How much debt are you actually in?

[doctordoctor]

No debt. Mortgage paid off last year. I’m a great saver, I’ve never owed a penny on CC, never taken out a loan etc. Live within my means......

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I’ve been out of work since having my son but my husband owns his own business and said maybe he could put me on the payroll for a few months to bump up our borrowing, does anyone know if this can be done?
I am dreading telling him about the hmrc debt he knows I have it but doesn’t know the extent of it and I think he’s assumed it won’t affect the mortgage because everyone has to pay their tax so it’s not like a normal debt. Hate myself for being so stupid and not looking in to what I owed tax wise earlier on

I would just sit down with your husband and show him everything. Hopefully you can ask his business accountant to give you some advice in terms of the mortgage and how that would be affected.
One thing I have learned is too be honest with your partner about finances as it can lead to a lot of resentment and arguing

I'm not in any debt. I try my best to live within my means and I'm quite frugal by nature.

I'm thinking of getting a new car as mine is 11 years old now, but I hate the thought of taking out finance. I've found a car I like that's affordable and ticks all my boxes but it's not a 'cool' make. I wish there wasn't societal pressure to have the 'right' things to fit in, and I wish I cared less about what others think!

Do not get finance! Especially not on a vehicle that will depreciate the moment you put the key in the ignition. If "make" is important to you it might be worth looking at getting an older model and just putting a private plate on it. That way nobody will really know the age

 

[Cocopops91]

Fair enough. Still a risk though, but I suppose everything is technically!

Everything is a risk, owning a home, renting a home. Never know what’s around the corner

 

[Zanzi202]

£1000 a month on a car?! Christ!

I know, and rent a house.. that’s a mortgage repayment! Madness!
The pressure to have it all is too much.

 

[Kermitthefrogswife]

Have you looked into a DMP if an IVA isn’t an option with your job? Used to work for a debt management company and could be something to look into.

I haven’t but as a lawyer I think I’m VERY limited as to what I can do. I’m managing, just!

 

[Anonemxoxo]

Tbh a car on finance really isn't that bad if you plan to get rid of it within 2/3 years. You would pay less on it in the long run and besides, if you were to buy it outright, you would never see that money again as cars just depreciate the longer you have them. I do think its more a problem of accessibility and the belief you need to be living a certain lifestyle. Its such a big problem for my generation and its one I've struggled with myself.

Yes, with the car finance I've got, I pay 150 HP finance a month for a 2019 citroen c1, but I can turn the car in when I've paid 50% of it off and get a new car, so really not a bad deal.

 

[nobrains]

£88,000 on my mortgage,no other debts. No credit cards or store cards and no overdraft.

 

[pixieshix]

We owe that much and to that many different company’s , I actually can’t remember the company’s anymore. A lot has been sent to debt collectors , and a fair few stopped bothering sending letters about 18 months ago. I don’t even know where to start or what to do. We use to have a great income until my husband was diagnosed with Bi polar , and then really struggled with his diagnosis and the medication. He was then run over a year later , and ended up breaking his shoulder and ball joint . And couldn’t return to his manual job due to the pain.
He struggled working full time even before the confirmation of bi polar, and after the accident his depression got bad. I can’t apply for Iva etc as he is currently going through a claim , due to being hit by a person texting and driving . I’m hoping when we get awarded something we can pay something off .

 

[Northern northener]

Just over 84k on my mortgage. This has been the year that I’ve finally managed to get out of credit card and overdraft debt something I’ve had in some form or another over the last 20 years. I still use my credit card to buy things online although pay it off in full each month. Next challenge is to try and see some savings built. It seems to have been the year of big expenses, just tell misled at least I’m lucky enough to be able to pay for them at the time.

Well done on clearing the cc debt. Although I have a way to go I am prioritising savings and it's making a huge difference to our overall finances. Being able to pull money from my savings account to pay for things that need replacing means I am not being thrown on my budget. I also worked out that we pay silly money on overdraft charges so this year I have stubbornly refused to go even a penny overdrawn. Spread sheets have been really useful as I am poor at maths and working out what comes out when.

Hope 2023 is a good one for everyone x

 

[Calabria]

I’ve spent the last twenty years in a cycle of racking up huge debts due to mental health issues, then going into a DMP with Stepchange (who are an absolute godsend) but am relieved to say that I finally seem to be on an even keel. I am building up my credit rating by putting all my expenses through it and paying my credit card off in full each month and staying well well under my credit limit (limit is 6k, balance never goes above £600 a month).

I actually overpaid my student loan so got a rebate of just under £2k which was really nice. In the past year, my credit rating on Credit Karma has gone from 189 up to 453.

 

[Vploco646]

I have no debt thank fuck , I'm only 25 but have lost my job for the second fucking time due to covid. I left Dublin for cheaper rent and it was the best decision financially but I miss my family. But I've accepted the fact I will never be able to afford to buy in Dublin. Ive double the deposit saved for a house in my area. If the banks would lend to me that would be fucking great but I've never been in a secure non contract job. Even though I worked for the same company for 3 years. Seriously considering taking my dog and fucking off out of Ireland and living somehwere else.

