How much of your life is on credit?
 

I hate being in debt with a passion and I even get uncomfortable using a credit card and even though I do have one I pretty much always use a debit card instead. Of course, paying for a wedding throws that plan out of the window and I am hating having a credit card bill.

How much of your life is on credit rather than out rightly owned?

Credit is evil.

Most is not on credit now... 4 years ago was a different story. Car almost completely paid off in full.

Learned early on the hard way all about credit card debt.

Now I only have American Express and Costco, and I pay them off every month.

Credit cards are a chumps game, and only results in big debt - the law of diminishing returns...

ADG

Nothing we own is on credit anymore...we learned the hard way and it taught us a very valuable lesson..dont buy things on credit you cant afford to pay back

About 5 years ago I had a lot of debt. Car, house, a couple of credit cards and some loans. I decided to focus every extra cent on paying it off. It took me a few years and some serious saving and budgeting, but it is all paid off now. I have one credit card that I keep in case of emergency, but it is through my bank and doesn't have an annual fee or anything. I think I have used it once in the two years I have had it just to make sure it worked.

Nothing I don't have any CC's to get on debt other then pre-paid ones....

nothing in the debts here..

Yup, I am the same way. It took one credit card in college to show me I should be a debit person. I really hate using the credit cards...seriously hate it. Have to with the wedding but we will bust our ass to get it all paid off within two billing cycles because I would probably have a mental break down having debt. It really is strange but even if I only have five dollars worth of debt I will stress about it.

If the majority of the UK suddenly went that way this would be a very different place. When I see the tv shows where people talk about having 20k or more debt I am amazed.

I have no debt at all.

Does a vehicle loan count?
If so yes I owe some money to a credit company. Hey at least the mortgage is paid off.

I read the other day that the average American family owes 55K on their house, 28K on their cars and has 8K in credit card debt and an average of 8-10k in other debt.

That means the average American family is around 105K in debt. That is pretty scary. I have a friend that is 300K in debt on a house. He owns two cars and is around 50K in debt on them both. He has 20K in credit card debt and around 25K in loans and other debt. He has a nice house, two nice cars, some nice furniture and a sweet TV and surround sound, but he is now spending almost every cent he brings in to pay it back. If something happened and he missed a few weeks of work without pay he would be in deep trouble.

I use a line of credit.
So long as you are responsible nothing to worry about.
You also have to look at your debt to net worth ratio.
example a guy who owes 85k on a 350 k house is a lot wealthier then the debt free guy renting an apartment.

Yep you are correct. We were in a lot of debt and we lost our house in the end, but we now rent and dont have anything on credit and although we still struggle at times, we dont have debt anymore which is a massive weight of our shoulders

If I don't have the cash to pay for it, no need to have it ...

True, I have a personal and business credit line that I payoff and manage each month.

Or he suddenly has medicals bills to add on top.

We rent too and it doesn't bother me. For one thing we have a seriously good rent for London and as bad as it feels to say it my partner is the only child of parents that properly own their home. So, I don't feel like renting is wasting my money like so many people tell me. Look at the reports in the British news over the past few days that say that the middle class is having a hard time at the moment. I bet most of that is stretching to get finance on homes they can't afford in reality. It is like fantasy credit that allows you to 'own' things that are out of your means is the way that most of the middle class keep up with the other middle class Joneses. I just would rather live in a crapier house and not worry about the debt.

0 %.

After owning our house for around 8 years it did cut me up and I was very pissed at all the work and money we put into the house. It was like our baby and we did fight hard to keep it, but I guess the best thing that did come out of it was having all the debt we had accumilated go away. And I think by going through something like this teaches you to respect money a lot more. Even my car I have is paid for, and I did not use credit to pay for it. It might not be a flash car but I owe nothing on it which is so much better. Our rent down here in Portmouth is not to bad either. Hopefully some of the younger people on here will read this thread and not go down the same route as we did because it sucks and really puts a strain on the whole family..so dont buy it unless you can afford it. :2 cents:

Now I have zero debt. I buy everything in cash now and live by the rule... If I can't buy it in cash, I don't need it. Been working out just fine.

