this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Hear about how much debt everyone in the US has all the time, curious about some of your stories!

My bad debt is 10k left on a school loan from a for profit school that is now out of business.

Only other debt is house.

So how are you all doing with debt management?

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[–] hrimfaxi_work@midwest.social 10 points 1 year ago

I live in the Midwest region of the United States.

$55k in student loan debt, down from $100k eight years ago. $10k auto loan. $210k on the mortgage, which I honestly can't believe I was ever approved for. No credit card debt.

There have been some very scary moments, but I've somehow managed to keep my head more-or-less above water so far.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

A car loan for a completely unnecessary car.

Can we afford it? Yes, with reasonable budgeting, no sacrifices needed.

Will the car appreciate? Undeniably.

Do we need a toy like this? Fuck no.

Did it anyway. I’ve been poor for such a long time it’s really hard to justify any frivolous purchase at all, but we have good jobs now. I waffle between “This is stupid” and “I’ll never get to do this again, so why not now?” Literally YOLO.

The rest of debt is “good”, like the mortgage building equity, a CC to keep credit rating good (paid off monthly).

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But cars don't appreciate in value...

Good on you with everything else and I'm with you 100%, but as soon as you drove that car off the lot it's been deprecating in value.

[–] Subverb@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have a 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible. Cars can appreciate, I assure you.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Historically speaking they don't. I understand there are outliers for sure.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yes they do.

You just have to pick the right car, and it’s not gonna be an off-the-shelf regular car.

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[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can't leave a comment like that and not tell the car bois what you got.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You bought a literal racecar? Hell yeah dude. Live your best life.

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[–] Art3sian@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

ITT: few people having any clue what the difference is between good and bad debt, or that debt is basically essential to creating wealth.

[–] Sethayy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago

I'm just enthralled at the idea of how normalized having negative money has become. Something something dystopian

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I mean most people saying they don't have any bad debt, but saying they have good debt isn't too bad! It is interesting to know how much mortgage people are carrying.

But these days even mortgages feel bad. 400k at 7% is 28k of just interest. So houses feel way out of reach with current prices/rates.

If rates go down prices go up. So doesn't feel like there is much winning for non home owners.

[–] onlym3@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not sure if you mean per year but mortgages are generally going to be over much longer time periods. A couple who I know are looking to buy somewhere new and are looking at getting £400k mortgage or thereabouts. With rates as they are now, and over 25 years, they'll end up paying back £900k!

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[–] Art3sian@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Housing prices, like everything, is determined by supply/demand. Interest rates are only part of the equation.

The main reason housing is high right now is because of the supply side, and that’s low at the moment because COVID destroyed the global labor market and the supply chain, so materials are sky-high, with fewer people to do the work of building.

Also, as the stock market tanks people move their money into safer places, like cash or property, hurting the supply side even more. This is what cashed up Boomers are doing (yep, we can keep blaming them).

Housing prices won’t come down until supply outweighs demand.

[–] AlexisFR@jlai.lu 2 points 1 year ago

With how much they push for 25+ years mortgages you're going to pay way more than 78k for a 400k one.

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[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Only a mortgage.

I had student loans, but I finished paying those ~5-6 years ago.

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[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Bad, as a % of annual gross pay is about 25% of one year's pay. Mostly the deficit accrued from when my ex was not working. It's smaller than it was, but not by much. But moving in the right direction at least.

Plus mortgage on the house and a separate loan for the roof we had put on when we bought it.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Hey man as long as it's getting smaller, it'll be gone eventually!

[–] Lennnny@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Like £25k for a photography degree from 15 years ago. I moved to the US and paid bits of it back (it's means tested so you just tell them what you earn and they base it on that). I've been ignoring their letters because idk, I don't really want to pay it back? I remember the mandatory classes where we applied for ucas, so I feel like it's on them for shoving 18 year olds through the loan system for profit.

[–] FReddit@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I have $150k in mortgage debt on a house worth about twice that. Plus a couple more years car debt.

What really gets me is my health insurer severed relations with the county in May and I got hospitalized two weeks ago. So now I will owe the $8,000 out of network deductible. That pisses me off.

