How Much In Debt Are You?

[Barbarossa]

I know this is more UK news than World news, but anyway, maybe it's of interest to everybody..

Last night's Panorama programme on BBC1 was all about the levels of debt that we in the UK collectively have, it now mounts up to nearly a trillion pounds, that's over £15000 for every man, woman and child in the country. (I'm assuming this also includes mortgages!)

One of the guys they were interviewing actually came out and said the levels of consumer debt being accumulated was the reason why the economy has stayed out of recession for the past couple of years.

I was quite surprised to hear this, as I have always done my best to stay out of debt and live within my means; currently all I owe is my mortgage (admittedly a little higher than I would have liked), but apart from that I'm clear, I own my car outright, and always make sure I pay my credit cards off completely every month.

But does this mean I am a bad person because I don't borrow lots money to buy nice things I can't really afford?

[MagicNakor]

It means you're earning enough money to be able to live from.

Other people aren't as fortunate.

:ninja:

[j2k4]

My debt is substantial.

Almost all medical.

[dingoBaby]

Colin - You are not a bad person. You are an intelligent person.

[Rat Faced]

Its a vicious circle at one end of the spectrum.

People borrow as they need the money, and then have to struggle to pay this debt off, often having to borrow more money to make ends meet.

The poverty trap is still alive and well in the UK.

Not all borrowing is because people want stuff now, and arent patient enough to wait.


How much of this Trillion are business loans though?

Business' borrow huge amounts.




Like j2k4, my debt is also quite substantial....I wouldnt mind if I&#39;d been the one that spent it all <_<

[RPerry]

even being out of work for 8 months only put me behind about &#036;5,000. thats not bad considering I have seen worse from people who weren&#39;t unemployed :P

[Billy_Dean]

Nothing, not since I was 23, many, many moons ago.

If I can&#39;t afford it, I can&#39;t have it.

Medical is free here, so that helps, I suppose.


:)

[UKMan]

Ive had substantial loans in the past - 2 businesses that didnt quite work out - but by pulling in the old perverbial belt, ive managed to pay off allmost all now. Its all too easy i think to borrow money - should be more controll, more pressure on the banks to check up.

The 80´s were terrible - money was free for all to borrow - then the IT branch made lots of promises - that burst wide open.

Looking forward to my meager pension and let those nurses take care of me ;)

Peace
UKMan

[clocker]

Basically none.
I haven&#39;t used credit cards since the early eighties ( by choice) and have been fortunate health-wise.

Although I am possessed of the normal consumerlust, my financial circumstances are such that I pay cash for my purchases.
Things may take longer to get, but I have no nasty surprises at the end of the month.

[bigboab]

Originally posted by clocker@1 December 2003 - 18:22
Things may take longer to get, but I have no nasty surprises at the end of the month.
Wait till somebody contacts you from Chicago at the end of January. :lol:

[Cheese]

I have no debt, no credit cards (more by accident than design) and no mortgage but that&#39;s soon all to change as I am going to Uni as a mature student. I expect to be heavily in debt by the time I finish my course :( But hopefully I can pay that off pretty quickly :)

Before now I&#39;ve wasted a lot of money on frivilous purchases and pissed a lot of it against the wall but when it&#39;s spent it&#39;s spent. I never borrow money for something I want, I save up THEN buy it. Took me six months to save for my computer but now it&#39;s all mine :D :D :D

[Alex H]

I&#39;m two weeks behind in rent, and thats only cause I got called away when my dad had a heart attack and couldn&#39;t be bothered thinking about it.

No credit cards - I&#39;m under 25 so nobody wants to give me one&#33;

Im in business (with another guy) and got a &#036;60k personal loan to start it (banks were ok with that - weird). I&#39;ve paid it off now, but the other guy took out a smaller loan than me and is now in more debt&#33;

I&#39;m good at budgeting, so I reckon I&#39;ll be ok&#33;

[Barbarossa]

Originally posted by Alex H@2 December 2003 - 08:14

No credit cards - I&#39;m under 25 so nobody wants to give me one&#33;


Seriously&#33;&#33; If you were in the UK they&#39;d be all falling over themselves to sucker you in&#33; :o


The guy on the programme applied for card after card after card, and in the space of 24 hours managed to sign up to cards to a maximum borrowing amount of over £50K. :blink:

It&#39;s far too easy to get credit nowadays. That&#39;s part of the problem. Anyway, I&#39;m glad the rest of the board seems to be as responsible as I&#39;m trying to be.. ;)

@Rat Faced - I&#39;m not sure if they included business loans, they never said. It was being portrayed as a trillion pound consumer debt mountain though.

