How much debt is a crazy amount to you?

[Seeker]

I know this is a skewed place to ask, since we tend to be more budget minded/aware than the average person (otherwise, we wouldn't post on a finance forum) and I know that income makes a difference in some ways as well.

Cost of living in a particular area also makes a difference. Friendship/peer pressure/enjoyment of doing things with friends/family... all of us have different priorities in life. So what may make you cringe -- may not get a bink of an eye from me. Our experiences are different in how we percieve and how we choose to deal with what we "value."

It's like, why would you not just pay cash if you had that much cash?

There are reasons for not carrying and paying with cash that's been repeatedly stated many times on this board. Safety is a major one. There are benefits to using a CC and paying it off fully at the end of each month (benefits in terms of freebies or credits to such things as hotel stays, travel mileage, cash rewards back, etc), but these benefits make sense only when they do not cost (and many people do pay off thier cc bill in full when in comes).

"Nightmare scenearios" are the only thing that really makes consistent sense in your words here. No matter what the specific dollar amount is that constitutes "debt" -- if it's creating a sleep issue or any kind of "worry" issue or problem, then we need to deal with that issue and resolve that issue. The number is not really important in that sense; everyone's number will be different.

[Financialculture]

I have to need $10k, These days, professional education comes with skyrocketed prices and you might be spending most of your initial earnings on repaying the loans. According to a Mint Student loans infographic, in collaboration with College Scholarships.org, this year, a college fresher is expected to pay $148,454 including your public and private tuition fee, boarding and loading and freshman’s fee. A law degree is going to put you in a student debt of $ 92, 937 and a medico degree will burden you with $127, 272. Are you ready to pay up all this with your salary later? All these charges are higher than the college charges of last year.

[jimmychippewa]

When it comes to CC debt, I personally use it to make money. I've carried about 10k in debt for the last two years and not paid a dime in interest, but earned some by putting the money I would pay off the debt with in CD's or high interest saving accounts.

How did you carry 10k in debt and not pay a dime in interest?

[disneysteve]

How did you carry 10k in debt and not pay a dime in interest?

I'm guessing 0% CC offers.

[Caoineag]

It used to be any but student loans cured me of that. Then it was 20k then it was 40k. Basically the number moved as my debt increased. My high number was always the crazy amount. I didn't have a heart attack when I got a mortgage for 133k (a mortgage is still debt to me) so I am betting that my crazy amount is probably around 150k now. That said, in the next two years the credit cards and the student loans will be paid off and I will be very happy when they are. Basically I want my networth to be positive by a significant amount and that needs to climb as I get older.

I have more of an issue paying interest charges than I have with actually having debt. I wish I could give a more definitive answer but my crazy amount is definitely linked to how much I can personally handle.

[ceejay74]

I don't know if I'd call debt "crazy," since if it is, it's a mass delusion. But I don't hesitate to call it "foolish" if you don't have a plan to pay it off or have some other reason for carrying it (such as, you can earn more in stock market than your interest rate).

This from a person whose family is currently carrying $8K in CC debt and $75K in student loan debt. But we're digging our way out steadily--we're a lot better than we were a couple years ago! Maybe that's why I prefer "foolish" to "crazy"--don't like to think I was insane when I was younger, just very very ignorant about the consequences of borrowing money.

[segmond]

I use to think debt was bad, it isn't. it depends on what you took it out for and your earning ability. i do be glad to take a $10million loan right about now to pursue one of my ideas.

[heidrek]

aside from Mortgages, I'd put anything over 10K of debt to be way too much, but that's just me!

[expo09]

The problem is that too many people ingore the debts they are getting themselves into. They forget they will ever need to pay it back. I know this isn't a straight answer, but debts need to be affordable. If you are getting more and more into debt all the time then you have a problem (student debt is an exception as you will be earning when you finish studying hopefully). If you get a loan and are gradually paying it back and have a plan to do so then that is a manageable debt.

[lovcom]

If your consumer debt (non-mortgage) is (a) more then 5% of your annual take home pay and (b) carried over more then 3 months, then more then likely you have crazy debt and need counseling.

I have zero consumer debt, although I do have several mortgages on several rental income properties.

Debt is bondage to (1) the banks, and (2) to one's demons (desires unchecked).

The amount of debt corresponds to one's character, and maturity in all but very few cases.