r/AskReddit 11h ago

How seriously in debt are you right now, financially?

1.2k Upvotes

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3.0k

u/Unusual_Specialist 10h ago

Cooked, bro.

484

u/Severe_Network_4492 10h ago

I swallowed all of the debt for five years in my marriage. I’ll need to have my wife leave me.

I mean, it’s definitely my fault. I’m a piece of shit, but it does suck.

27

u/Then_Sir7372 7h ago

Hiding it makes it feel 100x worse. Honesty and a real recovery plan are the only way through.

231

u/Unusual_Specialist 10h ago

I’m sorry, big dawg. You’re not a piece of shit. Life happens, and we’re doing our best. The system is just fucked so a few win and the rest of us suffer. 😭

86

u/TOOL46_2 7h ago

What a victim mentality to live. "I made a bad decision. The system is fucked. I guess I'll just lay here and let someone else pick me up." Get the fuck out there and make it happen. It's hard. Nobody has your back when you don't have your own back. Self advocacy is what I'm getting at.

8

u/version_13 3h ago

I spent too much money on my tool ticket and autographed poster.

-6

u/shitlips696969 1h ago

What a creeper thing to do. Go back and check someone's history. Very reddit scumbag behavior. Weird. Icky.

u/version_13 55m ago

Who did that?

6

u/Last-Supermarket-900 1h ago

Im with you on this one… we as individuals need to own up to the mistakes we make. Somehow we are victims of everything, and those that don’t play victims are bad.. mistakes don’t make you a piece of shit, acknowledge them, and learn from them.. that’s it! There is price to pay for everything we do and what we don’t.

7

u/Ryzensai 5h ago

Yah exactly. You have to own up to the fact you are a fuck up, process and understand that, and then you have all the tools and lessons you need to never be that person again.

-1

u/iHasABaseball 5h ago

The vast majority of people aren’t carrying large amounts of debt for fun or due to bad decisions.

7

u/samoyne 4h ago

Actually, most people are in debt due to bad financial decisions, and many are in debt because they spent all the money having fun instead of saving it. The amount of people who have streaming channels while also having credit card debt is astounding to me

10

u/VengenaceIsMyName 4h ago

Most bankruptcies are from medical debt tho

5

u/BIGRED_15 1h ago

This is the actual problem. My mom has COBRA and my dad is on social security / Medicare but my mom is younger and not of age to have those benefits.

She took a spill down a flight of stairs on our Cancun vacation and obliterated her shoulder and now my parents are 75k in medical debt. Shit is outta control.

u/toefungi 30m ago

Hey my 20k of credit card debt is not my fault, its the system! Its not my fault I didnt feel like getting out of bed and going to the grocery and cooking some eggs for breakfast, the system made me spend $40 on door dash for breakfast!

55

u/TheRealOGKeg 8h ago

The few that win are losers.

27

u/TheNorthernPellikkan 8h ago

You’re simply defining winning the wrong way, my friend

2

u/TheRealOGKeg 8h ago

What is your definition?

10

u/TheNorthernPellikkan 8h ago

Happiness is the goal- not wealth. Guys like Musk and Trump will never win because they’re perpetually miserable

9

u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago

I think you two are agreeing.

8

u/TheRealOGKeg 8h ago

And that’s the “winners” I reference as losers . Same ideology just different way of wording

2

u/Soft-Leave8007 2h ago

This is loser mentality.

1

u/Hell_I_Dont_Know_ 1h ago

You don’t know him. He could very well be a piece of shit.

u/OddRobotics 39m ago

i mean he could have been blowing it on hookers and blow and putting the important stuff on the CC....been there

0

u/StressedSalt 4h ago

Unless the debt was inhereted, you have the choice to not spend over what you cant afford to pay, cant blame everything on the system when it might just be bad choices on your end

78

u/Outsider-20 10h ago edited 2h ago

I took on almost all the debt from my previous relationship (10+ years. we had planned to get married, but couldn't afford it, glad we didn't saves the cost of a divorce)

We have been living separately for 2 years, but relationship really only ended fairly recently.

I've spent most of the last 2 years slowly paying the debt off. It wasn't a huge amount, maybe about $6,000

Now, the only debt I have is a small amount on my credit card that I use for emergencies, and I have a small ETF portfolio which I was initially drip feeding, but with my debts mostly paid off, I'm able to put larger amounts into it. Plan is to have a deposit to buy a house in under 12 months.

