Spitfire and Maximum,
My experience as a financial consultant leads me to draw the distinction between affordable credit and adverse debt.
I recently had a client who took out a £10k loan to buy her husband a mobility scooter. He then died last Friday and all of his debt has become her responsibility on top of this £10k personal liability. Her only income is the state pension and I am now in the process of declaring her bankrupt. Worst of all, she's a nice old lady who has respected the value of money and stood by its maxims all her life. Unfortunately, her husband needed a scooter to get around and, without it, his quality of life would have been destroyed. This kind of situation couldn't wait five years while they saved up.
Nobody likes to be in debt but, without debt, people wouldn't be able to buy houses and they'd be driving D-reg Fiestas until they were about to draw a pension.
In a perfect world, we could all save up the pounds before buying what we needed and never end up owing money to anyone. But surely one of the key purposes of a bank loan is that, instead of having to wait years or even decades, you can have it now at a price? With mortgages, you get your house, the bank makes a killing but everyone is more or less happier for it.
Well, almost always. If you have enough to afford repayments yet still live in relative comfort, you are in a credit agreement which will probably work out in your favour from a practical perspective. But, if you don't have the cash to cough up, you will be screwed.
Regardless of whether you have a loan for a new Audi or an IR, sometimes you can't wait ten years (even more true if you are trying to cut it in the aviation industry where age can be a considerable factor in recruitment).
Perhaps I am making obvious points but I felt this debt issue needed some lucidity. Both of you are right in thinking that a) debt ain't a breeze but b) there are many many worse things in life than owing a bank some money.
Captain Ratpup