[–] Moobythegoldensock@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

$628.94 on my credit card.

[–] Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago

Small promotion for !personalfinance@lemmy.ml, the community is usually quite helpful

[–] OceanSoap@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Art school degree was 80k. It's down to 40k now, still feels impossible.

[–] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

80k€ for the house but other than that debt free and plenty of savings/investments

[–] zacher_glachl@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No debt since we're only now looking for houses (yes yes, great timing, I know...) and I frankly wouldn't know what else I would need to spend so much money on that I would have to go into debt.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Well congrats on no debt! hopefully you'll find a good deal somewhere!

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I guess my mortgage could be considered bad debt on account of being adjustable interest rate - this is however the most common type of mortgage arrangement in Sweden where I live. This has led to my interest rate costs going up an eye watering 400% in about a year.

I've got ~130k in loans on it. I'm in the privileged position of being able to pay it off fully if the interest rate costs start exceeding the expected returns from the stock market, though, so feel no need to shed even a single tear for me.

The Swedish housing market is a classic zero interest trap story - low interest rates combined with tax incentives and housing availability rates leading to ownership being significantly more lucrative - has led to prices skyrocketing and debt to income ratios spiraling out of control. With adjustable rates being the most common arrangement - again, due to some truly psychotic public policy - now the population that lent money to buy homes are stuck with sickening monthly payments and no way to get out of the debt, since the prices have dropped below purchase price. Not too much though, because of how crazy scarce the housing is.

Everyone loses but the banks.

[–] JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I guess my mortgage could be considered bad debt on account of being adjustable interest rate - this is however the most common type of mortgage arrangement in Sweden where I live. This has led to my interest rate costs going up an eye watering 400% in about a year.

As a Dane am I envious of some of your systems like investeringssparkonto, but we have the better mortgage system. My home loan is locked in at 1% for 30 years.

You guys have had ENORMOUS immigration over the last eight years without building homes at commensurate rates. No wonder it placed pressure on housing. I don’t think your government had a realistic housing and immigration plan. I guess that’s why they were voted out. I hope things improve.

[–] Lauchs@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Financially, none. Morally? So much.

[–] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Went into 30k debt thanks to school and being injured and getting 1/3 of what I use to make. Had to use CC and other means which in itself was digging a bigger hole. I am 3k away from being done with fuckin debt. No house since this all happen during 08-10 fall out. 13 years. FML

[–] Usernameblankface@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Debt free, own two paid off cars old enough to be cheap but new enough that the maintenance isn't too bad, and also they get good milage. We don't own a truck or an SUV. We rent, cook at home 90% of the time, and we're only just making it.

[–] kpaniz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have around 5k€ left to pay for my car, for the rest I just spend what I know I can. I have a credit card but I just keep it there for emergencies or to pay in installments when the seller doesn't allow it, everything else goes to the debit card.

Edit: for context since I just read "in the US", I'm italian. My school was 150€/year so I saved myself the school debt thing.

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

None. Just my house.
I have a credit card bill but it gets paid off regularly.

A bank overdraft I use to restrain my consumerism.

[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

About £30k on a mortgage. I'm 49 and bought a house with my wife in 2009 for £105k, sold that for £150k. Bought another one in 2019 for £220k.

Apart from that, never really in debt. Owing money bothers me, apart from fines but I don't consider them as debt.

[–] daddyjones@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

This is essentially the same as me. I owe around £40k on a mortgage and my wife has student debt that she'll never have to repay. Other than that zero debt. I don't do debt and I like that I'm, more or less, debt free (mortgage doesn't really count imho.)

[–] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What's "bad" debt? What's "good" debt?

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

No debt is good, but a mortgage is at least not bad if it's affordable.

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[–] freeman@lemmy.pub 1 points 1 year ago

Only debt we have a mortgage we owe 226k on. Cars are owned outright and were paid off early. Student loans we paid off early. We generally live below our means. CC's are used for general purchasing and paid off in full each month. They are basically a stop-gap for fraud protection.

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