Quick question

lynzpower

I certainly dont include my mortgage in my DW figure!

ONce Ive got rid of this little lot sat in my sig, I'll be hanging about over the Mortgage free wannabe board, but one step at a time!

trafalgar_2

Thanks everyone for your replies,so the consensus is debt free is rid of all debt except the mortgage...............I do understand others point that a mortgage is still debt though .......thanks again

southernscouser

trafalgar wrote:

Hi everyone,I've been reading DFW recently and was just wondering,when people say 'debt free' is that no debt except say mortgage ............or is it unmanageable debt that they are free from?


hope that makes sense

Hey traf! Not often we see you over here!

Thought I would throw my two pence worths in!

You say unmanageable debt but I guess you just mean consumer debt, ie credit cards, finance deals. My debt is huge but manageable if you get my drift!

I too wouldn't include a mortgage as 'debt' in the sense that you mean. Of course it is a debt but not a bad one in my opinion.

Anastacia

If rent only becomes debt when you are in arrears then doesnt a mortgage or council only become debt if you dont pay it when its due ?

My debt is a loan and when its gone its gone.

We all (well almost all) have to pay for our place to live & you might as well have a nice asset at the end of it instead of a full rent book. We used to rent for years because times were hard & we couldnt afford a mortgage but thats £13000 gone with nothing much to show for it.

Mind you if someone wants to just give me a house I am good with that too.

Panda

Kevicho

To me it means ccs/loans etc

I think people dont include mortgage because some people would class it as more of an investment.

technically its debt though, wether its classes as debt in the DFW spirit is another issue

nearlyrich

I agree with the concensus here, debt free means no CC, loans etc, most people wouldn't class having a mortgage as being in debt as it is usually the only way to own a house.

However the way the mortgage free board has taken off would suggest that the majority of people would be happier if they had no mortgage either or it was at least a small proportion of their property value.

I have outstanding balance on a 0% CC which is offset by the amount in my savings account and will be paid off before they start to charge interest on it, and a low balance on my "spending" card which is paid off by a DD for the full amount each month. I don't consider myself to be in debt now.

oops_a_daisy

i was just going to make that point nearlyrich, about having savings to offset credit card debt at 0% - one cancels out the other so I wouldnt count it as a debt. I would say a debt is money borrowed that you have to pay back and can not pay back in one go so are charged interest. A mortgage is a debt but has never been looked at like a debt - thanks to MSE I now look at it in a different light. There is no point having savings at say 4% when you have a mortgage charging 6% interest ( figures off the top of my head ). You do have to prioritise the highest interest chargers first which are normally credit cards, overdrafts and store cards -then go for the biggie which hopefully the lowest interest

SKIPPY

Another quick question. Having read all of this thread, I'm not sure if I'm doing the best thing. I have 1500 on a cc 0% for 9 months but do have a little in savings. Oh and the normal mortgage!! I'm not too worried about the cc debt as it's interest free, but taking into consideration some of the comments should I use the little bit of savings to reduce my mortgage?

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

to me debt free is everything excluding mortgage if you have one ,credit cards gone,store cards, no overdraft, bank account in continuall credit ,healthy savings account . also i have a credit union account with healthy savings balance for which i can borrow against up 7k,if ever need to so i now after 4 years consider myself DEBT FREE

tesuhoha

lynzpower wrote:

I certainly dont include my mortgage in my DW figure!

ONce Ive got rid of this little lot sat in my sig, I'll be hanging about over the Mortgage free wannabe board, but one step at a time!

Dont leave us Lynz, please.