Truthfully - How much debt do you have?

meghatronic said:
The whole point of the cc is that people can buy things they can't afford and pay it back over long term. Don't say that's wrong, as it isn't our business. It's like a general HP agreement. The high APRs aren't our business either, it's between the creditor and the consumer. The issues I have is our the banks haven't pursued debt repayment as vigourously as I would've, due to greed (more debt, longer debt, more interest).
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I'm going to have to disagree. Yes, a credit card can be used for that and I completely agree with your statement that banks haven't pursued debt repayment vigorously.
Credit cards also provide a safe method of completing a transaction, for example fraud protection. They also provide a service for people who can't afford to buy things but pay it back in the short term (i.e. at the end of the month when they get paid.)

Maybe it's the way I've been brought up then. My dad has always nailed into me the idea of staying out of debt and never spending beyond my means. I also don't see what's wrong with the good old fashioned concept of saving up for something. If I want a new pair of speakers, I don't just shove them on the credit card - I save up for them and then buy them, using the credit card purely as a guarantee if anything goes wrong or the company goes bust. At least I do NOW. Obviously as above I stated that I exploited my overdraft and used it almost like an extremely long-term interest-free credit card.

In short, credit cards simply allow you to have what you want sooner, without the process of saving up. It also allows people to spend what they don't have, which has massively exacerbated the current economic crisis.
 
I usually hover at about £ -750 by the end of the month, i have a free overdraft of £1500, but I'd like to come out of this, so no more hardware for me for a few months :)

and a £8500 student loan, but like most, i don't care/think about it, about £30 gets taken each month from my wage towards it

so

£750 main account
£8500 student overdraft

I have a few bits and bobs in savings
 
about 10 grand

i bailed my brother out last year who had glandular fever, and became incredibly depressed, very unlike him. he's back on his feet, just about to finish college and go to uni - and now i'm wondering if i'll ever see the money again!

but as some people have said - it's money. it comes, it goes, life's far too short to worry!
 
scott212 said:
The majority of people with these fall into the same trap, and that is when the initial 0% period is over, they still end up abusing it and in debt to the credit card companies.
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Which is the point... debt = good for lenders.

scott212 said:
I'm going to have to disagree. Yes, a credit card can be used for that and I completely agree with your statement that banks haven't pursued debt repayment vigorously.
Credit cards also provide a safe method of completing a transaction, for example fraud protection. They also provide a service for people who can't afford to buy things but pay it back in the short term (i.e. at the end of the month when they get paid.)

Maybe it's the way I've been brought up then. My dad has always nailed into me the idea of staying out of debt and never spending beyond my means. I also don't see what's wrong with the good old fashioned concept of saving up for something. If I want a new pair of speakers, I don't just shove them on the credit card - I save up for them and then buy them, using the credit card purely as a guarantee if anything goes wrong or the company goes bust. At least I do NOW. Obviously as above I stated that I exploited my overdraft and used it almost like an extremely long-term interest-free credit card.

In short, credit cards simply allow you to have what you want sooner, without the process of saving up. It also allows people to spend what they don't have, which has massively exacerbated the current economic crisis.
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Well, I agree morally (saving up to buy something), but our economy is truly underpinned by debt. So if no one used cards, accrued debt etc, then our economy would be dull. And we'd be back to paying for our bank accounts...
There is nothing wrong (at all) with a credit card and debt. It's toxic debt that is the issue (where default is very likely). That is due to irresponsible lending, and irresponsible borrowing.

The whole buy up to save thing is flawed. And it isn't the way our economy. What about a mortgage? You going to save up £250,000 for a house and buy it cash? Or is a mortgage "good" debt and a credit card "bad debt"?
 
Not including the student loan which I am paying back something silly like £15 a month towards.

£800 left on bank loan that was required for the car
£500 on the credit card, still catching up from xmas and new year but I will get on top of it.
 
£0 apart from the £10K left on mortgage which will be off in a few months time.

I somehow managed to control my spending as a student and have always avoided having credit cards. I worried like hell when i got my first mortgage of £40K in the mid 90's.
 
Cosmic182 said:
but some people have 10k+ debt, i dont think i'd call that managable debt....i dont think i could sleep with that around my neck, i can understand mortgages, car payments that is what i would call managable debt....credit cards things like that to me is not managable debt its recklous debt :( , If you cant afford it why put it on a card that in the end you'll only pay x% more.
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if they can afford the payments it's manageable, I know people who've bought cars on credit cards, the amount is irrelevant when speaking to other people, it's only relevant in the individuals situation. Manageable debt isn't about having very little debt it's about being able to make all your payments on time, which will improve your credit rating and increase the trust lenders put into you
 
Seems like the student loan debts aren't as bad as people make them out to be? They take a sum from your wages if you earn more than £15,000 and thats it, they never chase you for the money or anything.
 
Strife212 said:
Seems like the student loan debts aren't as bad as people make them out to be? They take a meagre sum from your wages and thats it, they never chase you for the money or anything.
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Just like any other income contingent loan. the IR take 9% of your salary with a £15k personal allowance (so the first £15k is untapped).
 
Surely manageable debt is debt that you can afford to pay back within the terms set out by the lender.

Yes i have a lot of debt, but neither me or my wife are frivolous spenders, our credit card debts are there because of things that we needed such as a new central heating system to replace an antiquated one and also a full electrical rewire after we discovered ours was unsafe.

I think a lot of people jump up on the moral high horse as soon as they see how much debt some people have and its very easy to shoot us down saying that we lend irresponsibly when that just is not the case.

My wife's and my parents are both very responsible with money and always tried to teach us that its better to have no debt etc, however in the real world i would say that in the majority of cases that just is not possible.

My wife and i try to save, but we also try to give our 2 young children an enjoyable carefree life too which i regard as being more important than any amount of money.

Some people in this thread really do need to take a reality check....not everyone with debt is the devil.:o
 
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