Why do people get in debt?

justruth

Being in 2 disastrous relationships, coupled up wit a period of unemployment and bad health and not realising that tomorrow does come with a bl00dy big bill!

Edited to add; making the wrong life choices and not understanding the that life is more than material goods. The birth of my niece 3 years ago changed my life (my lightbulb moment).

wendym

I think that we now expect the impossible of young people. We encourage them into debt that would have been unthinkable for us, in order for them to study. The system means they spend 3 or 4 years working in 'negative money', then begin adult life owing thousands, start earning not very much (whatever the claims made for graduate salaries), and continue both in debt and adding to it.

When I am in charge, everyone over the age of 40 who got a grant to study will pay an extra tax to help today's students.

Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but if everyone here had their student debt wiped..............

southernscouser

Bit of a weird place to post that quesiton! I don't see no-one in debt here! :rotfl:

With me, I was gonna say greed but I don't think it was really that. It was certainly a can't wait mentality but as daft as it sounds I was never aware of how much I owed. I used to always open my bills and pay them on time but to be honest the minimum payments only used to draw my attention.

I don't think I was deliberately avoiding the totals, it just never really occured to me!

My money went on 2 brand new cars, 7 or 8 foreign holidays, 2 PC's, clothes, eating out and god knows what else! :wall:

postingalwaysposting

for me i wanted things, so i saved but then the next model/better item came along so i stuck the balance on credit, then i had a drop in wages one month and a vet bill so i couldnt pay it....

southernscouser

ts_aly2000 wrote:

People can justify it until the cows come home and try to make their situation sound plausable. And usually they do, as those listening are trying to do exactly the same.

And in the defence of those who have genuinely hit hard times, that is indeed it, hard times. Unfortunately though, they're tarnished with the same brush as the wannabee socialites.

But there is no tarnishing with brushes on here. Certainly not from me and I expect the majority of people on here.

In all honesty I couldn't give two !!!!!! how or why someone is in debt. I'm just here to help them and to draw from other peoples support. We all have the same thing in common and thats good enough for me.

But I'm glad I can draw support from you! :beer:

shellyjane

80% of my debt is from going to uni and then continuing my studies. You are told or led to believe if you 'invest' in your future by getting qualifications you will be able to get a good salary afterwards. Although I feel like I am now doing well in my career, my salary is not enough to cover my repayments. That is how I got the other 20% - using credit cards and overdraft when I have been short on rent, food, bills etc because of the repayments!

Gorgeous_George

FWIW I owed 4 months pay when I was an apprentice. It seemed like a lot more! The bank manager called me in and helped me sort myself out. I got in, what seems a minor mess now, by really enjoying my teenage years. If I could do it again I'd spend even more!

Paying it back meant I couldn't party so much. Without the debt I doubt I would have completed my apprenticeship. No idea what I'd be doing now if I hadn't. My fallback plan was to join the plod. I think I might have enjoyed that so I don't really know if completing my apprenticeship was such a good thing.

I know people who are in debt and justify it because they expect to be left significant legacies from elderly relatives. I fins this particularly sad and what's more, I know that they will be disappointed when the relatives finally pop their clogs. They don't get a mention.



GG

littlestar1981

southernscouser wrote:

Bit of a weird place to post that quesiton! I don't see no-one in debt here! :rotfl:

I am!!

Mine started from a bad relationship. It lasted 5 years. He came to the table with 15k debt, then when we bought a 50k house together he decided not to work......we borrowed (in total) 50k additional on the mortgage and 10k on visa/overdraft (10k in my name, he couldn't get credit, no job)

We split and the house sold with us owing 2k each. I partially blame the Halifax too as they had our house value at 180k on paper even though their own estate agent valued it at 95k! That's why they continued to allow us to borrow.

Leaving the bad relationship in October 05 with about 8k debt in my name. This ex made me feel worthless, so buying new things that people liked and admired boosted my self confidence. By April this year, at the start of a new relationship, I finally took a proper look at my finances/debts and found a 11k brand new car debt (again, wanted the envy and admiration), 10k on visas and 2k on overdrafts (mainly shared with the ex, see my thread under current accounts if you can help with that one!) All because I would stop at nothing for people to like me.

I have a OH now that likes looking for bargains in charity shops, and going for walks that cost 40p (for bread to feed the ducks lol) so I can see that with that, a lightbulb moment and a snowball calculator things will be fine eventually. She hopes!

smilermonkey

Gosh what a huge question! There must be as many social reasons (material society,media, easy access to credit etc) as there are psychological (no sense of self worth, unresolved issues etc). It is all well and good to be on here to be rid of your debts, but I know that unless I look at my reasons I'll be back again and again. I cleared my debts once and am back...

bella123

4 me it was been addicted to gambling.:mad: