beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) Reading about latest Barclaycard results : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-lo...7&in_page_id=62 and was surprised by these statistics: quote: "Some 40% of Barclaycard customers pay off their balance in full every month, which means the company cannot make profits from them. The remaining 60% are carrying an average balance of £900." surprised by the average of £900. Obviously there will be many who have more than 1 card and are many £1000's in debt, and that is scary...... But is the % figure of people with huge debt as high as we think? I have personal experience of people who are using bankruptcy as a way to wipe-the-decks of debt, hoping to get discharged in 12 months - after the change of regulations last year - and start a fresh. IMHO it is all a little too easy - for some - and the really hard hit are being driven to desperate measures and tragically suicide--- whilst z-list celebs are treating their bankrupty status as something to sell as tabloid story fodder. (referring to non-entity Wendy Turner, sister of Anthea who was all over press at weekend) Amongst forum members/friends/family/work mates how bad is the debt problem at this point? Barclaycard are the biggest card provider in the Uk the article states...and still made profits of 687m last year.......... Edited February 22, 2006 by beenhearingthisforyears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushroom Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Ok, all is fine then. The British Economy is an example to the World and will continue on the current path until every property owner is a £millionaire. Or even £multimillionaire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battenberg Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Just going on family members because we don't tend to share that information amongst friends it's right across the board. I have a brother who only has a mortgage and doesn't even have a credit card. I have another brother who's mortgaged to the hilt on a self cert interest only mortgage but I'm not aware if he has other debt. Now this is my side of the family. We were brought up to be careful with money, although I fell off the wagon for a while and debt isn't something that was around. Now hubby had to hide under the table from the loan sharks when he was a boy and his mother never learnt the error of her ways. She's still upto the eyeballs and then goes off on foreign holidays 3 times a year. Spoke to SIL on the weekend and they are thinking of MEWing yet again to pay off their debts. They have 3 loans between them and atleast 9 credit cards. One of the loanpayments is already a wopping £390 pm . I think the percentage is probably higher than we think tbh. How many people actually admit their financial situation to others. I do believe that some people with high debt don't see it as a problem with interest rates being low and particularly those with equity in their homes - well equity at the moment - so they probably don't feel any need to worry about it. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 No, I think you meant to say everyone will be a -£Millionaire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apom Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) Reading about latest Barclaycard results : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-lo...7&in_page_id=62 and was surprised by these statistics: quote: "Some 40% of Barclaycard customers pay off their balance in full every month, which means the company cannot make profits from them. The remaining 60% are carrying an average balance of £900." surprised by the average of £900. Obviously there will be many who have more than 1 card and are many £1000's in debt, and that is scary...... But is the % figure of people with huge debt as high as we think? I have personal experience of people who are using bankruptcy as a way to wipe-the-decks of debt, hoping to get discharged in 12 months - after the change of regulations last year - and start a fresh. IMHO it is all a little too easy - for some - and the really hard hit are being driven to desperate measures and tragically suicide--- whilst z-list celebs are treating their bankrupty status as something to sell as tabloid story fodder. (referring to non-entity Wendy Turner, sister of Anthea who was all over press at weekend) Amongst forum members/friends/family/work mates how bad is the debt problem at this point? Barclaycard are the biggest card provider in the Uk the article states...and still made profits of 687m last year.......... We have never been that bad in the UK. a terrific amount of debt is held by a very few people. Only mewers and those who have bought in the last 7 years.. Most people owe next to nothing. a few owe so much it would make your bals shrink just to think about it.. Edited February 22, 2006 by apom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Charlie The Tramp Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Debt No Problem UK Debt Timebomb Personal Debt in the UK to be Probed by New EPSRC Funded Risk Management Centre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karhu Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I hope it's not as bad as we think. Otherwise when interest rates rise, as they will, as surely as night follows day, this country will have to tighen its belt so tighly that it will stop breathing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilrich Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 The UK Debt problem was recently likened to a giant iceberg in the Daily Telegraph. Personal debt nearing £1.2 trillion and increasing by 10% that is £100 billion pounds per year!! This figure of £1.2 trillion is also approximately the same as UK GDP which last year grew by only 1.8%! So we have net personal borrowing increasing by 10% of GDP and yet GDP only managed to grow by 1.8%! It appears to me that personal borrowing is plugging a very large hole in our Economy and that sounds pretty bad to me! The above takes no account of public sector borrowing and the national debt is close to £500 billion, public sector liabilities total £1.4 trillion when you start to include public sector pension liabilities and debts from companies such as Network Rail. I'd say that the UK has a debt problem, we're Donald Ducked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Ok, all is fine then. The British Economy is an example to the World and will continue on the current path until every property owner is a £millionaire. Or even £multimillionaire. i just asked a simple question...based on a story in press today...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Winners and Losers Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 i just asked a simple question...based on a story in press today...... Well, ask a silly (i mean simple) question..