Do you know anyone who doesn’t have/ hasn’t ever had any debt?

Well I have to say we had masses of debt when our four were small and I was not working - including the Mothercare account which we used for nappies for our twin daughters and which we paid off when they were five. It enabled us to have a decent, by no means lavish, lifestyle, go on great (camping) holidays and help them out when they went away to university. Undoubtedly we paid loads of interest but I don’t regret it. Since they have flown the nest and we have retired we are comfortably off and have been debt, including mortgage, free for many years. I’m just saying this because I think you can use borrowing money as a way of managing your finances/life and should do this without guilt.

When we first married in the early 60s we had very little money and our London flatlet was very expensive. We desperately needed furniture and Whiteleys around the corner was having a wonderful sale. We decided not to buy our furniture there as we would have to get it on hire purchase, so we made do with second hand scruffy stuff and saved up. Unfortunately by the time we had enough prices were through the roof and we still couldn't buy what we wanted. So then we bought stuff on hire purchase...

My parents both died having never owing a penny.

Never had a credit card and never owed any money to anyone. Always saved so I had money available when I wanted items.

I had a year with no income between early retirement and the council dragging its feet in working out how much pension I should get. I spent that year looking for bargains in the supermarket, buying no clothes and making full use of the ones I already had, and signing up for surveys - I earned £800 in that first year. Really, I hear you say??!! Yep, I had to double-check that figure but it really was £800 but that was with a lot of time spent doing the surveys.

I hate the thought of owing anyone money which is why I've saved from day 1 of work. Something so many just don't do.

I kept on top of my debt until I approached 60. I was unable work with various health issues but was obliged to sign on for Jobseekers, couldn’t get ESA. I had expected to retire at 60, so this was a shock. I burned through my small savings trying to keep afloat and had to use my credit card to survive. I am now retired and pay off this debt at £5 at month off my state pension. At least, I didn’t have to sell my house like some women.

We have a small mortgage and borrow modestly for our cars.
I know that if anything went wrong with either of our jobs we would just retire (very close anyway) and be able to pay everything off with a very small proportion of our lump sums, so I don't worry about that borrowing. I used to put a lot of purchases on y credit card and pay off in full when the bill arrived but find it depressing to spend out money on things I already have. Now I pay on my debit card and each payday puts a smile on my face.

Me! Can't bear it - too scary! I've been self employed for 30+ years, so my income fluctuates. My daughter, on the other hand.....

My parents were the only people I know of who saved up to buy a house for cash. Times were hard but they never owed a penny to anyone. If they couldn't pay cash, they didn't have it.
I'm talking about the 50s and early 60s and, of course, that would be totally impossible now.

My parents never had any debts their philosophy was "if you can't afford it don't have it". I have carried on like that and apart from our mortgage haven't ever owed anything. Since retirement we are better off but both have health problems so can't really enjoy the extra money. I sometimes look back and wish we had got into debt for some nice holidays or better furniture but wonder whether being in debt would have worried me sick. x

Surely your aunt's mortgage was a debt, or did she rent?

I believe some debt is all well and good provided it is carefully managed. I'm always mystified on these money advice programmes on tv that anyone is paying interest on debt. Have they never heard of 0% loans? That means you don't pay interest and just pay off the capital over time. Where's the problem?

If you do need to borrow money, it can cause problems if you have never had to pay off a debt, as you have no credit history and are therefore an unknown risk.

I have always hated the thought of getting into debt. Mortgage paid off several years ago, and now if we can't afford it we go without. I have always been a manager and squirrel money away in different accounts, DH says if I suddenly pop off he will never know where I have put money. We think we live quite well and personally it worries me the way some folk say quite happily "Oh I'll just put it on my card", I don't like giving my money away to others.

In answer to your question, I have no idea of my friends’ financial affairs nor would I ask.
Our parents’ generation though were brought up on the “Never a borrower nor a lender be” to the extent that my father, who had bought their little house for cash refused to take out a mortgage to extend and improve it, preferring to save up for any work which needed doing.
I think they totally disapproved of our (relatively modest ) mortgage and wonder what they would make of student loans, and the huge mortgages young people seem to have today.

I presume those who say they “won’t give their bank details to anyone” have never written a cheque?

Times have changed for sure. Back in those 'olden days' few people owned their own homes. They paid their rent and lived within their means. An occasional trip to the pawnbrokers if they had a difficult week.

Brought up by a father who frowned upon borrowing money, I have never felt comfortable with debt. But there is debt and there is debt. Mortgage is a perfectly acceptable debt. Or a car loan. Borrowing because you can't wait for luxuries isn't acceptable to me but it seems it is for the generation of today. I think it's now the 'norm' to put everything on cards/loans and worry about it later.

