Average debt per person? Anyone debt free here?

Student Loan.
No other debts.
My old flatmate used to spreadbet and could knock up debts in excess of 30k in a couple of months.

It appear so. Your net position is zero. You’re not in debt.
Which is why a mortgage is different to debt. You need to remove the asset value.

Nonsense!

Call up the bank the next time you are in the red and explain to them that you’re not actually in debt because you have some money/assets elsewhere 😆

As ben said, some people are confusing debt with insolvency.

My Father obtained a mortgage at 1% so he could invest £100K. (House was paid off years ago.)

The money he’s made can now pay it off and 60k profit after tax – right place at the right time using my advice.

I look at CEO friends who are on 250K plus bonus/shares.
Really thinking of switching careers instead of teaching!

No mortgage here but will be again in 3 years.

Nonsense!

Call up the bank the next time you are in the red and explain to them that you’re not actually in debt because you have some money elsewhere

It depends what you’re looking at: your contract with the bank, or your net overall position.

About 21k student debt that I’ll probably never get paid off due to the interest rate. £200 on my credit card but that will be paid off later today! So other than that, no debt here.

Every time this question comes round I’m always surprised by the number of people who don’t consider a mortgage to be debt.

in this thread OP started with

Average household debt in the UK (excluding mortgages)

so fair assumption he/she meant except mortgage.

Mortgage only here.

Very low 4 figures interest free on CC at the moment. Push came to shove I could/should clear it, but so long as its not getting bigger (and it isn’t and it will not be replaced) I can save/buy bikes etc. Have a debt reduction == self indulgent bike spend rule I pretty much stick to, and is part of a long term plan which is now coming to its conclusion.

Then just Student loan [snort], that’s me! down from serious amounts of CC OD debt a few years ago. Resulting in me feeling Sooooooo much better now. Its frightening how easy it can build up. Never again.

It depends what you’re looking at: your contract with the bank, or your net overall position.

No it doesn’t.

If you have a mortgage, that is a debt. It’s a secured debt (for some reason, people seem to think secured debts are “better”…better for the bank, not for you!), but still a debt. You can describe it any way you fancy, but it doesn’t change the fact that until you pay back the full amount + interest, you are in debt to the mortgage provider.

Like I said, stop paying your mortgage and see what happens.

Excluding mortgage, only some small CC balance to pay off. Other than that, free and clear.

If mortgage is offset against greater savings then there is zero interest on the mortgage, and with savings rates being so low it is better to keep the mortgage in place.

The people I’ve known who’ve binged on debt on clothes/holidays/drink have generally had an ability to work very hard and pay it all off.
I don’t share that ability so avoid taking on the debt in the first place.

Are we allowed to puncture the general air of self-congratulatory, faintly moralising smugness so beloved of STW?

Debt? Absolutely ****ing mountains of it! I’d love to say it was all fecklessly racked up on credit cards, on fast cars, loose women, designer handbags and drugs. If only to annoy you.

However, due to the joys of running your own business in the middle of the biggest financial shit-storm ever, its all other peoples really. Who kindly went bust on me owing me shedloads of cash for work I’d already done for them. I’m likely to be paying it off for the rest of my life.

There’s a certain irony in finding myself in this position through hard work and honesty (and naivity and a little too much trust) . Other people are happy to have no truck with either. Its no fun being the one left holding everything when the music stops 😥

Student loan (comes out before tax, and im from the generation that got decent interest terms)

/Pedant

When did you take this loan out? I’m not aware of student loans ever being paid before tax. Taken out of your payslip, yes, but after tax.

No mortgage (paid off last year)and no debt of any sort. I feel very lucky.

Call up the bank the next time you are in the red and explain to them that you’re not actually in debt because you have some money elsewhere

and what if its with the same bank? My current account has a savings account linked to it for example and the bank bases any charges on the total of the 2 accounts if one is -£1 and the other is +£2, I dont pay interest.

A few hundred on credit card, mainly due to incidental expenses in recent house move – will be paying it off this months payday.

Got a mortgage tho.

I generally stay debt free and take a save-up-first approach.

binners: how much would it hurt if you did bankruptcy?

Sorry to hear that Binners – I’m in business and see this everywhere.
Can you declare yourself bankrupt as well rather than take on those debts for life and start again?

I’ve got the mortgage to pay, but apart from that I have no debt. I’ve always tried to save for the things I want and am fairly careful with money.

I do make large purchases on my credit card but only as this give me time to transfer the money out of my savings account, into my current account to pay the credit card off.
So I suppose I do fairly regularly get into debt for a day or two, but with the knowledge that the debt is in the process of being paid off.
And this gives me the back-up of the credit card company should I have any issues with the item.

I think that the next time I need to buy a new car, I might have to take out a loan for that. Up to know I have always had the savings to buy one in cash, but getting married this year and having lots of stuff to do around the house means that saving might have to take a bit of a back seat for a while…

yeah, shit loads.

starting to pay it all off now. Not a great situation tbh, but no point whining about it, we spent it, we need to pay for it now.