My debt is my mortgage. I have more in equity than I owe in paper, which makes for a good situation. I do use a credit card for almost everything, however this credit card is paid off every single month. I prefer it over my debit, because the tracking and accounting is easier.

I would say I am more the exception to the rule, as most I know seem to have credit card dept along with car loans and mortgages.

Wedding on credit is fucked up... have the party you can afford

not everyone gets as many sales as you....

ah personally, no debt atm btw

and dont use credit cards either

Nothing here either.

It isn't about the amounts overall but my debit card has a per transition limit and some of the stuff you need to pay for in one go for a wedding goes over that. Especially as my main debit card is American and I am paying in pounds. So, something that costs 500 pounds gets charged at about $1000 dollars. That is why I know it won't be on the card for more than a month or two because it is more about moving the money we already have around than having something we don't have the money to afford.

I've managed to get mine down to almost nothing. All we're carrying these days are loans on two vehicles and mortgage on the house.

:2 cents: Have to agree. Why start out in debt... J

i don't have credit, and will never use it. I don't spend what i don't have

I am crawling my way out of this slowly :-)

People without credit/debt are stupid, people who can't pay off their debts are also stupid. There are lots of stupid people.

0%, credit isn't a bad thing though, as long as you can afford the payments and follow the simple rule of having cash for at least the next 6 months to cover all your debts (in case the shit hits the fan) - then you have nothing to worry about

lol putting a wedding on a credit I am sorry that is retarded. Save your freaking money.

None, If I don't have the $ to get it I don't need it.:winkwink:

Read the thread..it is just for the things where the single transition amount is more than my debit card allows and even that bothers me.

0% right now. I'm debt free.

House and a 10 acre plot of rural land I've just grabbed for a stupidly low price.
the only debts I've got.

Just some advice for those who are in debt

First you have to admit that you are in debt which is pretty hard for most people to do as I found out..

If you are having financial problems never ever just leave it..the problem wont go away and your debts will just build up.

Always reply to demands I found that in most cases you can come to some arrangment and they will help you out.

If you have access to a finacial debt advisor..go and see them.

Its nothing to be ashamed off and so many people go through debt problems plus the quicker you get it sorted out the better it is for all so if you are in this situation dont be a moran and let it spirral out of control, go and get it sorted...

Hmm...

I'd guess around $10k in credit cards and installment loan.

This doesn't include my student or vehicle loans. With those added in, I'd ballpark $60-65k.

:Oh crap:Oh crap

Im 45 and fine now but life is a roller coaster...

Lesson to everyone..OWN YOUR HOME...I bought a condo when i was 20 years old for 33k (had 30k mortgage at 14.5 % LOL) and always owned where I lived.

I was stupid with cash for many years and got myself in debt but if you have equity in your home you can always borrow against. The key is obviously not to overspend, gamble live like a rap star etc etc...

But CREDIT is more important that cash in reality. And the key is to never fuck your credit. Once you do your FUCKED. Reason is common sense. Almost 99% of world doesnt have cash to pay for there house. YOU NEED CREDIT...You can have no cash but good credit and get a house. You can have cash and no credit and YOUR FUCKED.

It's $193.56 at the moment

LOL...i bought the condo while working at a fruit store which i did from ages 14 till 23...my point is it just takes CREDIT...i put like 3k down....granted it was 1983---dam im old

i own both my cars outright
i pay a mortgage...but i also pay faster then i need to.
about 10% of the principle a year more.
i messed up when i was younger, but its under control now:)

0 credits. The only credit that I took in my life was when I was 19 and I wanted to buy a music equipment.

I paid off my credit debt years ago.

thats not right...i pay like 5-7% extra a year

soon ill switch and put that on a rental property..and be in even more debt;)

It's called peace of mind! Which is good for you. :thumbsup

No credit card and no debt here, which I'm proud of! :winkwink:

Things that sometimes you have no control but I think you can settle that sooner! :winkwink:

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh