Dodgy debts - is my debt a MAJOR problem?

sarahs999

Hmmm.

No, it's not normal at all. Any other generation before us would have been utterly horrified at that level of personal debt. It's just that Blair, Brown and all their cronies made us think it was a great idea to believe we were richer than we were, and make massive personal debt the norm. But that way of thinking is what's now knackered our financial system, led to people losing their livelihoods and houses, and saddled the next generation with debt up to their ears until they're well into adulthood.

So it's probably best to stop thinking of it as normal, and think of it as a very abnormal phase that we've been through and now need to sort out.

Not aimed at you, just a general observation.

slig

You say your job is very safe, but I thought that about mine and they announced on Monday that we're 'restructuring', so the possibility of redundancy is suddenly very real. The fact is, no job is safe in this economy, and as Hermia says, something completely unexpected could happen to you personally, you just don't know.

mrcow

That is a frightening amount of debt you have there!

It would give me sleepless nights.

What you should be asking though is how did it happen? Where has the £21k gone? If it's all on eg. a car, or something that you can 100% account for, then perhaps the problem isn't so worrying as it would have been budgeted for.

However.....if it's just on "stuff" over the years.....then I think you are in a very worrying situation. You need to put the breaks on, or in two years time, you're going to be in much deeper.

It's not a nice place to be - trust me!

[Deleted User]

mrcow wrote: »

That is a frightening amount of debt you have there!

It would give me sleepless nights.

What you should be asking though is how did it happen? Where has the £21k gone? If it's all on eg. a car, or something that you can 100% account for, then perhaps the problem isn't so worrying as it would have been budgeted for.

However.....if it's just on "stuff" over the years.....then I think you are in a very worrying situation. You need to put the breaks on, or in two years time, you're going to be in much deeper.

It's not a nice place to be - trust me!

Probably 8-9K of it on cars. In the past I've used low rate credit card instead of getting a loan.

Then, holidays I suppose. Probably about 8k on holidays over the last few years....

[Deleted User]

and £2K of this was on a IKEA card so home improvements etc.

tallyhoh

Not having a dig at you (cant) but if you have well paid safe jobs, why are you in debt? You are throwing good money away on interest charges even i they are low. Make a big effort & get rid of them.

Any children? Any plans? Would one of you have to give work up?

Anything could happen, ask my broken vertebrate.

tyllwyd

[quote=[Deleted User];discussion/1656173]Heres a list of my debts and it does worry me a bit. Wife seems to think its 'normal' for a lot of people to have debts like this.
....

Mortgage - £135000 outstanding, house worth £230000. Dead cheap tracker mortgage 1.1% above base rate. £580 month.

Income per month (both of us) £3100 month after tax.

...[/QUOTE]

My OH and I have got similar income to you, and a similar mortgage balance & equity in the house (although we do pay about twice as much becase we are paying over a short term). Our savings just about equal our credit card debts and we are trying hard to pay them off so we can start building up 'real' savings. So yes, we would be worried about having £21k of debt.

You haven't mentioned any children, so I assume you don't have any? Obviously I don't know you or your situation, but if starting a family is even remotely on the agenda, you don't need anyone to tell you how expensive that is, and that you will probably effectively be paying one salary out in childcare for a good few years.

searching_me

8k on holidays :eek: sorry but thats alot and im guessing all you got for 8k is a few pics :undecided sounds to me you have enabled her to do as she wishes with money...
i speak from experince as my step-dad did the same with my mother turning blind eye to it, taking another loan to cover another its when your gonna finally end it is the thing ... but if you think its normal its never gonna end x

[Deleted User]

tallyhoh wrote: »

Not having a dig at you (cant) but if you have well paid safe jobs, why are you in debt? You are throwing good money away on interest charges even i they are low. Make a big effort & get rid of them.

Any children? Any plans? Would one of you have to give work up?

Anything could happen, ask my broken vertebrate.

One child. Wife works part-time at the moment.

Yeah. Know what you mean. Its just got a bit out of hand now...

[Deleted User]

tyllwyd wrote: »

My OH and I have got similar income to you, and a similar mortgage balance & equity in the house (although we do pay about twice as much becase we are paying over a short term). Our savings just about equal our credit card debts and we are trying hard to pay them off so we can start building up 'real' savings. So yes, we would be worried about having £21k of debt.

You haven't mentioned any children, so I assume you don't have any? Obviously I don't know you or your situation, but if starting a family is even remotely on the agenda, you don't need anyone to tell you how expensive that is, and that you will probably effectively be paying one salary out in childcare for a good few years.

So why dont u use your savings to pay credit cards. Surely you're earning less interest on savings than your paying on credit card?