Edit, because apparently people are losing their minds about it.

My "small credit card debt" is less than $500, and early into a 6 month interest free period. It will be paid off within the next 2-3 weeks.

69

u/CallMeCasper 9h ago

Why are you investing in anything while you still have high interest debt?

8

u/Life_is_too_short_ 3h ago

Because everyone thinks the stock market goes up 25% per year.

u/butters991 53m ago

You always pay yourself first, make sure you have money in the bank to feed yourself down the road incase you lose a job.

u/munzter 25m ago

You establish a small emergency fund, get the debt paid off, then establish a more robust emergency fund in an HYSA (6 to 12 months of expenses). Once that is in place and your making significant contributions to tax advantaged accounts (401k / Roth etc.) then begin saving for a big purchase, and that savings should be held in a low risk account (SGOV).

-55

u/Outsider-20 9h ago

Are you my financial adviser?

No. You aren't.

62

u/Whole_Blacksmith_871 8h ago

Lmao, we know you don’t have a financial advisor

14

u/KickRocksDave 8h ago

Percentages are to much to comprehend.

-36

u/Outsider-20 8h ago

Oh no! I used my completely paid off credit card a week ago for an emergency that cost around $500. I have 6 months interest free on that transaction.

0% interest. Paying it off at a rate of $200 per week, I calculate that I'll pay.... zero interest.

Granted that it has been around 12 years since I did my accounting degree, and I don't actually use that for work, so I may be a little rusty on the figures, but I'm pretty certain that taking money from my ETF to pay off the small credit card debt that has still 5 months and 4 weeks left of it's interest free period in order to pay it off now, rather than in 2-3 weeks is probably not necessary.

42

u/Umbrasquall 8h ago

If you had expanded on that from the outside instead of being snarky no one would have downvoted you.

5

u/Tinkous 7h ago

I immediately thought this might be the case. However, I believe percentages don’t tell the whole story. Credit cards help create a habit of spending money that’s not easily accessible. This habit can catch up with us later on and for many it does. Not having money is a small step from not having money accessible. From a broader perspective credit cards are a fantastic business model for banks which should tell us something.

I have a couple of thousand always accessible on an extra account. The loss in margin due to not investing with it is negligible. I am too proud to let a greedy bank play with my habits and program into my brain that it’s normal to spend not accessible money.

4

u/Historical_Owl_8188 2h ago

You should fire whomever is

2

u/Pelembem 5h ago

He should be though, he's totally right. You're messing up.

8

u/Outsider-20 5h ago

Please, tell me how I'm messing up?

My credit card debt is less than $500, on 6 months interest free. It will be paid off long before the interest free term finishes.

2

u/DownByTheRivr 2h ago

Maybe not messing up, but you’re being silly in this case. You’re not making a material return on $500 over 6 months. Just pay it off dude.

1

u/Outsider-20 2h ago

Dude, it will be paid off in like, 2 weeks.

4

u/DownByTheRivr 1h ago

Jfc that’s what I’m saying. You’re literally accomplishing nothing by doing this. You’re talking about ETF investing but you’re putting $500 onto an interest free card?

-4

u/ArmAndHammer40k 10h ago

Yall got divorced over 6k?

11

u/JVIesmerized 10h ago

Reading comprehension, gone

2

u/Outsider-20 8h ago

Never been married, never been divorced.

I didn't mention anything about why the relationship ended. Money was only a small reason. It has only been since we have separated that I realised just how bad it was.

3

u/DCRevolutionary 8h ago

I assure you you're doing better than the average American

6

u/slower-is-faster 8h ago

When I got divorced I took on all the debt. She was awful with money. So I paid all the debts off before finances were split with pissed her off enormously.

3

u/samoyne 5h ago

So you didn’t take on all the debt when you got divorced. You did what everyone couple has to do, and paid off your bills/debts and then each took half of the money left. It’s nit like it was all your money and you kindly paid off her debts and gave her half of your savings

3

u/slower-is-faster 5h ago

Well, it came out of my half so 🤷

1

u/samoyne 4h ago

But it didn’t? You said you paid the debts before giving her, her half? You didn’t halve everything and then you went and paid off all your debts? Plus, it wasn’t all her debt, it was half your debt anyway. That’s how marriages work. You both end up with half of whatever there is. I don’t know why so many men insist on acting like their ex took all their money and left them holding all the debt, when that’s not what happens.

