Disagreeing over debt!!!!

Tommy81

I stupidly got into a discussion with a colleague over debt. One of the few people who know about my 30K debt!


This person commented that my debts were 'awful' and that she would hate to be in that much debt. She then said that she and her husband owed around 15K combined.


I know that their joint income is around the 25K mark as I helped her with a mortgage application recently and that their mortgage payments is similar to mine ( £400-500ish).


I explained that our situations were actually fairly similar as they owe £15K on an income of 25k and we owe just over 30K on an income of around 64K. In fact, I would say that we have the slight advantage (I didn't tell her that though!!)


I know that every situation is different but I know that they have a similar lifestyle to us, 1 child etc.


It seems strange to me that people only look at the top figure without considering it as a relative amount. She genuinely couldn't see why her debt was just as serious as mine.

FireWyrm

Mine is £11K and I consider that to be extremely serious although it is only one fifth of my annual income. It is relative. When I look at what we could be doing with the money that I am having to use to repay debts, and think back to the profligacy and waste of the last two decades, I wonder that I didnt do something about it much sooner before it got to be so large. Other people on here would snort in derision at owing just that amount but I consider it to be a massive burden and I cant wait to be free of it.

Kate_fixing_it

I'd second what Firewyrm says. Whilst what you are saying has a point (debt is relative to income) it's also dependant on your perspective. £10k+ is a massive burden to me - 6 months ago £12k+ wasn't such a stress!

I think the biggest hurdle in tackling ANY level of debt is accepting the total, realising it's not a crime and planning to solve it whilst living. The beauty of this forum is that we can see that we aren't alone in our situation but everyone has a slightly different overall perspective. We may agree on some points but no two posters are exactly the same - whilst I personally wouldn't consider a gym membership another poster may think my TV package is ridiculous. Neither of us are "wrong", we're just different.

Kate x

FBaby

I would think the biggest factor in it is your lifestyle. How can there on a salary more than half be the same than yours? Surely if that is the case, it won't be long until their £15k become £30K and then they will definitely be worse off.

blisteringblue

While this isn't meant to sound as harsh as it sounds, you also have to add in the intelligence factor. A debt total is a figure at the end of the day, it's there in black and white. However ratios of income to debt are not as obvious and does require maths to work it out.

It's probably not worth getting into an argument over it just because they can't see they are as "in debt" as you are.

National_Debtline

Hello there,

It's an interesting question - and as the others have said already, it's all relative. Not only when you consider overall indebtedness compared to overall income but also when you think about affordability.

We tend to think about debt as being either manegable or unmanegable. Someone could owe a very significant sum indeed but be able to pay it off over a reasonable period of time. I've spoken to callers who have owed six figure sums on credit debts such as loans and cards - and they've been able to get the debt cleared reasonably quickly. I've also spoken to callers who have been at their wits end because they owe £110 on a catalogue (their only debt) but don't have the means to pay it at all.

To give you an idea of a typical caller, and what they might owe, here are our statistics for March:

3% of callers had no debt at all
41% of callers owed between £1 and £5,000
31% of callers owed between £5,000 and £15,000
11% of callers owed between £15,000 and £25,000
9% of callers owed between £25,000 and £50,000
3% of callers owed between £50,000 and £100,000
1% of callers owed over £100,000

These figures do not include what might be owing on a mortgage or secured loan unless there are arrears - and then we would only include the amount owing as arrears.

Best wishes,

David @natdebtline

Pixie5740

Tommy81, you've had your LBM and whilst you might be right, your colleague isn't there yet.

tallyhoh

Tommy81 wrote: »

I stupidly got into a discussion with a colleague over debt. One of the few people who know about my 30K debt!


This person commented that my debts were 'awful' and that she would hate to be in that much debt. She then said that she and her husband owed around 15K combined.


I know that their joint income is around the 25K mark as I helped her with a mortgage application recently and that their mortgage payments is similar to mine ( £400-500ish).


I explained that our situations were actually fairly similar as they owe £15K on an income of 25k and we owe just over 30K on an income of around 64K. In fact, I would say that we have the slight advantage (I didn't tell her that though!!)


I know that every situation is different but I know that they have a similar lifestyle to us, 1 child etc.


It seems strange to me that people only look at the top figure without considering it as a relative amount. She genuinely couldn't see why her debt was just as serious as mine.

I could see your debt being more of a problem than hers if you both lost your income tomorrow through redundancy or the like. Is that what she means?

getmore4less

Tommy81 wrote: »

I stupidly got into a discussion with a colleague over debt. One of the few people who know about my 30K debt!


This person commented that my debts were 'awful' and that she would hate to be in that much debt. She then said that she and her husband owed around 15K combined.


I know that their joint income is around the 25K mark as I helped her with a mortgage application recently and that their mortgage payments is similar to mine ( £400-500ish).


I explained that our situations were actually fairly similar as they owe £15K on an income of 25k and we owe just over 30K on an income of around 64K. In fact, I would say that we have the slight advantage (I didn't tell her that though!!)


I know that every situation is different but I know that they have a similar lifestyle to us, 1 child etc.


It seems strange to me that people only look at the top figure without considering it as a relative amount. She genuinely couldn't see why her debt was just as serious as mine.

if you have a similar lifestyle and mortgage where is/has all your money gone?

£25k net £1600-£1900
£64k net £3680-£4100

With all that extra debt and extra income probably approaching £2k per month it suggests that you don't have similar lifestyles.

Ninnins

When I look at what we could be doing with the money that I am having to use to repay debts, and think back to the profligacy and waste of the last two decades, I wonder that I didnt do something about it much sooner before it got to be so large.

Oh, how your words struck a cord FireWyrm! Right now I have £27,000 of unsecured debt, a £220,000 mortgage and only 8 years from retirement. Mitigating circumstances are a divorce, putting two children through university, and as you state, two decades of the "buy now pay later" mentality. How I wish I'd never set eyes on a credit card, loan or store card. I am feeling so overwhelmed, have had "light bulb moments" a plenty over the last few years but not been able to stick with the programme - mainly due to my head not being in the right place. A wise person said to me twenty years ago "sort your head out first and the rest will follow". Debt is not just about spending money. The spending is a symptom of a deeper root. For some. For me.

NHS_worker_bee

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Tommy81, you've had your LBM and whilst you might be right, your colleague isn't there yet.

Well said. As David @natdebtline said, it's all relative.

The main thing is, you've had your light bulb moment and are on a debt free journey. It's not so much where you start the journey, but where you end up that's going to matter in the future.

Best wishes with getting debt free, Tommy81.