salary as a life buffer to for a worst case scenario. Oh and an ISA that I add to in small amounts each month.
But as a few of the above have stated, life is definitely for living so the cash I do have does get spent on lifes little luxuries (bike parts, outdoor kit, coke n hookers)
I have ****ed up in the past (more than once) with credit cards and debt. I am debt free now and largely intend to stay that way. I would allow myself a mortgage or maybe a car loan, but not CC's or personal loans for holidays etc. I treat it kind of like an addiction I have kicked.
I have no savings, live in a rented apartment and have no car, I want to buy a car by next winter but it will probably be a bangornomics purchase, depending on how much I can save by then.
Had a fair bit of debt through my twenties, student loan etc,
science salary, living in cambride, then london
Lived in the cheapest accomo I could find in north london (my wife describbed it as a squat you pay rent on, never ate out, never bough a new bike 🙁 , cycled everywhere 🙂 weed was my only luxury for a good 10 years I reckon) just about got enough to buy a place in a not nice part of london, which ended up going up an insane amount of money in 10 years!
so we are now in a bigger house with a smaller mortgage in the wilds of milton keynes
my wife did well out of the oil business but her latest layoff looks set to be permanent, I cant see the industry picking up really.
2 kids and now twins on the way, means it wouldnt even be economically viable for her to go back to work for the next 5 years or so.
As the sole breadwinner feeling a lot of pressure to make sure that my contract gets renewed at the end of the year or we are in trouble!
Thanks to redundancy and injury I didn't earn a penny from May 2009 to April 2010 and avoided bankruptcy by the skin of my teeth, but I was effectively 'blacklisted' by every Bank and Financial Institute due to having huge amounts of defaulted debt - I managed to get my first Credit Card in 5 years a year ago, not because I wanted to borrow money, but because I needed to prove I could borrow and pay it back - I use it, I pay it off in full at the end of the month.
Come July when my old debts are cleared (by time, not payment) I'll have personal debt to the tune of £300.
Not that I'm debt free really, because of the above all 'our' debt has to be in my Wife's name - that amounts to £8000 at 3% APR, a graduate loan that tidied up a few things, mostly a little over spend on our wedding after I was made redundant again 3 months before the wedding, but mostly from when she was studying.
Total debt repayments represent 6% of out take-home pay, and our total outgoing are less than either of our usual take-home pay so we won't have to starve or be homeless if one of us loses our job suddenly, again.
It helps me sleep at night - not that I would suggest defaulting on all your debts and living credit free for 6 years as a sensible way to managed your finances, it's a living nightmare sometimes.
3 years ago I have about £10k of unsecured personal debt and no house. It was fairly well managed on 0% deals and things but it was just a case of keeping the plates spinning rather than paying anything down.
I'd finally had enough of it when i bought a house 2 years ago and got myself debt free at the end of last year.
This frugality has led to paying off chunks of the mortgage, mainly so i can partake in threads of middle class smugness like this 😀
47, two years ago was married and had a joint mortgage of 40k on a stunning house I had built myself and a 4k car loan. Now,£67k mortgage and 1k credit card,a year left on the car loan. Divorce is expensive kids!I bought my first flat in Dundee for 12k in the West End in 1990. Moved to London and earned the sort of money they paid plasterers there. I had the original flat and another paid off that I then sold to build the above house. Being in proper debt for the first time in 20 odd years sucks.
😆 i got up to about 40 grand personal debt in my early 30's. Had absolutely nothing to show for it but a tan and some scars.
No job (well, just cash in hand and some odd envelopes of prize money).
No house (living in a shared flat most of the time).
No car (and my bikes were owned by someone else).
Then i had to go an get a real job and a life.
How dull.
The tan has gone too.
Aside from a relatively small moortgage that either myself or my other could pay off with one salary...no debt. Had debt before and hated the feeling of it...now all decisins based on staying debt free...whilst sounds idealist I'm sure many people would not wish to live the way we do to, be able to live within our means...