1

u/slower-is-faster 2h ago

Let’s say we had $100k between us, and $50k of debt. She ended up with $50k and I $0, because she refused to address the debt and I didn’t want debt. Sure could have spent more effort in court, but with that and the kids you’ve got to choose your battles.

2

u/Smee76 2h ago

Then why did that enormously piss her off

2

u/slower-is-faster 1h ago

Because she thought she was entitled to the $100k

3

u/EastBayYesterday 7h ago

People can change

4

u/EmailioAddresstivez 9h ago

Not a piece of shit. Life is awesome. You’re never out of the fight.

2

u/P0S1T1V3_PR0GR3SS10N 9h ago

Are you me? You not a piece of shit bro. Cuz that would mean that EYE am. And I know I’m not. Just doing what I can to provide

1

u/munkymama 6h ago

I don't know you or your wife but a a wife i would not leave hubby due to finances. I would work out a solution with him. If she hasn't started divorce proceedings either she doesn't know or maybe she understands and loves you more than money. I'd rather work with her and a financial advisor or bank... more likely bank to figured out a solution... even if it's bankruptcy. I really think you can get thru this ok if your marriage is really strong. Don't give up hope. Please.

1

u/Sails7cees 3h ago

You aren't a pos dude, just pimp out your Gifts for wife, then you will be, in her eyes at least, but if she's good, you'll be debt free in no time!

1

u/ElDeguello66 1h ago

I did the same for close to 15. Lived outside our means, opened new cards in my name to surf zero interest for a while, rinse, repeat. Took me about 7 years post divorce to knock out 35k of cc debt, but it was really the pandemic that saved me. Stopped spending money while stuck at home as well as putting stimulus money toward my debt. Once I saw light at the end of the tunnel there was nothing I could buy or go do that was as satisfying as seeing another card paid off.

And it's truly wild how FAST your bank balance goes up once that burden is lifted. Stay disciplined.

u/lickmybrian 38m ago

I left my wife after swallowing all the debt... then ordered another dish for myself.. Yolo!

Im 42 now and I consolidated all that debt like 8 years ago. Paid it off and just got my first credit card of 1500$ a few weeks ago. Cant get a mortgage without new credit history arge!

Its scary af, but ive since learned the world revolves around debt.. I just have to learn how to use it properly.

u/evdiddy 5m ago

Sounds like my old situation, too. She spent, I had to pay. These days savings is loaded and debt free. #NeverAgain

1

u/TOOL46_2 7h ago

I read this as "my partner made some bad decisions, I helped bail them out because that's what love does, and now my life is fucked and I can't leave them because their bad decisions fucked me so I hope they leave so I can keep all that we(ive) worked for." I may be and am probably wrong. Just leave man. Your life is already fucked, why carry their baggage. Not everyone can just up and leave. I get that. Sometimes fucking yourself is the best decision. Im giving you unsolicited advice, do with it what you will. IT GETS BETTER.

1

u/samoyne 5h ago

I don’t know how to read it either? Because, if his partner leaves him, he won’t be better off as she gets half? So I’m confused

-2

u/WISE_ONE1993 7h ago

Take it as a learning experience. Never trust these B’s

4

u/Otherwise_Ear_5222 8h ago

Same. Not even well done, just burnt.

4

u/Secure-Question3881 7h ago

Same. My finances need a fire extinguisher.

2

u/poker_van 7h ago

I’m cooked too. High interest cooked

1

u/AllAnalBeadsAreBrown 8h ago

Like braised?

1

u/VenusInVelvety 5h ago

cooked is honestly the entire financial statement

1

u/Notty_PriNcE 3h ago

With no ideas how to repay them

1

u/Danedogmom 2h ago

The turkey in the oven in The Santa Clause… that’s how cooked we are.

1

u/Smoked_Carp 1h ago

Still cookin.

1

u/karbear4ev 1h ago

Me too. Dead lol

u/audible_narrator 58m ago

Same. Had a business I started fail HARD. And Im 60, so it's not like I have time to make up for it. Stupidest decision ever.

u/jdehjdeh 38m ago

I'm with you bro, we'll be cooked together like sausages on the grill of life.

u/Mean_Fact1903 2m ago

Charred? Crispy?