 

[Tricham]

That’s a lot to pay off in 5 years did you up the mortgage payments with the aim of this?

We have overpaid it as much as we could in the 5 years we've been here. Our hope is to be mortgage free within the next 3 years

 

[PoleStar]

My daughter is currently at Uni and will leave with 50K debt. It's now £9,250 per year for the course then she gets quite a high maintenance grant (which is dependent on our income) so that brings it to around 50K.

Wow, I don't have children so I'm not really in the loop about uni costs. Seems wrong to saddle youngsters with such huge debts when they're only just starting out.

 

[Noname1995]

I’m 24 and have £1,550 credit card, £250 PayPal credit, £400 very, £125 Klarna. House paid for in full so have no mortgage, and I manage each month on a disposable income if £2000 after all bills are paid but sometimes don’t have the extra ££ when I want something so I seem to get myself in debt to get it. Silly and vain really.

 

[bubbletea123]

Zero debt.
We have a mortgage though. What is mad is our bank approved us for a mortgage for one million dollars for a house but we didn't take it as we didn't want to be "house poor." Our house cost 600+k and our downpayment was half of that. My fiance is very savvy with money and has spreadsheets for everything.

 

[Jessiewoo]

Eeeeek too much!!
We’ve just brought a new house so have £210000 mortgage, my husbands car has £5500 left of finance, £10500 loan (joint which is also being overpaid) and £7000 on a credit card (also joint) which was mainly from our wedding and house purchases (0% thank the lord)
We also owe my parents £15k but I work for them so is being paid back in overtime and I have about £30000 worth of student loan .... yippeeeeeee I like following the debt free community on Instagram it’s quite helpful. When I think of how much money goes to debt every month it makes me sick! I can’t wait for the day we can actually have that money to save!

 

[CactusCat]

If you are struggling and have the 'fear' e.g scared of the phone, the postman, any knock at the door then i urge you to seek help. I remember the day i phoned Stepchange (charity - dont have to pay them) as i was in such a mess and terrified. I was humilated and ashamed and cried on the phone with them for over an hour. I had become a single parent and the money had not gone on luxuries but just living but i had gotten to a point that i couldnt meet even the minimum payments.

They were brilliant. They go through your budget realistically and then take over and in many cases get the creditors to freeze the interest. Yes you won't be able to get credit for at least 6 years ( i think) but the payments you agree with them are also realistic. You pay your direct debit to them and then they pay your creditors. You can change it as your circumstances change and you will have an annual review.

The night i did it was the first time i slept in about 7 years. I have now been on it about 8 years and the end is in sight. I had to learn to buy what we needed and not what I wanted and it was HARD but I will never allow myself to have credit again, even if i can/could get it as i know myself and know it is too much of a temptation and i cannot manage it. (no matter how much i may think that i can)

They will talk you through the best solution and for me it was a Debt Management plan rather than IVA, bancruptcy etc. Make sure you go via a charity though and not one of the debt solutions that charge you. Stepchange was the only charity one at the time and was backed by the goverment. I am not sure if there are others.

THIS

We did this over a year ago and I really don't know what we'd have done. It's saved us. We were paying credit with credit, so paying 1 card with another. We had no hard cash as it was all going on payments.

I was sick with worry, we could not plan ahead, we were in a pit and sinking.

This has given us 1 payment each month and we know what we have cash now.

For example I have £10 to last me until wed, I know that and I can work with that, before we didn't know how much we had as we were living off credit.

We were on the brink of losing our home.

It can be difficult at times if we have an outgoing we didn't expect but we have to manage. We were saving for a holiday and the oven broke then a pet got ill so we didn't go. We have to prioritise now and save.

I never want to get credit again, it's too tempting, especially like me with MH issues, if I'm low I just don't think, if I'm on a high I think sod it, it'll be fine.

We went through Payplan who were really helpful.

 

[erin182]

Why has someone reacted with a sick face because I've said that I've got no debt or mortgage?!

I don’t think it’s that uncommon? My mum is in zero debt herself. She’s actually in credit with most things

 

[Spinidge]

Has anyone any advice on what a good safety buffer savings amount would be. Like what are people comfortable with? 2021 is my year for getting sorted financially!

I try and have a minimum of £2.5K as a safety net. I think that would be plenty to cover a new boiler or two, one way tickets to Peru should WWIII break out.

 

[ProphecyGirl]

I posted in this thread a while ago and I had a debt repayment plan with stepchange. I couldnt recommend them enough. All my debt is now paid off, i could stop worrying about companies threatening me, I made one payment a month for all the different debt i was in and could pay extra if i could manage it. I’d 100% contact them if i were you x

Thank you! I’ll contact them!! x