£10,000 Debt

[BoRED S2upid]

So I read today that on average us brits are carrying £10k of personal debt not including mortgages. Some people must have tens of thousands for it to average out at £10k each or these figures are complete bks.

[StottyZr]

BoRED S2upid said:

So I read today that on average us brits are carrying £10k of personal debt not including mortgages. Some people must have tens of thousands for it to average out at £10k each or these figures are complete bks.

Car loan? Finance counts as personal debt I suppose, even if you have positive equity in the product.

[mackie1]

Well the average spent on a new car in the UK is around £27k ISTR so I doesn't sound that far fetched.

[ShawCrossShark]

Wouldn't surprise me. I have about £15k on top of my mortgage which I am struggling to pay back.

My wife (soon to be ex-wife) however has managed to escape without any

[fido]

I'm guessing the avarage Brit also has a couple of grand in savings as well.

[Hugo a Gogo]

average student debt is 20k in Britain

[Fatman2]

I don't know about that but from my circle of friends and people I know, there's a hell of a lot of borrowed money and yeah, mostly into the tens of thousands.

That's on top of continuous remortgaging to pay off the debt, only to build it back up again.

What I have found, the older I've become, is that there are a lot of people about that keep up appearances i.e. flashy cars, holidays, home improvements etc. Personally I'd rather say I can't afford something but am finding that my attitude is surprisingly the exception to the norm.

[93Jay]

Hugo a Gogo said:

average student debt is 20k in Britain

Thats just going to get worse, average course now cost 8k X 3 years and that's before maintenance loans as well

[BoRED S2upid]

Hugo a Gogo said:

average student debt is 20k in Britain

I forgot about that back in my day it was a lot less, if they are factoring in tuition fees this figure will be a lot more over the next few years.

[TTmonkey]

BoRED S2upid said:

So I read today that on average us brits are carrying £10k of personal debt not including mortgages. Some people must have tens of thousands for it to average out at £10k each or these figures are complete bks.

Do you own everything you have without any associated debt?

No car loans?
No credit cards?
No sttore cards?
No personal loans?

It all adds up rather fast. If you owe nothing, lucky you. I'd say you were the exception to the rule. Even on PH.

[otolith]

The absolute amount is irrelevant, the question is whether or not they can service it.

[The Hypno-Toad]

ShawCrossShark said:

Wouldn't surprise me. I have about £15k on top of my mortgage which I am struggling to pay back.

+1 to this.

[Eric Mc]

Count me as a lucky one too then.

Or is it good financial management and realistic expectations rather than luck?

[Twincam16]

TTmonkey said:

Do you own everything you have without any associated debt?

No car loans?
No credit cards?
No sttore cards?
No personal loans?

It all adds up rather fast. If you owe nothing, lucky you. I'd say you were the exception to the rule. Even on PH.

Thing is, that describes me. I wouldn't dream of getting into debt to afford anything other than a house, simply because that's what I was brought up with, it makes sense to me and in my family it's normal. It's not like we're massively wealthy or anything, we just only buy stuff we can literally put our hands in our pockets and pay for there and then.

To be frank I'm amazed most people in this country are allowed loans for anything other than property. How on earth someone on a £24k average salary can justify almost as much on a car that'll be worthless in ten years really is beyond me.

[steviegunn]

Eric Mc said:

Count me as a lucky one too then.

Or is it good financial management and realistic expectations rather than luck?

Me too, I have my mortgage and that's it as far as debt is concerned, I have one credit card that is paid off in full every month, if I haven't got the money to buy it I do without until I've saved up.

[DAVEVO9]

Eric Mc said:

Count me as a lucky one too then.

Or is it good financial management and realistic expectations rather than luck?

+1

I have 0 Debt

Great feeling

[BoRED S2upid]

TTmonkey said:

Do you own everything you have without any associated debt?

I try and live within my means. £10k each seems high to me and thats an average so there must be a lot with considerably higher than this to counter the lucky few who only have a few thousand or even none!

[HurryUpAndWait]

Hugo a Gogo said:

average student debt is 20k in Britain

I wouldn't class this in the same league as other types of debt - hugely generous terms. Like if your income drops below a certain level, you don't need to make any repayments. At least this was the case when I was a student and subsequently paying it off.

[offendi]

Eric Mc said:

Count me as a lucky one too then.

Or is it good financial management and realistic expectations rather than luck?

This is how i was brought up , if i cant afford then i save and wait until i can. its the whole "but i want it now wah wah " that got us where we are today .

[Hugo a Gogo]

HurryUpAndWait said:

Hugo a Gogo said:

average student debt is 20k in Britain

I wouldn't class this in the same league as other types of debt - hugely generous terms. Like if your income drops below a certain level, you don't need to make any repayments. At least this was the case when I was a student and subsequently paying it off.

true, still counts for the stats though