Are we a small minority?

jopage80

Having a bad debt today today when It's all I can think about.

Looking at our level of debt - 70K on a salary of about that same.... does this make us an extreme case? I know that comparing ourselves to others is not productive but I just can't beleive that we are the only ones who are in this type of money mess.

angelpye

Hi, I think its all relative. My debt is 1/7 of my yearly income but my income is low therefore I have less disposable cash to clear it. But obviously just because you have a higher income it doesn't mean you necessarily have all of that spare as you expenditure is likely to be higher. For me its about what is comfortable. I also have 40 times my debt in equity in my house but I am uncomfortable with my level of debt due to my ability to repay it quickly without releasing equity. I don't compare my situation to others as we all have different family sizes, priorities etc. I know I could go out tomorrow and get a job that would pay 3 times my current income but have chosen a less stressful path so my income is low, which causes my own stress with debt, but the balance is worth it for me.

lazer-zxr

I think debt at this level is more common than you think. If lenders are willing to fund this level of debt for you, it will be available to countless others aswell, and some of those will be using it. With my LBM @ £59k, I knew I had a debt to get down, but in no way did I think the figure was extreme ... in fact, I viewed it as getting hold of the issue before it became a big number.

MrsTinks

I guess a lot of it will come down to things like if they are secured debts or consumer debt IYSWIM?

I have about £11k debt and then I have a whopping *ahem* £35k debt (car) - however to me this is an affordable debt, because of what I do this is a running cost to me...

So either I have about debt equal to annual income, OR I'm at about 1/4 debt to income. Perspective.

Husbeast including his car is probably on about 50-60% debt to income ratio (NOT including his bonuses).

I know the exact get out clauses for the car so I know my total exposure and it's one I'm comfortable with. You need to work out what works for you. I will probably always have a car on finance because my needs are specific to my job/family and it doesn't bother me. It makes more sense for me to finance a car then buy one - time off to deal with an unreliable car could cost me my main job so not acceptable. I also need it to be of a certain snob value because of my position - and on top of that I want a certain safety level because my daughter is transported in it. The latter being the largest factor (and heavily influenced by the fact I do a lot of work with vehicle accidents).

The point I'm badly trying to make is that your circumstances will be madly different to mine, so you need to work on YOUR situation and not try to compare it to mine... Otherwise it will just drive you mad!

Beatle_Ray

Hi Jopage 80
I had £81,000 worth of debt until 2013 cleared most of it and I think without checking I'm down to £16K at the moment which is about 40% worth of salary, I'm going to release some funds from a pension at the end of the year only because I'm fed up to the back teeth of having this around my neck all the time, it's the constant worry and stress of it that gets to me and after being in debt now for just under ten years I don't think I can do any more, ultimately would like to do something or go somewhere or even buy something which isn't food bought cheaply, there has to more to life than getting paid and giving it all away