Who is responsible for our debt?

Kevicho

Its not only parents who are teaching you the wrong methods of managing money

Its pretty much everyone in society

never_red_Paul

Hester wrote:

Certainly the system of student loans was launched fairly rapidly, .............. on the way to personal freedom.

Excellent post

lynzpower

thats why I stuggle with responsibility as a concept, none of us can ever take full responsibility really, as we dont live in a vacuum

Star1979

It is my fault entirely. I could have lived within my means but I didn't and now that I am trying to pay more than minimum balances I can see just how much easier being careful could have made life.

Broken_hearted

Well I couldn't live within my means literaly I couldn't pay the main bills, let alone anything else. As I said £68 per week SSP barely covers the mortgage.

dinkylou

My debt is my responsibility and I am the one now fighting to pay it off.

However, the majority of my debt was not through having the latest gadget or latest clothes. It was from putting myself through uni and learning to survive afterwards.

If I would have been more savvy then I would have had that extra job at uni and would have tightened my belt more but this is all with hindsight.

I just wish that more financial and realistic advice had been given to me before I left for uni.

The attitude of those around me (and admittedly myself) was that I would get a good job after uni and it would all be paid off fine, nothing to worry about.

Which is true. But no-one tells you about the other expenses which come up in everyday living and that you will be fighting your debts until you are in your mid thirties etc etc.

I wouldn't blame anyone else for my debts but I wish I had been better informed and found this site before the spiral began.

ktkrunch

Some people's circumstances - sickness, redundancy, disability, catastrophe - make debt hard to avoid, but I suspect that for most of us it is simply the result of our greed in a materialistic society. We don't realise that relationships, work/life balance, family harmony and so on are all much more important than money. Deep down we know that money and possessions don't buy happiness, but we suspect that they make being miserable a lot more comfortable! As an early baby-boomer (just 60) I think we had things much easier when we were young. All my college fees were paid for me by the local authority and I had a perfectly adequate state grant for living expenses. I left university without any debts at all, and had a great time while I was there. In the 1960's mortgages were rationed and you had to wait, but at least they were affordable. You weren't allowed to raise second mortgages to spend on things like cars, so you made do with what you had. Credit cards didn't exist - you saved for things. Sorry - I know I sound like an old f-rt, but I'm sure we weren't so stressed out and I think we were happier.

bobbiebob

Kevicho wrote:

Its not only parents who are teaching you the wrong methods of managing money

Its pretty much everyone in society

Agreed..! as I said earlier, Society is partly to blame, we all want to conform, have the nice house, the nice car, the nice clothes, the 2 holidays (1 would be nice..!)

And the Media do constantly bombard us with all the things we dont need to be "normal" Huge Brand new house, Landscaped gardens, Widescreen TV, the latest hi fii, hundreads of DVD's, Games, the latest Kitchens, Sofas the list is endless.

However, the Bottom line Lets Face it is, if your in debt you have all lived beyond your means.. for whatever reason, over spending, change in circumstances, eg 2 kids dont come cheap

Then when your paying min repayments and massive mortgage etc you get to the point where you cannot afford to simply live, and end up just living on more Credit, spiralling you into more debt.

But I do still also blame the financial institutions for targeting us all, i still get roughly 10 offers per month for another new credit card I cannot afford. The banks are desparate for our business as this is the only way they make money, to lend it out. Too much competition in the banking sector which makes them even more hungry for our debt, or more correctly our interest payments..!

Ban Credit and Store Cards... No More Credit, you want it, pay the money now, all of it...!

Spread the wealth..! Make the rich pay more taxes, simple, Income Tax is shocking weighted, as is National insurance, and the whole of the TAX system in the UK, we are over TAXED here..!

kickingkay

Ok OK im too blame, but my bank kept phoning me to offer a loan and an overdraft in the same day!
i agree with many of the above posts, the advertising today promotes credit if it were to be advertised in bold writing! debt cards! or PS DID YOU KNOW MRS SO N SO LOST HER HOME BECAUSE SHE COULDNT PAY HER CREDIT CARD BILL! they put reality to the promotion i,e slap up meal, new coat, holiday what about showing homes being repossed or families trying to live on 30 quid a week grocery not quite so tempting then!
sorry im peeved off witrh my bank they were so keen to lend me money even when i didnt request it! that now i need help with repaying they have put up the blinkers and given me the rods!
but its still my fault:mad:

Spirited_2

I am disappointed by the lack of empathy and compassion in this thread (and others :mad: ). I cannot believe that some people can be so cruel to those who are already in a lot of trouble, and who, being here, are already are trying to do something about it.

Have you lost your membership card for the human race?
We all make mistakes, just because you were gifted with financial sense and the self-assurance to make use of it, doesn't mean we all have. Your mistakes in life may not be financial, perhaps you lack tactfulness in your dealings with others, or don't know when to put down a cigarette – you are not superior to those who mishandle their finances or their self-control over expensive treats. Whilst I am not religious, a member on a different thread (but the same subject) used the phrase – 'There, but for the grace of God, walk all of us' and I think it is very true.

There are some people who delibrately squander all the cash they can get their hands on, happy to file for bankruptcy when the creditors catch up with them, only to do it again in a few years time. Their attitude to life is that they live for the moment and see no harm in stealing and cheating anyone who crosses their path and hurting anybody who has remained close to them. I will stick my neck out and say that in my (albiet limited) experience of this forum I don't think there is a single one of these people among us. Quite simply, they do not waste their time posting on a forum about debt, if they have appeared on the MSE forums at all it is probably to check out the latest 0% card they ought to be getting.

On the other hand, the people who have just recently come across this board, myself included, who have for whatever reason (ignorance, self-indulgence or misfortune) got themselves into a situation that they want out of. We care about what we have done, we are frequently our own worst critics, and we are here to get advice on how best to change. We don't need arrogant gits barging into our State of Affairs threads and telling us how stupid we are – not only does it not solve the problem, it is also a waste of your time, and a waste of ours – time that would be better spent on practical solutions. Those who have stayed here, seem to be the types who understand what they have done wrong, and stay to receive support whilst they fix it and to provide their insights to others going through the same thing.

Do I take responsibility for my debts? Yes. However, I am no island. I was never taught how to manage my finances by my parents (who as far as I know are still in denial about their own debt problems) who took me and my four siblings on foreign holidays whilst juggling debt, nor did my school. I have been suffering with depression and agoraphobia which has cause me to be too ill to lift my head out of the sand till now - I was depressed before I was an adult, at what point did I become to blame for my lack of understanding? Education for both young people and adults about finances, budgeting etc is exceptionally poor. Whilst people are responsible for their own learning, they cannot know what they do not know, that is what ignorance is – not knowing!

I would go further than personal responsibility for our debt. We (collectively, as society – eve those not in personal debt) are responsible for all of our debt. We who stand by and allow businesses to profit on the ignorance or misfortune of others, we who brag about our latest purchases for our own agrandisement are responsible. Those of us who put our own sensibilities before letting others know where to go to get the best deals, or how much of a payrise our employers gave us on just a simple request. We keep quiet, and it doesn't help anybody.

That's why I like Martin Lewis and MSE forums, it gives us a place to help each other. Instead of stabbing each other in the back, that we do by saying nothing!

I am not saying my parents or my school was responsible for my debts, but there is no doubt that education is something that we are all responsible for. If in schools we don't prepare our children for the world in front of them, by making them financially and media savy, then we do not do our jobs and we are all responsible for it.

Kindest Regards.