How much credit card debt?

E

elefantfresh

Registered User
Messages
450
As we all know, we as a nation are up to our eyeballs in debt - a lot of which is credit card debt. Speaking to a fellow work mate about the future of his SSIA money he says he'll "pay off some of my credit card". I find this quite shocking - how much debt can he be in on a credit card??? What is everyone doing with them? Now i'm no holy joe and i use my card (singular) sensibly and generally pay it off each month handy enough - but what sort of debt are people in on these things?
 
i know mine has 2k on it , usually paid off in full every month but had a nasty car repair bill and motor tax all in one month which temporarily put paid to that
 
Maybe he has a small SSIA..minimum per month!! Credit card debt must be shocking at this stage. A number of people have already posted their worries with regard to same. Personally I'm allowed to spend up to 15K at the moment. I've never done this, nor would I!!!
 
Its nuts! I'm terrified of mine and its only 1600e!! I wanted one for flights and online stuff and requested a card for 500e but the lowest they'd give me was 1600e. 15k at the drop of a hat? no thanks!!
 
Another CB report that may be pertinent in the context of this discussion:

[broken link removed]
 
In NAmerica the ccard culture is out of contol. After living in Vancouver for years I have 3 credit cards and two lines of credit (i.e. overdrafts). Between them I could borrow almost CAN$100k, at something like 14% mind you. These all started out at 5-10k limits, gradually raised over time. I'm told it is worse in the States. I am good with money, but during university (6yrs of) I got in some bother with ccards. It is vvvvvery easy to put it on the card. I can only imagine what some short-term thinking cubs of the Celtic Tiger do with their ccards.
 
Currently 6.5K, it gets transfered around the 0% deals. But it's only that high becasue I went on a round the world holiday and it only ever goes down.
 
walk2dewater said:
In NAmerica the ccard culture is out of contol.
Click to expand...
Be that as it may a CC holder always has the power not to incur debt and to restrict themselves to using the CC as a cashflow management tool rather than a short/medium/long term source of borrowing/credit. Those who cannot manage CCs prudently should avoid them. No point in blaming others for their financial problems.
 

Ccards appeal to a short-term mentality. Some forms of credit are simply dangerous, such as ccards and IO/100% mortgages. In fact I would say that any loan that doesn't discipline the debtor to regular and high repayment of principle falls into the dangerous category. Paying back is HARD, and ironically it gets harder the easier you try to make it by putting it off. These lessons are hard to teach young people who typically overestimate their ability to repay.

Is it really good to have a society with heavily indebted youth? Is that good for you, me or Ireland Inc.?
 
walk2dewater said:
Some forms of credit are simply dangerous, such as ccards and IO/100% mortgages. In fact I would say that any loan that doesn't discipline the debtor to regular and high repayment of principle falls into the dangerous category.
Click to expand...
I disagree. It's horses for courses. Some forms of credit may involve more risks than others but to describe them as inherently dangerous without reference to the fact that the borrower has some responsibility for choosing the most appropriate form for their own specific needs is ridiculous in my opinion.
These lessons are hard to teach young people who typically overestimate their ability to repay. Is it really good to have a society with heavily indebted youth? Is that good for you, me or Ireland Inc.?
Click to expand...
Do you have any hard figures for the indebtedness of Ireland's "youth"?
 

Well, some horses know more about certain courses, don't they? But anyway lets agree to disagree on what constitutes dangerous. Personally, Im not in any credit-related danger, I havent paid a penny in interest or credit fees to anyone for a very long time.

"Youth" in my world is anyone under 35. I've read somewhere that in Ireland they have a lot of debt. Something to do with house prices and "getting on the ladder" and all that.

Regardless of how or why the under 35ers are heavily indebted, IMO this is simply not good for Ireland Inc.
 
walk2dewater said:
"Youth" in my world is anyone under 35. I've read somewhere that in Ireland they have a lot of debt. Something to do with house prices and "getting on the ladder" and all that.
Click to expand...
Yes - but any hard facts on the actual indebtedness of under 35s?
 
ClubMan said:
Yes - but any hard facts on the actual indebtedness of under 35s?
Click to expand...

Sorry all out at the mo, will have a look later. But are you suggesting that all those youthful commuters from commuterville ARN'T up to their eyeballs in mortgages?
 
walk2dewater said:
But are you suggesting that all those youthful commuters from commuterville ARN'T up to their eyeballs in mortgages?
Click to expand...
Many young people that I know own their own houses and still seem to have lots of money to spend on discretionary stuff. But I prefer to draw conclusions from objective facts rather than subjective and anecdotal evidence as far as possible. Let me know if/when you have some of the former.
 
But isn't the mortgage debt different to the cc debt? Or are these folks financing their lifestyles via the cc and paying the mortgage via pay slips?
 
elefantfresh said:
But isn't the mortgage debt different to the cc debt?
Click to expand...
Indeed. Obviously mortgage debt is at least secured on a tangible asset used as collateral while CC debt is unsecured and usually at much higher rates of interest. As I said before - horses for courses.
 
ClubMan said:
Many young people that I know own their own houses .
Click to expand...

Hard facts please!?? LOL

MOST under-35 "homeowners" own nothing but a massive mortgage and the privilege to spend hours a day travelling to and from it. There's a statement that needs no academic research. And IMHO, pretty soon that mortgage will be greater than the market value of the house.

Anyway, werent we talking about ccard debt specifically?
 
walk2dewater said:
MOST under-35 "homeowners" own nothing but a massive mortgage and the privilege to spend hours a day travelling to and from it. There's a statement that needs no academic research.
Click to expand...

As an "under-35",I think it would need research cause i dont spend more then 20mins travelling to and from my home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register