Admitting how much debt you have

nellis10

I post my debt in my signature as it keeps me focused. My husband is very anal towards debt and seriously frowns upon it. To the point we are now divorcing after only 2 years of marriage!! He never understood why I got into debt (long story over a number of years....losing a couple of jobs etc and yes frivolous spending too!!!) But the debt was never more than about £3K or so.

In ways he's focused me on being debt free - we ahve a young 2yr old son and now I am on my own with him, I want to be DFW and MFW so that I never have to worry about money again...I also hope to teach my son about budgeting too. When he's old enough he'll be given a weekly/monthly allowance for all his toys/magazines/comics and non essential clothes. This way i hope to teach him that it doesn't grow on trees!! Or in as in MY case...my debit card is not a bottomless bank!!!!

Anyway...I post it, because if I didn't I was fall back into the old habits....everyday is a mental challenge to keep focused on getting rid of the debt...in some ways having a smaller amount which is fairly manageable is harder...too much temptation to spend this month and just say hey...I'll only be delaying DFD by 1 month or so, no big deal!! BUT IT IS A BIG DEAL...so this site is my daily focus fix!!!

Debbiem

Im one of those thats not quite feeling brave enough to post all mine in my signature yet

As of todays date i owe £12,713.28

My Debt isnt huge compared to some, some of it was frivolous spending but more of it was racked up on basic living expenses after i split from my partner, a few years of just paying off the minimum payments on credit cards only manages to keep your head just above water, and each year the minimum increases so you get worse and worse off.

Mine seems such a lot to me but as someone else said its all income related - if i earnt 30k a year its wouldnt seem as bad, but as it stands, its more than i earn in a year.

HomeJames_3

Again I want to thank everyone for their honesty and support on these posts its only when you start to use MSE that you realise how many others are feeling the same way when it comes to dealing with your debt i dont know if its easier to deal with if circumstances have led you to being in debt ie lossing a job or relationship breakdown mine is purely down to overindulgence and wanting items which i didnt have the cash to buy but just had to have. i now look back and think to myself was it really worth getting into this position just to have another holiday or 3 pairs of shoes the same style but in different colours! I suppose I can look on it from the point of view that i would have never found other like minded people who would support and advise us in getting our debts under control. Again thanks to everyone i still cant get those thank you icons to work any ideas who i contact?

overbudget

I have mine in my sig so I can't pretend it isn't there ..... and so I have to make sure it goes down!

Bells&Whistles

I actually love the feeling of being honest about it, my OH knows about me re-financing my OD into my loan on numerous occasions and he knows that my initial debt has risen substantially in three years (from 3k to over 17K on one loan alone!) but he doesn't know how much I owe on the loan or CCs.
But thats why its important to me to be able to look it in the eye and discuss it openly with people in the same boat and those who have climbed ashore :T

sanfrancisco

Tallymanjohn wrote:

Just out of interest, I fleetingly heard on the news today that total borrowing is £1 trillion (or whatever it was) - does this figure include mortgages or is it other borrowing?

The total debt is 1.2 trillion. It does include mortgage debt. About 1 trillion is mortgage debt and the other 200 billion (billion - I think?) is unsecured.

GreyPilgrim

I always feel like a fraud posting here because I'm luckly enough to have just brokedn debt free - I feel like I'm blowing my own trumpet. However I was not lucky enough to find this site when I was at my deepest level pf debt so I never really focused or had the encouragement I needed to finish it off sooner. (if I had found this site three years ago, I would have finished it off much sooner).

It's essential to consider all your debts. when I used to calculate mine, i would conveniently forget about the off hundred quid here, or the £300 there because it made it easier to swallow.

It's a big kick in the goolies to see it all in black and white but I promise you it's easier to handle it when you know what it is.

"Know Thy Enemy" sounds really cheesy and pretentious, but it's true.

But it's also cheesy and pretentious.:D

Debbiem

I always feel like a fraud posting here because I'm luckly enough to have just brokedn debt free

your not a fraud - your our inspiration. Your the people that keep the rest of us going and focused !!

themaccas

No one knows about our debt at all, all our friends think we are well off because we earn good salaries, I used to be concerned with 'keeping up with the jones' but since my LBM I couldn't care less. Focusing on being debt free is what is most important to us as a family. I do feel ashamed at our level of debt but I'm proud of our restraint in the last 6 months. ANyway here is the only place I feel I am able to be completely open and honest about the amount we owe - in glorious technicolour!!!

sanfrancisco

themaccas wrote:

No one knows about our debt at all, all our friends think we are well off because we earn good salaries, I used to be concerned with 'keeping up with the jones' but since my LBM I couldn't care less. Focusing on being debt free is what is most important to us as a family. I do feel ashamed at our level of debt but I'm proud of our restraint in the last 6 months. ANyway here is the only place I feel I am able to be completely open and honest about the amount we owe - in glorious technicolour!!!

themaccas,

You've done INCREDIBLY well this year. Good on you. Am v impressed.