Did you 'waste' your debt?

Broken_hearted

I like to think I'm honest thanks. As I said some got wasted but, maybe £3,700 to go to Forida is a waste. I don't think so but thats me.

library_lady_2

oops didn't mean to offend the comment was very much tongue in cheek! Everyone interprets their debt their own way. Perhaps a hint of envy from me for all your wonderful travels.

kuohu

This thread reminds me of George Best
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted."

Montymoo_2

Mine are student debts that have got worse due to not being able to find a well paid job and using credit to pay off credit.

Many people would say that i got a degree out of them, but im really not sure my degree was worth it now

Lewby

I'm really new to this forum but this is one of the questions I have been asking myself over the last month as I have started to try and sort things out. I don't think I've wasted it all, as like Broken Hearted, I have some fantastic photos and wonderful memories of holidays with the kids.

Most of my debt came from leaving my first husband, setting up a new home from scratch, then marrying again - complete with honeymoon in Australia, ending up with 5 kids and still supporting both our ex's!

We have some lovely possessions but I do wish I had adopted a 'save for it before you have it' attitude as it seems so hard to have it, enjoy it and then spend years paying for it!

debtfree_WANNABE_6

My debt started at 18, OD, CC the usual - loan at 20 to buy first car and pay for the insurance ! - two holidays abroad and spending money the rest was clothes and drink when i was out, wish id worked harder then so could enjoy my son more now.

dudleyboy

LHM wrote:

All in all I have been away about 6 times a year in the last 5 years and visited 18 countries in total and had a SUPERB timel!

Hi, I don't want to p*ss on anyone's bonfire here, but "travelling" is little more than an extended holiday for the directionless and/or work shy... of course you don't think it was a waste of money... you've been on 30(!) holidays in a single 5 year period... find me anyone who thinks taking a holiday is a waste of money...

but if that's what your £15k debt has gone on and you dont consider it frivolous then I doubt you've truely had your "lightbulb moment".

The fact that I don't believe I WASTED the money I spent really motivates me to pay it off.

I guess that explains why you've only managed to pay off £200 in the last 4 months. With repayments of £50 a month you should be debt free in 25 years (assuming it's on 0% APR). now there's a motivating thought.

not trying to have a go... I just think you'll have a different opinion about whether you think your debt was wasteful by the time you're in your late 50s and not had a holiday for 20 years because you took them all before you were 30.

Even if you do make larger repayments in the meantime, which i'm sure you will, you'll soon realise how much was wasted when you see just how long it does take to repay a grand... and you've got to repay 15 of them!

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

yes im sure every one can see your point but alas he still would have been and seen more than many,as for paying your debts of etc lets get real right or wrong ,if 1,he has a debt record he cant get in to any more debt,2most debt the interest is frozen ,3,if its gone to court a few do he will pay it of peanut style £1,oopm ,4,if its sold he will be offered a rebate large one at that, or if he never pays they give up,if it is sent to d ca he doesnt have to pay them ......so lets get realistic in 7 years he will have cleared his debts or they would have been written off ....now is this morally right of course not ,will he be paying those original debts in 25 years dont be silly,has he wasted the original debt of course not he enjoyed every bloody minute...we have got to look at it realistically ,Ask me .....the one with a credit card pays most but not all the monthly payment never missess a payment will he be paying debts in 25 years yes he more than likely will be .......and if the others who were unable to create any debt for 6 years have learned there lesson i think most would have had there light bulb moment and created no more debt and will only do it again if they can live with the bloody hassle

Badger_Lady

I spent mine looking after a (now ex) partner who lost his job, 'couldn't' get a new one, and wouldn't sign on for benefits.

I still feel a little angry that we were entitled to about £5k in benefits over time that I couldn't claim for him. So, in total, we got into debt by £9k, all in my name because he didn't even have a bank account.

So, in a sense I did waste it because it would never have happened if I had been single. But on the other hand, it's given me a valuable life lesson on relationships and money - I was only 18 (he was 37), and we were together for 4 years that I will never go through again. So kind of worth it... hey, you can't go back in time can you?

If in 5 years time I'm debt-free, and I get the opportunity to borrow it all again to go travelling, I'd do it. It would be better to save up first, but I think something like that is worth it.

LookingAhead

Dudleyboy....I feel slightly offended by your post to LHM.

I'm paying off my debts, if you are right then I also wasted money on my 'travels' and I haven't had my lightbulb moment either.

However I wouldn't swap the things I saw & learned for anything, they feel priceless.

I am determined this is the year to start to beat my debts right down however it's not going to take over my life. What's done is done, I would do things differently if I could and will in the future.

But I certainly won't lay on my deathbed thinking "I wish I'd never have sailed up the River Gambia on that boat with the dolphins swimming beside me, making new friends....I wish I'd stayed at home living on rations to save a bit of money"

As for workshy & directionless.....that's just being personal and so is attacking how much someone has paid off.

Correct me if I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick here but your post did seem like a sweeping generalisation.