37, married, one anklebiter on the way, living an hour on the train from London (but don't work there...), combined income of about £85k.
I once had a student loan (spent on bikes) and £400 on a credit card once. Hated it beyond description, and vowed that I'd never have an unsecured load or CC again.
We were lucky with buying our first house - despite it being pre-crash we got our mortgage payments back and made money over 6 years. We were hugely fortunate to have a donation from parents which helped us a couple of steps up on the housing ladder - we paid £420k for a renovation house that is worth £550k two years later with the work we've done. Mortgage is about £230k. We have savings and managed investments of close to £100k which are earmarked for another extension on the house post-baby for another bedroom, playroom, study and much bigger utility room. No CCs, cars owned outright.
My father is planning to release a lot of equity to my sister and I as a ploy to avoid inheritance tax - more than enough to pay off our mortgage. Despite this we are pretty frugal - we only eat in the pub once a month, run quite old cars, shop in Lidl, I ride an 8 year old bike etc. I'm hoping that we will be in a position to provide our little one(s) a great fun life with the money we have put aside.
No debt
No mortgage
House purchased outright 9 years ago in a nice leafy suburb of London (a few good investments on flats bought in our 20s)
Both me and the Mrs are 42
Being debt free doesn't necessarily make life any easier I still suffer anxiety issues...
I've a loan with about £2.5k left and a credit card with £1k on it. No mortgage, own home outright thanks to Grandad who passed it to Mum and then Me.
I hate owing. I'm aiming to get the Credit Card mostly paid off this month then carry on paying off the loan.
Mrs Hound is from Yorkshire.
'nuff said!
weeksy - Member
This thread really couldn't be more STW if it tried could it..
Yeah I know, and I got slated the other week for asking "how much money do you have in your wallet/pocket" Just as a bit of a giggle..
🙄
I've got a few [s]friends[/s] acquaintances that revel in the "no debt here" but have a MAHOOSIVE mortgage. I may have some debt, less than £10k including a car loan, but I also have savings that will cover my debt and then some, and I have a life.
We did the wife at home looking after kids when they were young and just one income, and TBH I think we were better off for it. I couldn't live in a situation where we both had to work full time, to pay the child care, to pay the mortgage, to exist to work to pay the mortgage. If I lost my job I'd have to lose some things to be debt free, but I'd still have a roof over my head and no worries about it not being there. (Housing Co-Op)
52, married 26 years with twins about to go to Uni. I was due to retire in 17 months' time, so all my financial planning has focussed on getting rid of the mortgage as soon as I could, and in any case before my retirement date. Low rates and an offset mortgage meant I overpaid instead of saving and I have less than 20K to go, but switched to saving an identical amount offsetting the interest. That way I have a pool of instantly available emergency cash saving me interest at mortgage rate (and thus avoiding tax on the interest) so effectively it's paid off.
What amazes me is we have a decent income not that much debt. We save up mainly for things we need etc etc. People we know on modest incomes have just seemed to of gone mental spending. Brand new cars extensions multiple foreign holidays!!!!! How the bloody hell is that possible!
I love the 'I have no personal debt but I do have a mortgage' responses
It's almost like houses and the associated borrowing doesn't constitute real debt.
late 20s
60% LTV on the mortgage - which is sizable given we started 4 years ago in aberdeen.
I have no other personal debt
The wife went to uni in st andrews so has a fair chunk of debt - but at the interest rate from when we went to uni we are just as well to keep servicing it as it comes rather than pay it off - our mortgage interest is higher.
but she has no other debt.
We have just had a paycut /9 day fortnight/car allowances stopped - mooted at work and judging by peoples reactions about not being able to live they were living to service their debts ......certainly seeing what they "can afford" earning the same as me living frugally....
In light of the current O&G climate im glad to have saved my money rather than spent it ahead of earning it and paying it back.
I went from being debt free to having a 250k mortgage which was a bit of a shock to the system. On the bad side it stopped me packing in work and becoming a layabout, on the positive side it stopped me packing in work and becoming a layabout 🙂
Why are some people not including mortgages in their debt burden BTW?