I accept the point about there being a poverty trap but I do know that there are alot of people with good incomes and a comfortable living who are signing up for more and more debt to obtain a more designer and fashionable lifestyle, and these are the people who are going to be worst hit when the bubble bursts.

I just hope they don&#39;t drag the rest of us down with them..

[cowswithguns]

It is sadly the same in Australia in regards to the availability of credit cards to under 25&#39;s. My daughter, who has just turned 21, attends uni and has a small part time job but has had a credit card since she turned 18.

The banks are constantly offering to up the limit, even though her income is very little. She, luckily, is very sensible when using her card and manages to pay it off completely at the end of each month. Some of her friends are not and are getting further and further in debt.

We live in a &#39;buy now, pay later&#39; society and I can see a great deal of hardship looming for some of these kids.

[Billy_Dean]

My daughter had a credit card in England when she was 18. Within a year she was in so much debt it was controlling her life. It cost me two grand to pay her interest alone. When she finally settled, she never got one again, that was 17 years ago.


:)

[ang3968]

I have never owned a credit card.... :huh:

never even applied for one....

we have a mortgage and I still owe a little bit on my car but thats about it...

and even tho medical is free in this country it doesn&#39;t always work out that way as we have just found out.... work insurance companies will try to use any excuse not to pay after a work accident <_<

I also have 2 daughters that are getting rather good at spending, but if I don&#39;t have the money they don&#39;t get... and thats the way I want them to live.... save or go without... to a certain extent I guess.

[Alex H]

Well here in Australia everyone is gearing up for Christmas and there is a big stink up with credit availability. There are a lot of calls for banks and credit card comanies to be banned from making unsolicited offers to increase your credit limit (Yay&#33; Less personal bankruptsies&#33;)

I ALWAYS get people coming up to me (even on the street&#33;) trying to sell me on the idea ofa credit card. I find the best action (I now know exactly what they are going to ask) is to actually walk up to them before being accosted and ask the first question:

"So, credit cards huh? Do I need to be over 25?"

"Uh, not rea..."

"Do I need to have an exsisting account with a bank or other financial instiution?"

"Well, yes you..."

"Do I need to have already had a car loan/mobile contract/insurance and/or any other type of credit relationship with a bank or financial instution?"

"Well, you need a credit rating of..."

"Do I need a credit rating of C or better?"

"Well let me put it like this..."

"Do I have to earn a certain amount per year and if so, will my credit limit be affected if my income drops below that level?"

"You need to earn..."

"Is it true that you earn &#036;250 for every credit application that you sign up and complete?"

"Well, um (nervous grin), ah, I do earn..."

"Sorry, that credit card doesn&#39;t meet MY criteria. Bye&#33;"


Hehe, puts them off so much that they are rendered incapable of selling anything for a few hours&#33; REJECTED&#33; Try it for a laugh.

[Busyman]

I am about &#036;250,000 in debt with one year left on my Lincoln LS and multiple years left on my house and timeshare.(some credit cards too)

[bujub22]

Originally posted by Busyman@3 December 2003 - 06:21
I am about &#036;250,000 in debt with one year left on my Lincoln LS and multiple years left on my house and timeshare.(some credit cards too)
wow thats alot&#33; im only about &#036;1300.00 in the whole for credit cards for christmas

[j2k4]

I think Busyman is living a larger-scale life than the majority of us. :)

[MagicNakor]

I think it would depend on the newness of his house and car. If he&#39;s counting in his mortgage in that number, which I think he is.

:ninja:

[bujub22]

Originally posted by MagicNakor@4 December 2003 - 00:21
I think it would depend on the newness of his house and car. If he&#39;s counting in his mortgage in that number, which I think he is.

:ninja:
yah ur right

he&#39;s got to be that is alot&#33; but he did say s-loan those are alot now of days