worst unsecured debt that you know of?

contrarymary81

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site having just faced up to the amount ofdebt I am in. I am sickened to admit that I owe 35k on a 51k salary. I intend to post all of the SO stuff etc over the next week when I have got full details of apr's etc.

I know it's relative to ones income but, what is the worst level of unsecured debt that you know of? I don't really know how common or uncommon my situation is. I don''t discuss my debts with anyone so I am sure that others aren't open with me regarding theirs!

I have heard of the the odd case study of people paying off six figures but I don't really know anyone personally who has this level of debt.

phoenixx

contrarymary81 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site having just faced up to the amount ofdebt I am in. I am sickened to admit that I owe 35k on a 51k salary. I intend to post all of the SO stuff etc over the next week when I have got full details of apr's etc.

I know it's relative to ones income but, what is the worst level of unsecured debt that you know of? I don't really know how common or uncommon my situation is. I don''t discuss my debts with anyone so I am sure that others aren't open with me regarding theirs!

I have heard of the the odd case study of people paying off six figures but I don't really know anyone personally who has this level of debt.

Hi and welcome. If you take a look at my signature you will see that we owed nearly £100k when we started our DMP. That is between me and DH. We are down to about £36k now. It is a slog but so glad we tackled it. Just wish we had done it sooner.

HappyMJ

contrarymary81 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site having just faced up to the amount ofdebt I am in. I am sickened to admit that I owe 35k on a 51k salary. I intend to post all of the SO stuff etc over the next week when I have got full details of apr's etc.

I know it's relative to ones income but, what is the worst level of unsecured debt that you know of? I don't really know how common or uncommon my situation is. I don''t discuss my debts with anyone so I am sure that others aren't open with me regarding theirs!

I have heard of the the odd case study of people paying off six figures but I don't really know anyone personally who has this level of debt.

£35,000 isn't too bad if the interest rates are low. I would pay less than £100 a month in interest if I had that amount outstanding on loans and credit cards.

I currently owe some £25,000 on income of £12,000.

lazer-zxr

Welcome aboard.
This time last year, I had 51k unsecured debt, on salary of 52k before tax.

My principle was to reduce regular costs first, and so done a blitz on bills and regular charges (use quidco). My thoughts were, if I had to increase income, I'd have to increase it 140% of the value of a cost save, due to Tax.

I also looked at extra income from matched betting (managed to get £1500 this year) and bank switching (£2k this year), and ebay.

I didnt look at DMP or anything, just decided to address my financial management, (with the help of YNAB at first, though I've ditched that now).

I'm now at around £38k ..... and still enthusiastic about beating this. It can be done, but in my case, its realistically a 5 year journey.

takingcareofthepennies

You are not alone. If you read through this board you will come across quite a few people with that level of debt.


The important thing is that you've had that light bulb moment. My advice would be - don't put off starting to repay it. Get going as quickly as you can.


At its worst my debt was only ("only") ever around £12k, but it stayed at that level for the best part of a decade, with all of the sleepless nights and red letters that that entailed. I regret hugely that I didn't try and tackle it earlier. Now I am just two pay days away from clearing it altogether, and that is a wonderful feeling.


Good luck with it - you can do it!

sambuca9

contrarymary81 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site having just faced up to the amount ofdebt I am in. I am sickened to admit that I owe 35k on a 51k salary. I intend to post all of the SO stuff etc over the next week when I have got full details of apr's etc.

I know it's relative to ones income but, what is the worst level of unsecured debt that you know of? I don't really know how common or uncommon my situation is. I don''t discuss my debts with anyone so I am sure that others aren't open with me regarding theirs!

I have heard of the the odd case study of people paying off six figures but I don't really know anyone personally who has this level of debt.

Hi and welcome

You can see the debt I was in a few years ago, and this was on wages of £28k a year !!! I managed to acquire it all at a time when borrowing was really easy to do and I took full advantage of it.

Lesson learnt, I have spent the last few years paying it down, I was fortunate in that I could always service my debts and I felt that I had used the money and taken the loans and credit cards at the rates offered, so it was my responsibility to pay it back (this is not making a judgement on anyone else or the different routes people take).

It can be done with a bit of planning and sacrifice, I found the forums really helpful with ideas for cutting back, although I never went as extreme as some have, it did make a difference.

I think debt is on par with mental health in being seen as a dirty little secret that is not talked about and kept secret. Personally I would like to think this is changing, how can the next generation learn for our mistakes if we dont? I have been very honest with my children and my debt in the hope they will make better choices.

Good luck

Playing_with_Fire_2

Welcome. That is a lot of debt but you can do it - especially on a solid salary. Don't assume that just because no-one talks about it that you don't know anyone with that much debt.

I had £116k in unsecured loans and credit cards; all paid off now (no DRO/DMP/BK). I had a giant chart which I coloured in every time I made a payment[overpayment so that I could see how much closer I was getting.

Check out the Debt Free Roll of Honour for success stories.

dumpyboy

When my other half left end 2007 after that shock found out I owed between 68000 and 70000 , now in 2016 it's 3075 never earning more then 25000 a year can not wait till it s all gone

oldhand

contrarymary81 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site having just faced up to the amount ofdebt I am in. I am sickened to admit that I owe 35k on a 51k salary. I intend to post all of the SO stuff etc over the next week when I have got full details of apr's etc.

I know it's relative to ones income but, what is the worst level of unsecured debt that you know of? I don't really know how common or uncommon my situation is. I don''t discuss my debts with anyone so I am sure that others aren't open with me regarding theirs!

I have heard of the the odd case study of people paying off six figures but I don't really know anyone personally who has this level of debt.

I believe the USAs debt is several trillion and rising by the hour,makes me feel a little better about mine......:)

January2015

Hi

£94k debt here....not anymore though.....slowly chipping away to reduce it

sourcrates

Been asked a few times on here this question.

There are lots of people with between 50-100k of debt, some earn high saleries and have just been slack with there budgeting, but a high proportion are below average wage earners, and you have to ask yourself how can banks allow people to borrow up to 4 times there annual income, it's a ludicrous situation to be in.

I had money literally thrown at me before the crash, my debt was 57k at its height, now gone thankfully!!