How much debt are you in?

Question

I'm £1800... And I'm worried about it....

How much are you in?

I chopped my credit card up, did I do the right thing?

Chill out Lady Muck, geeeeez....

Answer 1

Other than my mortgage I have no debts. Always pay my credit card bill in full every month.

If you're having debt problems, stopping using your credit card is a good idea.

You can get lots of good advise on this forum:
http://forum.moneysupermarket.com

Answer 2

You certainly did the right thing by chopping up your credit card. That is a good first step. I have a mortgage of £200,000 and a car loan of £15,000, but I am guessing that I am a bit older than you, and I'm paying it all off as per the terms set out. The car loan is only over 3 years, and the mortgage over 25 years. Try and pay back a set amount each month and stick to it, even if it's only £50 a month. As other people have posted, try to transfer it to a lower interest. You will feel better when you have paid it off, and you will even feel a little better with each payment you make. It's usually easier to try and spend less than to earn more, to try anything you can to lessen your monthly budget. Try doing things like making your own sarnies for work instead of buying things out, and cutting your transport costs by walking or getting a life. Once you add a few of these little things together, they will soon add up. Hope this helps - you did well so far!

Answer 3

Does it really matter how much debt anyone else is in? The point is that you are in £1,800 debt and it worries you. Therefore, you should do something about it.

If I told you I was in £18,000 debt, would it make you feel any better, or less anxious about your own situation? You don't know how much I earn, or who I owe the money to, just like I don't know these details about you.

To someone who is on a salary of £35,000 per year, £1,800 may not be a big deal. To someone on a salary of £3,500 it may be a huge deal.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if your debt bothers you, you should have a look at your financial situation and address the problem, rather than comparing yourself to others to make the issue seem smaller.

Answer 4

Excluding mortgage, which is unavoidable, car is £5000 to pay, but I can afford it.

Your are right to cut up the credit card. The interest rate is far too high.

If you must borrow money, surf the net to find a loan with a low APR, that's how you compare like with like.

If your debt is on the credit card, a fixed rate, low APR loan will be the cheapest way to pay it off. Do the sums, and work out how much you can afford to pay off each month. Don't overstretch yourself, though.

Answer 5

Depends how much you earn and if you have a mortgage or not. I think we owe £75,000 on our mortgate (not bad on a £350,000 house). My credit cards are currently at £6,000 but as I earn £2000 a month I don't really see this as a problem and will get it paid off eventually.

I really wouldn't worry about £1,800 - what's that, the cost of a new flat screen TV which you'd put on a credit card anyway. I think if you can afford the repayments and are in employment it isn't much to worry about.

Answer 6

Just mortgage £100k.

Hey if you were worried about your debt then you absolutely did the right thing by destroying your credit card before the problem escalates.

Whilst £1800.00 may not sound like a lot to some people it depends on individual circumstances.

Answer 7

You did the right thing by cutting the card up. Now find a low interest loan to clear off that high interest credit card debt.

Don't worry about it. Taking action will make you feel better.

Answer 8

im not sure you knowing how much dept people are in would help you but since you asked im owing about £30,000+ at the moment...so if your worried about £1800 that aint to bad..if your worried cos yoiu own the money out..the fasted way to pay that money back is to open up a bank account and get the maximum interest free over draft you can..then withdraw the money and pay your debt..at least then you have bought some time..then you can pay the bank back over time...failing that you could get what money you have got and invest it into somthing to get money back..like go secondhand shops, like cash converts etc, buy loads of cheap stuff then put it on ebay..you could easy make £2000 in a few weeks

Answer 9

Hello,

Right now I have totally Zero debt, I'm completely debt free. But I'm NOT gloating!! sorry! I do understand how it feels to be in debt. I had £8,000 debit many years ago and it was one of the worst experiences I have ever had.

**All I can say is that my bank were very good to me all considered.

**The best way to avoid any future debit once you have cleared any debit you have is to realise that 50% of your debit is your own responsability and the other 50% responsability is the banks. Yet nobody ever seems to mention this even on clever money programs on TV.

**I get enourmously angry at the Banks as they are constantly pushing and marketing loans, & credit cards and easy credit terms to customers they know dont have high salaries. Ordinary people are the customers banks love to encourage to take on extra debits.

**In fact banks totally HATE people like me, because I know their devious tactics, I know the way they play their game to trap you in their web of debit. If you know how the banks work you can actively avoid getting into debit. Banks hate people that DONT have any debits, why? because banks cannot make any money from customers like me who dont use credit, who dont have debit.

**Just because everyone else in our country & culture has debit doesnt make it OK in my opinion!!

**Look at it another way, ask yourself what is debit? My answer is debit is only your own money that you havent earned yet!! think about that, no really!!

IR

Answer 10

Only my mortgage. but I stayed home for 1 year to get the $10,000 paid off and took out some of my equity in the home so I worked at it! I saw on TV one of those debt councilors advise put your credit card in a big block of ice, that way you will have it for emergencies but will have to think long and hard before use.