Is having to much "stuff" the problem ?

fabianne

Can I ask-is this your first child?
'Extra's' such as Playstations etc and life itself gets more expensive with kids around.
One car/Normal tellybox and it's a Dishwasher/Sky/Sat Nav free zone here!

mongo_bongocat

Buying stuff has probably got a percentage of people into debt but I wouldn't say it would be a massive percentage. I myself got into debt after having a brief (but ultimately very expensive) spurt of online gambling. Getting credit thrust at me didn't help matters either (when I reached my credit limit on my sharklycard for instance the credit limit would miraculously rise higher and higher!) Also I borrowed money to get together a deposit for the house.

Mad I know, but there you go. You live and learn.

I'm painfully paying it off now but I must admit that it's been a great education and has definitely showed me the value of things.

vindalooloo

>> I'm not having a go but is the desire for stuff / keeping up with the Jones that gets us into debt ?


Not for a lot of people - Try living on National minimum wage. Many people on £5.35 an hour simply cannot afford the cost of living! This is when they have to take out loans just to 'see them through'.

I have a degree, but we live in a seaside town where work is sparce, largely menial (shop work, care homes etc) and mostly seasonal, so I have had to end up working in a shop for just over five quid an hour. Hubby works full time on the same rate.

Luckily you have a 'fairly good' income and savings (GOD WHAT ARE SAVINGS!!!!) but for many people they simply don't have the income in the first place to meet basic needs. So no - I don't think it's always a case of people going barmy with credit cards and buying 'stuff' like it's going out of fashion.

Maybe you think that were all like these people you see on 'Spendaholics' 'Bank of Mum and Dad' and TV programs like these. We're not ........ were in debt because we've HAD to go into debt to feed / clothe the family and keep a roof over't head.

ti1980

This is a really interesting thread.

There are so many reasons why people are in debt, you would go on forever trying to reason how and why different people are in debt.

As for the 'stuff' question, I personally don't have a lot of 'things' at all in my opinion if you see my list.

1) A computer at home (reconditioned thing given to me as a present)
2) No car
3) No camcorder
4) No ipod
5) No sat nav
6) One contract phone which is £15 per month (was £20) and I don't go over this.
7) A tv in the lounge that isn't mine (landladys)
8) No lap top.
9) No play station
10) I don't buy DVDs or CDs, boyf or friends copy them for me.
11) Have cable tv, not the full package and cost is split between 4 people.
12) No digital camera.
13) No dishwasher.

When I was a student I was more reckless with my money in the fact that I would use my credit card to pay for things like food shopping and not pay off the balance in full like I do now. I withdrew money from my credit card not realising how much that cost and I went to quite a few gigs but even though I know I was silly at times, given the chance I would do some things differently but other things like the amount of gigs I went to I wouldn't change at all and don't feel bad for saying that.

themaccas

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote:

1) A computer at home (both use internet access at work;) YES
2)Have just one car (I cycle to work). Our car is 6 years old ie. year 2000 reg. 2 cars
3)No camcorderYES
4)No ipodYES we have 3 iPods and 3 iPods Shuffles (6!)
5)no sat nav NO
6)until recently one pay as you go mobile between 2 of us.(mobiles are not camera mobiles) only when she became pregnant did we buy a mobile for me.4 MOBILES
7)one tv in the house (non plasma) 3 Tvs,1 is LCD
8)no lap top. YES we have 3 though 2 of them were prizes
9) no play station YES
10) we don't have many dvd's or CD's. YES
11) we don't have the full sky package. NO just freeview:A
12)no digital camera. YES 2 but both quite old
13) No dishwasher. YES



Best.

No idea how we have so much debt then:rotfl:

themaccas

WOuld also like to add that if there were just the 2 of us expecting our first child we wouldn't probably have even half of the above!

Anastacia

The Maccas, you might know how to spend it but you sure know how to pay it off! I am very impressed with your repayments this year.

Looking back to when our first child was born, we didnt have a car or phone,let alone anything more exciting from the list. My husband was made redundant without any redudancy pay when i was pregnant. i couldnt go back to my job after the baby because IBM had their first spate of redundancy that year too. Over the next 15 to 20 years OP you might find you acquire a few things too. They are cheap & unimportant compared with the trials that may come your way. Hopefully you wont lose jobs, have major illnesses & other problems which will lead you to debt.