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Well, ask a silly (i mean simple) question..... but if fits your big picture no problem??? this forum is mostly 99.5 bear. don't you think it would be good to get a bit of balance? Not everyone is in debt, about to loose their house, having to live my candle b/c they can't afford the gas bill........ i am reading ALL the reports - with an open mind - not just the ones that suit some forum member's agendas........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalista Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 So we have net personal borrowing increasing by 10% of GDP and yet GDP only managed to grow by 1.8%! It appears to me that personal borrowing is plugging a very large hole in our Economy and that sounds pretty bad to me! Yeah, it's like plugging a hole with a live grenade! frugalista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Winners and Losers Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 but if fits your big picture no problem??? this forum is mostly 99.5 bear. don't you think it would be good to get a bit of balance? Not everyone is in debt, about to loose their house, having to live my candle b/c they can't afford the gas bill........ i am reading ALL the reports - with an open mind - not just the ones that suit some forum member's agendas........ I was just joking (jesus!). But it should be the kind of responses you would come to expect, albeit tongue in cheek, from a forum that is 99.5 bear. I think everyone does want a balance and I often read your posts in particular. I own property so of course I don't want to lose money, but that does not mean that I can't face reality. I used to be a bull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) Haven't lots of people switched their unsecured debt to be secured on their houses? I bet they'll still go on to rack up more on their now cleared credit cards anyway. Perhaps the debt problem is "under control" under today's economic conditions, but "out of control" when the interest rate ticks up 0.5? Or perhaps it is, as Winston Churchill put it, "Never, in the field of human borrowing, has some much been owed to so many, by so few", but I doubt it. Edited February 22, 2006 by Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) I was just joking (jesus!). But it should be the kind of responses you would come to expect, albeit tongue in cheek, from a forum that is 99.5 bear. I think everyone does want a balance and I often read your posts in particular. I own property so of course I don't want to lose money, but that does not mean that I can't face reality. I used to be a bull. ok sorry..just i have become really down reading all this doom and gloom here....with not even a ray of light filtering through. Feel i have become addicted to reading every article. If it gets as bad as predicted here. it will be ALL of us who could loose our jobs etc. Been through it last time and not a good picture.....i don't want my mates/family to go through that......... i hear from them/see the press/ read things are ok.....then see the picture emerging here??? it is making me stop and think i admit that.......but sometimes it feels like i am reading about another country and i feel like i am the mad one b/c i can't see it. London central is not taking on this gloom yet......the forum pounces on "200 jobs losses" for example but no-one mentions the jobs created. e.g Asda today. (altho to be fair it was highlighted at top of forum).....i just wish there could be a little more balance. even 5%!! sorry rant over. i think i need to get out more and spend less time on this forum... Edited February 22, 2006 by beenhearingthisforyears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Winners and Losers Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 ok sorry..just i have become really down reading all this doom and gloom here....with not even a ray of light filtering through. If it gets as bad as predicted here. it will be ALL of us who could loose our jobs etc. Been through it last time and not a good picture.....i don't want my mates/family to go through that......... Well, I'm sorry too then. It is very confusing sometimes and visiting this site tends to placate me and heighten my anxiety at the same time - good thing I'm on 100mg of anti-d, anti-anxiety, anti-OCD medication! That is why it is important for people to keep posting and keep reading - to protect ourselves! A boom can't just be sustained forever, not at these levels anyway. That would not be a good thing for us either. It is probably good to accept the inevitability and plan ahead. I mean, how would we have ever coped in a World War? ok sorry..just i have become really down reading all this doom and gloom here....with not even a ray of light filtering through. If it gets as bad as predicted here. it will be ALL of us who could loose our jobs etc. Been through it last time and not a good picture.....i don't want my mates/family to go through that......... i hear from them/see the press/ read things are ok.....then see the picture emerging here??? it is making me stop and think i admit that.......but sometimes it feels like i am reading about another country and i feel like i am the mad one b/c i can't see it. London central is not taking on this gloom yet......the forum pounces on "200 jobs losses" for example but no-one mentions the jobs created. e.g Asda today. (altho to be fair it was highlighted at top of forum).....sorry rant over Anyway, if you think that was bad you should see what I wrote about Without a Pot to Piss In (I mean Without a Paddle). Oops. He not very happy. I thought it was funny anyway! Now he really is a BULL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Charlie The Tramp Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 London central is not taking on this gloom yet The list is the same every day at the Central Bankruptcy Court in London. The Q1 2006 stats will IMO be shocking. All Aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinesin Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) How many Barclaycard customers actively use their card? 80%, 90%?? Are there 20% than just have the card for holidays/emergencies - Do these count as paying off their balance every month? Edited February 22, 2006 by kinesin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom_and_bust Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) ok sorry..just i have become really down reading all this doom and gloom here....with not even a ray of light filtering through. If it gets as bad as predicted here. it will be ALL of us who could loose our jobs etc. Been through it last time and not a good picture.....i don't want my mates/family to go through that......... Hi, The economy is interdependent, a small ripple in one place can cause large waves in another. £1.2 trillion debt and