Think i might just be taking this one. 125k mortgage, 30k debts on loans and credit cards etc.
Hoping to switch some of that credit card to mortgage when up for renewal in August. The hopefully debt becomes manageable and can get the loan paid off.
It is a worry but I don't think I`m an unusual position after separation from the ex , 2 boys aged 11 and 12 and having to juggle life and bills etc.
Advice is always welcome if anyone has any that useful.
Ta
dazh - MemberWhy are some people not including mortgages in their debt burden BTW?
possibly, because...
for most (practically all) people, buying a house without a mortgage would be impossible, so it's not 'irresponsible' debt - the kind your mum would tell you off for.
also, for most of us, if our financial lives turned to custard, we could probably sell the house, clear the debt leaving us with a few (thousand) quid. That wouldn't work for debts on car/bike/telly loans.
maybe?
i do include mortgage debt in my mental bank-balance, but don't include student loans...
Seems to me for most of us one's car choice is one of the biggest influences on personal wealth.
True that, but there are plenty of others factors. Mortgage is a big one.
£1700 a month for us so that's a pretty decent slice of the pay cheque.
And childcare is another £600-odd a month.
If I didn't have children or feel the need to provide them with a home then I'd be quite well off 😀
I love the 'I have no personal debt but I do have a mortgage' responsesIt's almost like houses and the associated borrowing doesn't constitute real debt.
Yeah its good aye ??
It's not paying more for something that is worth less (car,bike or big stupid tele) .... as opposed to using leverage to buy more of something that's appreciating in value
have to live somewhere ....
is having a mortgage of X better or worse than paying someone elses mortgage by renting - most rents seem to be mortgage + x% unless your very lucky....
@inbred, it isn't. I often speak to folk who have no intention of amassing a fortune, they just consume. There is a lot of talk that my (our?) generation of baby boomers have stolen all the money from our successors. They will not enjoy the benefits of house price booms like we did in the 80s, they will never own half-million pound houses outright because they can't buy them for 75k like we did in the mid 80s. They can borrow at 2% interest, where we used to save at 10% for more. When most of your income goes into a mortgage, why the hell would you save or a rainy day if your disposable income means it's constantly drizzling? You don't buy cars, you spend £300 a month leasing one. And anyway, your baby boomer parents have now got so much stashed away, and they have so much equity that when they peg it you can clear your debts and spend it all on whatever the hell you want.
It's almost like houses and the associated borrowing doesn't constitute real debt.
It doesn't.
£200k of mortgage is entirely normal, and costs a similar amount to rent.
£200k of personal loans and most people would be up shit creek.
no debt but no mortgage, can't get one on short term contracts, and getting a bit old to get one if I don't get something sorted soon 🙁
Thankfully no debt at all at 44 but then again i don't own a house, been in the same council now housing association bungalow for the past 20 odd years - thankfully it's in a really nice area of Galloway and rent is only £60 ish/week so i'm perfectly happy - no kids so what meagre amount at minimum wage i earn is mine to do with what i want - i've never earned enough to get a mortgage to buy a house but it's not something i've ever bothered about.
Some of the debt in this thread is horrific though, good luck to all so you can get it cleared
Inbred456 - MemberWhat amazes me is we have a decent income not that much debt. We save up mainly for things we need etc etc. People we know on modest incomes have just seemed to of gone mental spending. Brand new cars extensions multiple foreign holidays!!!!! How the bloody hell is that possible!
Perhaps their income isn't as modest as you think, when was the last time someone really said "I earn exactly £x a year".
When it comes to personal finances you might be amazed what's possible, but since 2007 at least it's now difficult to run up massive amounts of debt relative to your income, no more self-certing a mortgage 10 times your income, no more 110% mortgages and blowing the surplus on a conservatory and a cruise, no more 2x times your salary on the credit card paying the min 5% each month and spending it again or a new car on HP every year and letting some fast talking finance manager hide the shortfall from the last one in the cost of the new one.
