How much debt are you in and what for?

Tripod or Mr fantastic said:
Most people won't know their actual debt, they'll just assume it's mortgage, credit cards and loans and forget about mobile phones, insurances, gyms, tv, broadband etc which are all potentially loans paid over time.
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True enough. But some of us use PAYG phones so have no contract, pay insurances annually in advance not on credit, and don't use commercial gyms.

TV/broadband services? Well, yeah. Got me there. About £60/month. And I guess I can add quarterly-paid gas and electricity to that, but am not that far off self-sufficient on those these days, with ground-source heat pump, and the FIT payments from solar panels. So it doesn't add much to that £60.

Besides, personally, I don't regard that kind of thing as debt exactly, though I guess technically it is if it's on an accrual account rather than prepayment. It's more just ongoing cost of living, and as such, is budgeted for. It's certainly the case that all such costs, added together, are less than fixed unearned income, so as those costs of living roll in, monthly, so does the income to pay them.

I don't like debt. I even pay council tax and property taxes in advance, usually annually. Ditto water rates. One hit, once a year, and forget for 12 months. That said, my current home is about to go onto mandatory metered water, so that may change.

I even pay a generously estimated income tax well ahead of any due date, and then reclaim any overpayment later, rather than wait for it to fall due. It's not enough, either way, to be bothered about.
 
A few years ago I'd be super embassed about were I was and not post

Now I'm actually fine and happy :)

Mortgage - 68,500
Loan 1 - 1,800 left
loan 2 - 4,500
CC1 - 420
CC2 - 3,000
CC3 - 3,000

Loans will be gone 2 years ish

CC's soon after that :)

Mortagge I'll deal with when the unsecured is gone :)
 
McBain said:
Including mortgage, about 160K.



That's all well and good if you have a suitcase full of money to buy a house, for everyone else debt is inevitable.
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It's a little more complicated with buying a house, because in theory at least your assets become larger than your debts with time. You might owe the bank (say) £250k, but if your house could be sold for £300k it could be argued that you aren't in debt. That's why discussions of debts usually discount mortgages.
 
Just mortgage debt here, I overpay each month too so hoping to knock at least 5 years off the remaining 13. Stopped getting loans years ago, I realised its better to pay for stuff in cash you have rather than the never never!
 
cadmunkey said:
Just mortgage debt here, I overpay each month too so hoping to knock at least 5 years off the remaining 13. Stopped getting loans years ago, I realised its better to pay for stuff in cash you have rather than the never never!
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I'm 38 and have only ever had 2 loans, one for £1000 over 12, 1 for £2000 over 24.
first one I had to pay back £1040 - few years back now but sure it was with egg...?
Second one is Zopa and total repayable is £2168.

I think that's pretty darn good and would rather keep money in the bank for emergencies and get a loan for toys.
 
Me personally and debt? :confused:

Lets put it this way, no bank in this country will lend me a single penny. :eek:

I ripped them bad years ago. :D

No I did not go bankrupt. :p

So £0 debt £0 credit.
 
Housey said:
It's really good and there are features and functions being added all the time.
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+1 for clearscore, excellent website.

Debt for me is student loan only but will soon be mortgage on top of that of around £75-80k.

Have divorce and legal fees coming up also, but will not be going into debt for that. Outright all the way.
 
Meridian said:
It's a little more complicated with buying a house, because in theory at least your assets become larger than your debts with time. You might owe the bank (say) £250k, but if your house could be sold for £300k it could be argued that you aren't in debt. That's why discussions of debts usually discount mortgages.
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But you are in debt. You have a large charge on that asset, and you only realise that £300k when it's sold. Until then, it's a notional value, and that may change prior to selling. Enough people got caught in negative equity traps in the past when the value they thought they had in the house took a hit in a property crash. And who knows, we could have another one this year.

Besides, the mortgage has to be serviced, and paid monthly. If the house is an asset bringing in income allowing you to pay that monthly cost, like a buy-to-let, then looking at net monthly profit or loss on it, after all expenses and taxes, is fair enough. But until then, the value of the house could halve in the next year, but the mortgage won't, unless you've paid it off.
 
128k of mortgage and 1.5k on a CC

I have enough savings I could clear the CC, but it's 0% and my savings are elsewhere trying to make money
 
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OP. I don't think the question asked will in anyway help you decide whether to take out the loan you have been offered.

We would need more info on the terms of both, but there are smart people here who could quickly tell you whether it will improve your position.

Mortgage + 40k for me
 
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