How common is my situation?

andyfromotley

Definitely normal. IMO most of the people in this country are broke, and in debt. Thats astonishing when you consider that almost everyone in htis country falls within the richest 2% of people on the planet.

I think its a combination of selfishness, super effective marketing, a lack of any self control and a failure to learn budgeting skills that has led us to this calamitous situation.Personal debt may be the signicant symptom at the moment but the huge one coming down the tracks is the enormous number of people who have made no or little provision for retirement. They are going to live an awfully long time and for many they will be doing so in poverty.

user1168934

Interesting thread. I have to say I am very very surprised to read all these replies which say £22K debt is quite normal in the UK :eek: I assume you are not including mortgage when you say that. I always thought the normal debt was more like 2-3 K.
Personally I think £22K of debt is too high and one has to be absolutely brain dead to get himself into this much debt just by overspending.
OP I don't mean to discourage you. I think you are on the right path. You will however need some serious changes to get yourself out of this debt. Its easy to give in to old habits, just don't do that.

Several years ago when I was a studying and had little money I set myself a challenge on the least amount I can live on for a month. I believe the number I got was around £400 a month including all rent, bills, travelling, food etc and this is London I am talking about. Given your income try this for a year or two and you should be debt free soon. Best of luck.

Deep_In_Debt

I had 31k of debt and it took 5 years to clear it.

Shocking to think my debt repayments were higher than my mortgage repayments. That was a serious wake up call.

matchboxfull

user1168934 wrote: »

Interesting thread. I have to say I am very very surprised to read all these replies which say £22K debt is quite normal in the UK :eek: I assume you are not including mortgage when you say that. I always thought the normal debt was more like 2-3 K.
Personally I think £22K of debt is too high and one has to be absolutely brain dead to get himself into this much debt just by overspending.
OP I don't mean to discourage you. I think you are on the right path. You will however need some serious changes to get yourself out of this debt. Its easy to give in to old habits, just don't do that.

Several years ago when I was a studying and had little money I set myself a challenge on the least amount I can live on for a month. I believe the number I got was around £400 a month including all rent, bills, travelling, food etc and this is London I am talking about. Given your income try this for a year or two and you should be debt free soon. Best of luck.

Although I don't think you were intending any harm, I don't think it's helpful to call people who are in debt 'brain-dead'. Everyone makes mistakes. Some with money, some with other things. And sometimes those mistakes go on for a while.

It's obviously undesirable to be in £22k worth of debt (although the degree to which it's a problem depends on the type of debt and the income of the debtor). People come here for support, though, and the OP needs to be encouraged that others have successfully eliminated debts this high, and higher.

The OP needs to examine why she overspent for so long and change her mindset. Plenty of us have been there.

user1168934

matchboxfull wrote: »

Although I don't think you were intending any harm, I don't think it's helpful to call people who are in debt 'brain-dead'. Everyone makes mistakes. Some with money, some with other things. And sometimes those mistakes go on for a while.

It's obviously undesirable to be in £22k worth of debt (although the degree to which it's a problem depends on the type of debt and the income of the debtor). People come here for support, though, and the OP needs to be encouraged that others have successfully eliminated debts this high, and higher.

The OP needs to examine why she overspent for so long and change her mindset. Plenty of us have been there.

I do apologize, did not mean to come across like that - very sorry.

lincs1205

Hi OP, as you can see from my sig I've got a similar amount of debt to you on similar wages to yourself, mine has been accumulated in a variety of ways paying for our wedding, honeymoon, baling my in laws out, being to generous with presents. I also have a car which I am not counting in my debt as it will be handed back at the end of three years. You will get sorted as will I. Good Luck

Nowisnow

Hi Terryschocorange

I got into debt due to total financial illiteracy, complacency and denial. Clever marketing contributed to the situation. Martin Lewis and this forum completely changed all that.

Stop being ashamed - congratulate yourself for posting on here. If you continue, and take all the excellent advice on offer, you will soon have things under control.

Debt is undoubtedly too common. It is NOT only found amongst the stupid, but the cure is recognising the causes and facing up to it!

Good luck xx

dirtycredit

Hiya,

It's quite a bit of debt but it's probably a good job that you've realised your mistakes, reign in your spending and start making a plan to clear it now while the goings good, you have a decent wage and before you get any older! Also if you don't have children you have an even better chance of paying the debt off quick as all your money can be thrown at repayments.

A good kick up the bum is to work out how long it would take you to pay back your debts at your current rate and how old you'll be. This really made me scramble into action! I didn't want to be paying off debts when I'm forty that were acrrued when I was in my twenties. It's madness!

If you pull yourself together and get stuck in you could pay it off in about two or three years. I've got similar numbers and wages and I'm aiming for 2 years.

Good luck!

DC x

iammumtoone

To me your debt seems ok. Monetary value my level of debt is less than yours, but you earn more in a year than you owe, whereas I earn less in a year than I owe so to me my debt is worse than yours. This of course is a a too simple way of looking at it, to really compare our situations we would need to work out who has the most disposable money each month/year.

Well done in deciding to do something about it, you are one step ahead of me, whilst I know I have to tackle it this year, I am yet to work up the courage to do my SOA and post on here regarding it.

It is good your partner knows of the debt and of course it is your choice how much detail you go into with him regarding it but what I will say is he will need to be on board to help you as you will need to cut back, which in turn will effect him (no more going out and spending when its not necessary).This is what I am struggling with, I don't have a partner but do have a child who is going to have to learn no more takeaways, no more days out that involve visiting places that charge etc

Good luck, you will get sorted with that wage and level of debt it is certainly doable.

robbierude

Hi there. I had the same level of debt and was on a similar salary when I started paying it back. Thankfully only 18% left to go! Best of luck.