More and more youngsters renting too. I used to think it was because they couldn't get on the property ladder due to the high interest rates and end of the 100% mortgage (which in most cases it is) but some young people I know who have highly paid jobs told me they don't want to buy and are more happy if things go wrong in the house to pick up the phone than pick up a screwdriver.

I suppose I need to 'get with it' or something. I'm just not a fan of the 'entitled' generation. I you want it, earn it, then have it.

Apart from mortgage years ago, no debt. I always do interest free as long as I have sufficient funds to pay in full in emergency. My capital then collects interest and I don't seem to miss the monthly drain as much as I would full capital outlay. I also use cc all the time as it gives cash-back. Find the thought of debt crippling mentally and physically. Was given extremely good guidelines by a chief teller when opening my first ever bank account. Always remembered and practised it.

Re instalment payments my Mum always said one was not in debt if payments were honoured, never late and up to date. A point of view I guess?

My grandparents never borrowed or owed anyone, they always saved for what they wanted and my GF got in a right state when my Mum joined a savings club at work and had to 'borrow' from it twice a year as per the rules.

In the 50s my Mum wanted to buy a television from Radio Rentals who were offering a good hire purchase deal. However, because she was a single woman they refused to give her a contract, even though she was in well paid full time work. She was furious and wrote to the Daily Mirror reader advice service. They took up the matter on her behalf and Radio Rentals agreed to give her a contract. She made the payments for 4 months then went into the shop (with me in tow) to pay off the balance in cash. The manager asked why she had wanted a credit agreement if she had the cash to pay? She said it was a matter of principal, they had treated her differently just because she was a single woman. He said 'Good for you missus' as she left. Mum laughed because 'Mrs' was just what she wasn't and the cause of the problem in the first place!

DH and I have had lots of loans over the years, from our mortgage to mail order catalogues, and sometimes we struggled to keep up with them, but we managed somehow, often robbing Peter to pay Paul! My Mum was horrified when we took out our first mortgage (£15000) when we married. She just couldn't comprehend large amounts of money and was convinced we'd end up in jail if we couldn't pay! She never had a debit or credit card and only opened her first bank account in her 70s.

Fountain Pen .....oh what a memory you bring back ....I mean Provident Cheques....my parents had to have them to clothe us 4 kids with new school uniforms once a year. So it was taken out in August and usually paid off by October. One set of uniform a yeast ...no account taken for growth...you couldn’t just ‘lose’ your blazer or your football boots (v. expensive)...we had had one pair school trousers/skirt..... one jumper ...two shitrts three pair socks ...blazer...school shoes. Brothers had footie boots...we girls just plimsoles. You dreaded getting a hole in anything or horror of horrors losing a piece of uniform. I don’t know how my mother did it all ( with no washing machine!!!) that was our only debt!!

My only debt was the mortgage. My parents were the same and they taught me and my brother well. Our AC are financially savvy but can’t manage these days without a certain amount of debt.

I don't owe a penny I am pleased to say. My family were very poor when I was a child so we literally lived on next to nothing. However I have always worried that I could return to that so have become really careful/tight! If I can't afford I don't buy it..... or even if I can afford I still don't buy it!

Just once since I took over our finances, my car died and I couldn't get to work without it so I borrowed the money to pay for it.

A few years ago I was wondering about the best way to finance a big, unexpected purchase. Should I lose interest on savings or take a temporary loan from the bank? I rang the bank and started the questions, then the person I was speaking to said "you don't go overdrawn do you?" No. Later "you really don't go overdrawn" No, we don't. Then a really amazed conversation about most people go overdrawn at some time. It made me think about all the interest people were paying instead of receiving. I can't believe that all borrowing is necessary

My folks didn't have anything left at the end of the week. Everything was saved up for apart from one lavish item - a tv which was rented for several years. Never had any holidays, my holiday being staying with an aunt for a few days in a nearby city. They never owned their home. Council property wasn't sold to tenants before they died. I started married life the same, hire purchase was frowned on. Life progressed and I found I could afford credit with a view that a debt only becomes a "debt" when you can't pay it. Today though there seems to be no attempt to wait for anything. Of course the media doesn't help with the constant bombarding of the perfect life must haves.

Apart from a mortgage, now paid off, I only once got into debt in my 20s. I ran up a credit card to £1000 and it took a year to pay off, I learnt my lesson. My mother was a widow who never owed a penny in her life. Times were hard but she always saved a bit for a rainy day and after she died we found, by chance, £500 hidden under the front room carpet!!