Some people save well, some people spend well and some people do both, some people inherit pots of money, some people get 5 and the bonus ball and don't tell a soul. I don't believe there's a right, or wrong answer to how much debt you should have, how much you should spend, how much you should save - some people spend and save like there's no tomorrow, some people spend and save like they're going to live forever.
Sometimes though the answer isn't their income or their expenditure, but their circumstances - one of my closest friends has a AMG Merc, seemingly just to drive to the trail centres at the weekend, he's just changed his very, very nice Carbon MTB for the latest one of the same model because it's a bit different and doesn't seem to worry about money at all - lucky him, my Bike is old and knackered, my Car comes with my job and I'm broke most of the time - I don't know how much he earns exactly - but I'd guess it's +/- 10% of my income, I don't begrudge it - I've got a Wife and 2 kids to support and he doesn't - AMG's are thirsty, but they're cheap as chips compared to Childcare fees - I could probably lease a Maserati (where I got the idea for one of them I don't know) for the cost of keeping my Daughter safe whilst I work to pay for it.
Not all personal debt is caused by splurging on big ticket luxury items, just to let you know.
dazh - Member
Why are some people not including mortgages in their debt burden BTW?
Partially it's because it's debt secured against an (generally) appreciating asset and if I had to I could sell it cover my debt and recover any equity.
But mainly unless you are in the extremely fortunate position of owning outright you have a monthly cashflow liability for housing anyway be it mortgage repayment or rent and around here the difference is SFA. If I didn't have a mortgage I'd not have more money every month, I'd still have a contractual obligation to pay someone an amount for a fixed period if I wanted a roof over my head and that money would be doing nothing.
I think that makes it reasonable to consider differently to 'typical' unsecured debt in the form of loans, CCs, etc.
too true Mr grips, but this is STW...
(how many woodburners/trips to whistler/Vw T5's have been paid for with loans and credit cards i wonder? No doubt most of us pay for our toys with our enormous christmas bonuses, but i'm sure there'll be a few struggling to keep up...)
dazh - MemberWhy are some people not including mortgages in their debt burden BTW?
1. You've got to live somewhere.
2. Mortgage payments are often less than similar rent.
3. Paying rent is a short term view - you are paying your landlord's rent and won't have an asset at the end.
Mid-20s, no debt, 4x salary in savings and separate deposit fund (without help still a good 5 years off buying a house).
Noticed something interesting at the Xc race the other day.
There seemed to be two distinct types of rider;
1. Bangernomics/functional old car
2. Expensive '15/16 reg van, VAG, camper
They all had several thousand pounds worth of bike strapped to them though.
There was a distinct lack of middle ground in both car value and bike value.
It makes me wonder which of these two group (in general) have more unsecured/personal debt?
as opposed to using leverage to buy more of something that's appreciating in value
And people wonder why house-price bubbles happen! Mortgages are obviously the safest and best form of debt to have, but it doesn't mean you can disregard them as a debt. You don't own the house until the debt is gone, in that time a lot of things can happen, recessions, price bubbles bursting, ill health, negative equity, deflation, credit squeezes etc. All of those can combine in various ways to cause you to miss repayments and lose your property. Losing a house with half the mortgage paid off is a lot more painful than having a maxed out credit card.
Interesting. About £15k of debt for me. Don't have a mortgage, always rented. I'm 33. £10k is an unsecured personal loan that is for stuff I know longer own (cars, bikes, other material stuff et al) and about £5k on credit cards. If I continue the payment plan I've been on for the last 5-6 years, it'll all be gone in 2 years.
I've made some stupid decisions.
Oh, and I have zero savings, never have.
We're in our mid 30s and no debt, but we're getting another mortgage and bigger house. Should hopefully be back to no debt again in around 7 year's time though.
I've never lived with the idea that loans = money. I've always viewed life with the thinking that if you want something you need to gather enough money to have it. And we're very comfortable. Felt so great to have my boy born into a home that's not worried about money, simply because we don't spend lots.