# How much debt other than mortgage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178 "2012-06-24T20:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/1 "2012-06-24T20:16:04Z")
No offense to the other poster, but thought this might produce a clearer picture…for the sake of argument, assume a rough avg on a month-to-month basis, ie what is “typical” or has been the norm in recent times for you. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/2 "2012-06-24T20:29:21Z")
Mind you, I’ve been higher than usual: in February I put a 950€ hotel bill in my credit card. That’s 600€ more than anything I’d charged in the last 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/3 "2012-06-24T22:21:02Z")
The only debt I have outside of my mortgage is the credit card bill, which I pay off every month. Are you interested in how much I churn through the card? Or should I vote for $0? I’m likely to buy a new car in a month or two. My answer will probably change. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/4 "2012-06-24T22:39:28Z")
Zero non-mortgage debt: we pay off our credit cards every month, and our cars are paid off. And at the rate we’re paying off the mortgage, we’ll have the house paid off by late 2014. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/5 "2012-06-24T22:46:54Z")
Glad your asking now, when I can say “zero.”. A year ago I would have been off the charts. Over $100k this time last year. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/6 "2012-06-24T23:15:35Z")
My answer is the same: Just about 10K. My mortgage is paid off and my 1997 car went bad last summer, so I replaced it with a used one and am rapidly paying it off. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/7 "2012-06-25T00:07:56Z")
Over 20,000. All student loans for my wife and kids. I got of all other debt except the mortgage. It’s easier to pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/8 "2012-06-25T01:43:20Z")
Zero. How much selection bias do you suppose we have here? ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/9 "2012-06-25T02:34:08Z")
Besides mortgage debt, none, as I pay off my credit card every month. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/10 "2012-06-25T03:19:31Z")
Just finished college last year, so student loans are there. Also have credit card debt, and a car loan. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/11 "2012-06-25T09:17:02Z")
Zero. The credit card bill is ~ $2100 and is due on Wednesday. I will pay it on Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/12 "2012-06-25T11:59:27Z")
Right now I’ve got about $1500 on a home equity loan, should be paid down by the time fall tuitions come due. Then I’ll be about $10k on that. Older Daughter is going into her senior year, so we’ll only have Younger Daughter to pay for after January. Mortgage will be paid off in June of 2013, which will open up some income to help the girls with their student loans. Credit cards are paid in full every month, last two cars came out of home equity and we have paid ourselves back on those purchases. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/13 "2012-06-25T12:21:12Z")
Way over 20k, which is almost entirely my own student loans. There’s also about $6k remaining on my wife’s car. Other than that, the credit card is paid off every month, and we managed to pay off our first car just over a year after we bought it. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/14 "2012-06-25T13:34:25Z")
Right now, somewhere in the neighborhood of $15K on my car, but that’s it. I’m overpaying on my payments, so I should finish it slightly faster than scheduled. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/15 "2012-06-25T14:03:15Z")
Other than my mortgage, I have about $9,000 and 9 years left on a 0% interest loan we took out last year for a home renovation project, and about 5 months left to pay around $1500 on a 0% interest loan for my wife’s lasik surgery last summer. We only agreed to pay them both over time because there was no interest involved. We pay our credit cards in full every month. Cars are paid off. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/16 "2012-06-25T15:29:24Z")
I like this idea, because you can’t fault most people that have a mortgage. And $250,000 will buy you a great house in SW Virginia and a 2-bedroom house in CA, so it’s hard to judge. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/17 "2012-06-25T15:43:52Z")
Zero even counting mortgage, though that’ll probably have to change eventually. And **Procrustus** , may we ask how you managed to do that? $100k is an awfully large amount to pay down in a single year. I assume you negotiated most of it lower? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/18 "2012-06-25T16:49:41Z")
Mortgage is our only debt. I have never taken out a car loan, I have no student loans, and I pay my CC bill every month. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/19 "2012-06-25T17:16:05Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > No offense to the other poster None taken. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178/20 "2012-06-25T19:03:15Z")
Also, almost all of my student debt won’t be going anywhere for a while. I’m going to be in grad school for the next 5+ years, and I can put off loan payments the entire time. All the while, the gubmint pays the interest on my subsidized loans, and I’m just going to pay the (thankfully low) interest on my private loans, since that gives me a nice tax break. Still, that remaining car loan should be paid off in a year or so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-debt-other-than-mortgage/626178.md?page=2)