When you say 'debt free' do you include mortgage?

sarahs999

Just wondered as I've noticed lots of people have a 'debt free' date in their signatures and lots of them are in the next few years. Are you not including mortgages in this or do you not have mortgages? Just wondered, as was thinking about doing mine but can't bear to contemplate that it'll be in about 25 years' time!

S

lynzpower

I have a mortgage! But if I only owed 5k on it Id be jubilant! Nope, I dont list my mortgage, its the secured & unsecured debt that we tend to list

sarahs999

Ah, good. I might get brave and post mine then! Thanks

Broken_hearted

I don't include the mortgage as its an essential bill. If I didn't have a mortgage then I would have rent.

freebird65

I certainly didn't include my mortage whilst I was trying to get debt-free - if I had it would have been so demoralising I'd have given up!

Living in London means a mortgage tends to be sky high so would make any debt look beyond frightening!

Good luck.

kathfisch

Perhaps include debts apart from your mortgage, work as hard as you can to clear them, then apply the same principals to clearing your mortgage early. It needn't be 25 years!!!

nrsql

It's all about risk

I consider a mortgage to be a debt but then the alternative is probably renting (which could work out more expensive).

Martin has the concept of good debt and bad debt so from the above a mortgage could come under good debt as long as it is well managed.

Bad debt I consider to be things on high interest rate or not being paid off in a planned way (high risk).
So a mortgage which keeps being increased to cover other things, is at a high interest rate, has payments so high that it causes you hardship or is covering a large part of the equity of the property (subjective) I would consider bad debt as it looks like high risk.

How about a buy to let with an intrest free mortgage?
Probably ok if the rent is a fair bit more than the mortgage payments and expected expenses/voids but it should be factored in to your total risk.

msmicawber

I don't have a mortgage, but if I did, I'd view it as an essential living expense because the alternative is having to pay rent.

nearlyrich

Most people work on the bad debt then use their skills on shortening the mortgage term, as kathfisch says it doesn't have to be 25 years.

bargainbetty

I don't include my mortgage either - as it has been said, it's a living expense. It would also make my list look worse.... I can see myself paying off £7k, but having £88,000 more to go... jeez.

*sigh* Think I'll have a bit of chocolate to get over the £95k shock. A small piece of a cheap bar from Lidl.