it's not going away. That is the bottom line. And regarding percentages, it only takes decimal figure percentages to default to cause a property crash. i.e., in a property crash, you do not suddenly get 25% of people defaulting, the height of the last crash had infact a peak of less than 1% of mortgaged properties coming into repocession order out of all mortages outstanding in the economy. (Source : Council of mortgage lenders : http://www.york.ac.uk/res/ukhr/ukhr0405/ta...04%20053a-f.pdf Boomer Edited February 22, 2006 by boom_and_bust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I think beenhearinghtisforyears does have a valid point in some ways. There are not many people that I know who are in deep debt or having serious cash flow problems. the great majority of people my age or above that i know haven't moved in many years so mortgages are relatively small. in fact other than a few that find money mamagement a black art i dont know anyone who is in any kind of financial do-do at all. but maybe, just as its said, you dont know what goes on behind closed doors, perhaps everyone i know really has multiple cc's and are just keeping it quiet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bart of Darkness Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Reading about latest Barclaycard results : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-lo...7&in_page_id=62 and was surprised by these statistics: quote: "Some 40% of Barclaycard customers pay off their balance in full every month, which means the company cannot make profits from them. The remaining 60% are carrying an average balance of £900." I think you make a good point there and I urge you to contact the IMF at once. Those silly ninnies seem to think we're in some sort of bother: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-lo...2&in_page_id=62 But I'm sure this news about Barclaycard users and their spending habits will enable them to all get a good nights sleep again. Crisis? What crisis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beenhearingthisforyears Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 The list is the same every day at the Central Bankruptcy Court in London. The Q1 2006 stats will IMO be shocking. All Aboard. Would not be surprised. yes i think i am in denial. just it was SO bad last time, i (along with many) lost my job etc, etc. To me b/c i - and many friends - have fixed rate, low outgoings, put down good deposits.........that it will hit home later.......unless we all loose our jobs.... just think - as some members are looking for any hint of a crash in the reports..i am looking / grasping?! for that glimmer of hope. if i was sure all is ok, i wouldn't spend time reading/visiting this site...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Hey Charlie that link you posted about the courts, that must be a joke page. Thursday 23rd, at 11 o'clock, petition. Mr Doodoo is in deep financial doodoo further down at 12 o'clock Mr Adebanjo ...... so what happened did the string break? Near the bottom, Mr In. Re. A. Debtor You've been had Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Charlie The Tramp Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Would not be surprised. yes i think i am in denial. just it was SO bad last time, i (along with many) lost my job etc, etc. To me b/c i - and many friends - have fixed rate, low outgoings, put down good deposits.........that it will hit home later.......unless we all loose our jobs.... just think - as some members are looking for any hint of a crash in the reports..i am looking / grasping?! for that glimmer of hope. if i was sure all is ok, i wouldn't spend time reading/visiting this site...... The reason when I had a mortgage we saved until we had a year`s reserve to see us through any difficult times. We then felt confident to spend on those little luxuries in life afterwards. That old saying "saving for a rainy day" was always good advice. As we had that little financial pot behind us the bad times passed us by with no problems and we were never affected through those recessions. Hey Charlie that link you posted about the courts, that must be a joke page. No it`s genuine, some Africans have funny names. I remember one called Ali Onabanjo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom_and_bust Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 (edited) I think beenhearinghtisforyears does have a valid point in some ways. There are not many people that I know who are in deep debt or having serious cash flow problems. the great majority of people my age or above that i know haven't moved in many years so mortgages are relatively small. in fact other than a few that find money mamagement a black art i dont know anyone who is in any kind of financial do-do at all. but maybe, just as its said, you dont know what goes on behind closed doors, perhaps everyone i know really has multiple cc's and are just keeping it quiet! Hi, There is a point there, for sure. There must be a large number of people in serious debt because we are hitting record levels of bankruptcies, mortgage arrears and approaching mortgage repocession levels last seen during the crash of the ninetees. We also have record outstanding personal debts. Someone has to be holding it. And recent reports have suggested that it is the 20-35 age group who are taking the brunt of it. The figures are there, you can't really dispute that it exists. All the banks to a tee have been raising their bad debt provisions over the last year. Why do you think? The deeper question. Can the economy bumble along in a slow growth, debt burdened state as it does indefinitely? That will not be much fun for anyone. Japan and the Netherlands are examples of this situation in the recent past. Many years of recession and technical depression (years of real and negative, wealth reduction have occured there). Something needs to appear on the horizon sharpish to pull the economy away from the current position. It is not viable from the standpoint that the debt burden will continue to increase for no other reason than the accumalation of interest repayment from this time on. Multiple debt default harms business confidence and international credibilty. More precisely, ask the question : Is the economy about to enter a non-debt period of growth in the near future? That usually means a large increase in personal saving, business investment and foreign inflows (export markets and foreign inward investment). this is the traditional model of recovery growth. Additional savings and inflows to banks get recycled to loans for business and wealth creation. In the UK, we have to clear a historically highest ever level of debt before actual saving can occur. Boomer Edited February 22, 2006 by boom_and_bust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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