If only everything was so black & white and easy to control.

8pnoodles

1) No desktop computer at home (ours died, no replacement)
2) One car between two of us
3) No camcorder
4) 2 ipods
5) No sat nav
6) Two mobiles - SIM only cheap contracts.
7) Boring non-flat screen tv
8) 2 laptops.
9) X box
10) Too many DVDs (husbands, back from before he met me!).
11) Freeview only.
12) 2 expensive digital cameras and all the kit that goes with them.
13) No dishwasher.

The weird thing is before we met, we were both in debt, I had nothing to show for it, and he had tons of stuff. I had a combination of a big wedding (to my ex), a divorce, a period of unemployment and too much going out to get me into debt.

My husband has all the "stuff". He is a gadget freak. Between us we're doing very well now, close to being out of debt.

Our laptops and camera gear are necessities because we're part time photographers and currently using our business to help us get out of debt! It's very hard work, long hours, but pays ok.

People are in debt for so many reasons, you can't generalise.

earwig

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote:

Me and Mrs best both work (though she is on maternity leave at the moment, may or may not go back to work).

We have no debt accept a mortgage (we have paid of credit card / car loan).

We have some rainy day savings.

I am just wondering how much debt is the result of needing "stuff".

Though our joint income is fairy good we do not own any of the following.

1) A computer at home (both use internet access at work;
2)Have just one car (I cycle to work). Our car is 6 years old ie. year 2000 yesreg.
3)No camcorder
4)No ipod
5)no sat nav
6)until recently one pay as you go mobile between 2 of us.(mobiles are not camera mobiles) only when she became pregnant did we buy a mobile for me.
7)one tv in the house (non plasma)
8)no lap top.
9) no play station
10) we don't have many dvd's or CD's.
11) we don't have the full sky package.
12)no digital camera.
13) No dishwasher.

etc etc

now we could buy all the above in cash today but choose not to. I get the impression that we are probably unusual in not having all the above stuff.

I'm not having a go but is the desire for stuff / keeping up with the Jones that gets us into debt ?

Are you in debt and do you have any (or all) of the above ?


Best.

i have allthe stuff on your list we have a home pc as well as a laptop we have a telly vidoe and dvd in the following rooms front room kitchen and dd room we also have sky plus and psp ps2 some of it was brought on cc but not all of it some was paid with overtime from oh job i wouldnt be with out anyof it do we need it apart from the car no we dont but i wouldnt be with out any of it just in future i wouldnt put any of it on a cc loan or overdraft

lil'H

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote:

1) A computer at home (both use internet access at work;)
2)Have just one car (I cycle to work). Our car is 6 years old ie. year 2000 reg.
3)No camcorder
4)No ipod
5)no sat nav
6)until recently one pay as you go mobile between 2 of us.(mobiles are not camera mobiles) only when she became pregnant did we buy a mobile for me.
7)one tv in the house (non plasma)
8)no lap top.
9) no play station
10) we don't have many dvd's or CD's.
11) we don't have the full sky package.
12)no digital camera.
13) No dishwasher.
Best.

1/9) Have one laptop, which i run my business on and do my masters study on so a necessity really.
2) Just one car, 4 years old so only two years younger than yours
3) No
4) No
5) No
6) One mobile
7) One basic TV
8) Nope
10) Never buy DVDs or CDs
11) Don't have sky at all, let alone full package!
12) Yes - was a present and I expect you'll find once your a parent you'll sucume to this one, cheaper than processing millions of films!
13) Nope


I have to add that it isn't always too much stuff that creastes the problem. I don't have luxeries, and as a single parent I can't win. Either I work full time and get slated for 'abandoning my son' in I might add £200 a week childcare, or don't work and get callled a scrounger. My debts were the result of needing to buy food and pay bills whilst studying for my degree as a single parent. So I work part time now, with no available childcare for part time school children in my area I have no other option until January, my income is too small for the luxeries above, and I personally wouldn't consider buying many of those items unless I was completely debt free.

Lil'H