How Much Debt Do You Have?

[Spinach]

I'm talking all debts (not utilities, unless you are in the rears)----credit cards, mortgage, car loan, medical bills. What is your total?

ETA---I am interested only in the numbers----not seeing who is in debt for how much.

And, I just realized that I didn't put an option for "debt free". Sorry

 

[padredurand]

Debt free.

 

[Spinach]

We used to be debt free. We own our car and house without debt. But a few unexpecteds came up, putting us back into debt. Now we're trying to dig back out. Fortunately, it's interest-free debt.

 

[annsni]

The only debt we have is a home equity line of credit that we're using for my daughter's college tuition. Right now our balance is $15,000.

 

[Revmitchell]

nunya..................

 

[Alive in Christ]

Zero. Zipp. Nada.

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

Dont own a credit card...only a debit card.

When my current car finally dies I'll pay cash for the next one.

 

[Matt Black]

£160,000 mortgage on our main house and £60,000 on my wife's apartment which she owned before we were married and which we rent out. That's it. Nothing unsecured. No medical bills, thanks to the NHS!

 

[donnA]

what happens when people don't own cash to pay for needed items, like refrigerator stove and car?

 

[Jim1999]

I can't speak for the USA, but in Canada, Donna, most rental units come complete with refrigerator and cooker, and often a microwave oven.

We also have low income housing, geared to one's income. When someone is without income, for whatever reason, we have welfare benefits paid monthly.

For me; we are debt-free, but have a decent income. When I bought a motorcar, I paid cash and then made monthly payments to myself, to pay for my next vehicle.

We live modestly and seldom waste money. This stupid computer is prolly my highest expense item!

All my life, I allowed 5 % of my income for personal savings and this has served me well over the years.

I think there is a way to make almost any income stretch to meet "needs". Not all "wants", but needs.

Sometimes a "preacher's roundsteak" must serve where others will eat steaks.......

Cheers,

Jim

PS, I feel for some to-day who are in dire straights through no fault of their own, so I am not denigrating anyone against the wall.

 

[annsni]

what happens when people don't own cash to pay for needed items, like refrigerator stove and car?

That's what planning is for. We need to plan for those "unforeseen" circumstances so that we don't have to go into debt for those things.

Additionally, we should buy within our budget: don't buy a top of the line refrigerator if you don't have money - get one off of Craigslist or get a floor model/scratch and dent one to help save money. Same for cars - get one you can afford, not one you wish for.

 

[swaimj]

I payed down some major debt over the course of this year and, except for about $700 am now debt free. In addition, my wife and I have established a $1000 emergency fund for those little life-incidents that are sure to come along. These two steps sure take much financial pressure out of life. Recommended reading on this subject: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

 

[donnA]

I can't speak for the USA, but in Canada, Donna, most rental units come complete with refrigerator and cooker, and often a microwave oven.

not here they don't, if you don't buy it you don't have it.

We also have low income housing, geared to one's income.

yes governement housing, lots of crime, drugs, violence, you get what you pay for thats for sure. I knew a family, when the m,an got a low paying job their rent went up more then my house rent too. Actually more then double my rent.

That's what planning is for. We need to plan for those "unforeseen" circumstances so that we don't have to go into debt for those things.

first you have to have moneey, and when you don't there can be no long range planning and saving, if your barely paying your rent and bills and buying food for your family.
people here have no ocncept of the real world, how people really live, they do not believe there are people who have less then they do.

get a floor model/scratch and dent

my scratch and dent was over $300. a lot of money when you don't have any to begin with.
again, people here have no concept of what the real world is like for the rest of us, they all assume everyone has at least what they have.

 

[donnA]

still no real life answers from anyone.

 

[padredurand]

still no real life answers from anyone.

Don't assume you are the only one living in poverty. I grew up with nothing and still have most of it.

The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various gov*ernment reports:

• Forty-three percent of all poor households actu*ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• Only 6 percent of poor households are over*crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

Source: Heritage Foundation

 

[Spinach]

I live in poverty myself (technically). I can make a list of things I do without, but I won't. We're working on paying off our debt (it was to put in indoor plumbing) and build a savings. Easier said than done, for sure. But still worth it.

In life we make choices. We spend on things we don't HAVE to. If we only spent on necessities, we (speaking to myself here) would find our savings account increase and our debt go down. A refrigerator isn't really a necessity. Neither is a stove. No offense.

 

[annsni]

not here they don't, if you don't buy it you don't have it.

yes governement housing, lots of crime, drugs, violence, you get what you pay for thats for sure. I knew a family, when the m,an got a low paying job their rent went up more then my house rent too. Actually more then double my rent.



first you have to have moneey, and when you don't there can be no long range planning and saving, if your barely paying your rent and bills and buying food for your family.
people here have no ocncept of the real world, how people really live, they do not believe there are people who have less then they do.

my scratch and dent was over $300. a lot of money when you don't have any to begin with.
again, people here have no concept of what the real world is like for the rest of us, they all assume everyone has at least what they have.

Well, there's still Craigslist and Freecycle. Things CAN be gotten for not a lot of money .... if you work for it and have a car. But then again, this is where being in a church family really helps because they SHOULD assist those who are in need.

 

[annsni]

I live in poverty myself (technically). I can make a list of things I do without, but I won't. We're working on paying off our debt (it was to put in indoor plumbing) and build a savings. Easier said than done, for sure. But still worth it.

In life we make choices. We spend on things we don't HAVE to. If we only spent on necessities, we (speaking to myself here) would find our savings account increase and our debt go down. A refrigerator isn't really a necessity. Neither is a stove. No offense.

I was just thinking about you Spinach. For you, you definitely see the "spoil" of Americans and how we feel things are a "necessity" yet they are luxuries in other parts of the world. It's a very eye-opening thing, honestly.

 

[Jim1999]

Originally Posted by donnA
still no real life answers from anyone.
---------------------------------------

Donna, What would be a real life answer?

I need help to understand what poverty is in modernity, and especially in countries like the USA and Canada.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Spinach]

I was just thinking about you Spinach. For you, you definitely see the "spoil" of Americans and how we feel things are a "necessity" yet they are luxuries in other parts of the world. It's a very eye-opening thing, honestly.

Yes, there is a lot I see and know, having lived in an area of the world where the social security equivalent is less than $100/month. In an area where women on maternity leave (for a year and a half post-baby) get a little over $100/month. It's amazing how they survive. And I don't mean how they get by with the thermostat turned down to 65, dial-up internet, and an old beater to drive. I mean survive. Pick through the trash to find plastic to burn to keep just warm enough to survive. Dig through restaurant trash for enough to eat to live. Survival.

I never knew what real poverty was until I moved here.

That doesn't mean I can't sympathise, though, with Americans who are struggling. I sit in that seat myself.

 

[Jim1999]

Spinach, Are you in "that" country under a mission board, or freely at your own choosing? Is it your mission board that underfunds you? You have me curious now.

Cheers,

Jim