A lot more than the average. I could probably pay it off it I wanted but I dont find it ‘uncomfortable’ so why worry ?

I suppose I could declare myself bankrupt, but I really don’t want too. TO do my own bit of moralising: I think its a cop out. And its annoying that so many people will do it without a second thought to the implications for other people. See also ‘rolling’ your business. A truly dispicable practice that I can’t believe is still legal

saving for deposit on house… so not much debt (credit card paid off each month to build up credit score) and some savings… although all of that will be wiped out when we eventually buy a house as savings will be depleted for the deposit and we’re not kidding ourselves into thinking a mortgage is anything but a HUGE loan where the bank owns our house until we pay it off!

binners that sucks, time for a comfort pasty/pie

Yep, loads here – combination of going back to Uni as a mature student, and moving house at the same time as paying for childcare etc.

So, currently have a 240k mortgage, and approx, 20k of ‘other debt’ between us.
It doesn’t keep me awake at night – it is all part of a master plan which will see us add loads of value to our house etc.

As far as I’m concerned every business borrows money from time to time – and providing you can afford to service your debts, and they are not racked up buying tellys and holidays it is no big deal.

no debt
no mortgage for the last 6 years
life is grand

As ben said, some people are confusing debt with insolvency.

Yup, which is why someone paying off their mortgage on time each month is agruably in neither. Assuming everyone got thier sums right and the house is worth more than the outstanding debt.

I wouldn’t count student loans either as the terms make it impossible to be insolvent due to the loan. A bit like wonga, but with 3% interest not 3000%.

No debt here 😉
Was a different story a few years ago though

Ive always liked the old aphorism:

“If you owe the bank £1,000 it’s your problem, if you owe them £1,000,000 it’s theirs”

🙂

I remember the day I went debt free over ten years ago (credit card/overdraft & student loan all post degree). Lovely day.

Yup, which is why someone paying off their mortgage on time each month is agruably in neither. Assuming everyone got thier sums right and the house is worth more than the outstanding debt.

Nah, that just means you’re solvent. You still owe money (lots of it!).

I think a better thing for people to say would be, “Yes, i’ve got debts, but hopefully I have enough equity in my house that I could settle them if necessary”

Which would of course mean selling the roof over your head.

Hope it gets better for you binners and anyone else in debt. I know how hard it is to have debt. It sucks like a lemon.

Doesn’t mean I can splurge now.

For now I’m following badnewz’s advice: “I don’t share that ability so avoid taking on the debt in the first place.”

So debt paid, but living like I’m still in debt but using my debit card. Chopping credit card up.

“If you owe the bank £1,000 it’s your problem, if you owe them £1,000,000 it’s theirs”

Or the taxpayers who end up bailing out the banks.

I was debt free well apart from the mortgage but been a stupid arse and now not anymore, I really need to sort it out as it’s a real pain in the arse.

No bug here move along.

about £60,000 mortgage, £4,500 credit card 🙁 used a 0% interest card to pay off car fnance, so saddled with that til i can slowly knock it down. and we want a campervan or caravan too….. currently negotiating with the devil on one shoulder and angel on the other over whether to go for it or not…. devil says you only live once, go for it, angel says dont be daft, dont buy one til youre debt free, which will be never 😀

for the pedants,

Is a car pcp a loan or a rental agreement? ie is it a debt, or is it merely a bill in the same way the gas/electric/telephone are?

…

Is a car pcp a loan or a rental agreement? ie is it a debt, or is it merely a bill in the same way the gas/electric/telephone are?

Depends how you paid for it.

80k mortgage.
10k car finance.
12k student loan.
27 on Saturday. Can’t say that it worries me….mortgage is basically just a cheaper version of rent with the bonus of owning a house at the end of it. Car finance was the contentious one really….it was a lot of money but I need it for work. The fact that it is cheaper to run than my last car and is tax deductible makes it worthwhile though. My student loan will never even get close to being payed off at the current rate I’m doing so. Ho hum.

Plenty!

About to take on a relatively large mortgage, student loan and quite a chunk on credit cards for good measure.

Not too fussed frankly, it’s only money, I enjoy my life! Never struggle to make payments, interest rates on CC are low/0%.

The one that annoys me most actually is the student loan – gonna be like a big ol’ payrise when I finally get shot of that, should be about 18-24 months.

When I was 27 I’d just bought my first house and owed 86.5k to Nationwide. I then extended the house and the mortgage went up to over 100, then added a car to it. Then spent the next 13 years paying it all off.

Debt free here – 29 years old and been to uni. Through working hard with my wife, being pretty frugal and living abroad for the last 6 years.

We use our credit card for all purchases so usually owe £500 ish on it but payed off each month.

Owe my brother-in-law a fiver… never bet when you’re drunk!

Is a car pcp a loan or a rental agreement? ie is it a debt, or is it merely a bill in the same way the gas/electric/telephone are?

Well they’ll show up on your credit record. You’re getting the commodity up front and then paying as per an agreed schedule. All said and done, its credit.