Monday 10th March is declared Debt Freedom Day - as long as you don't mention the mortgage.
As a nation, we have worked the last 70 days solid to earn enough money just to service the interest on our credit card and loan debt, let alone re-paying the actual debt itself and thus Monday 10th March 2008 is hailed as Debt Freedom Day. This is a stark increase from last year, when Debt Freedom Day was the 1st February 2007, meaning we only spent 31 days to service our debts.
New figures from Unbiased.co.uk, which promotes independent financial advise, show that personal loan levels in the UK increased to £9.8 billion, from £2.6 billion last year. At the same time average interest rates on personal loans are now 0.5% higher, which means that Brits pay almost £1.5 billion in interest payments alone. Credit card debt in contrast has dropped slightly, decreasing from £55.6 billion to £54.9 billion
David Elms, Chief Executive: “This year’s Debt Freedom Day is a real warning for UK consumers – as it marks the day we start paying off the actual debt levels rather than merely servicing the interest accrued. Compared to last year we spend almost two months longer this year to pay off the interest of our borrowings and this doesn’t event take into account mortgage costs."
