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Yeah, this. Here in the Netherlands mortgage is for most people their only form of debt and many people have "NHG", an insurance that helps them when they can't

Yeah, this. Here in the Netherlands mortgage is for most people their only form of debt and many people have "NHG", an insurance that helps them when they can't pay for their house anymore.

aequitas 6y ago
You're forgetting the student dept almost all students have to get into nowadays. And although credit cards are not as common for household expenses, a lot of retailers offer loans to buy appliances and such. I'm curious as how much people actually use these kind of constructs.
- Leherenn 6y ago
  Is student debt really in thing in mainland Europe? Certainly some people need to borrow money to cover costs of living, but tuition is very low (from free to a couple thousands a year) in most places I know about.
  - Cederfjard 6y ago
    You said it, cost of living ain’t free. My experience from Sweden is that few people work alongside studies, and even fewer have expenses paid for by well-off parents. Maybe if you’re from the city where you study you stay living and eating at home, but otherwise it’s very common to take out a (fairly cheap) student loan from the Swedish Board of Student Finance to cover your expenses.
hellweaver666 6y ago
I was so surprised when I moved here how few places in the real world take credit cards, even online you just pay straight from your bank account using iDeal (which is the most stupidly simple online payment system and I freaking love it!). I've been in NL for 9 years and don't have a credit card (recently I did take out an account with Revolut so that I could get a MasterCard Debit for buying filament from Prusa as they don't accept PayPal but that's all I use it for, and I have to pre-transfer money from my local bank to Revolut for this purpose). Debt beyond mortgages doesn't seem to be a thing here.
- dustypotato 6y ago
  > just pay straight from your bank account using iDeal (which is the most stupidly simple online payment system and I freaking love it!) The UPI system in India is also really simple.

Yeah, this. Here in the Netherlands mortgage is for most people their only form of debt and many people have "NHG", an insurance that helps them when they can't pay for their house anymore.

aequitas 6y ago

You're forgetting the student dept almost all students have to get into nowadays. And although credit cards are not as common for household expenses, a lot of retailers offer loans to buy appliances and such. I'm curious as how much people actually use these kind of constructs.

Leherenn 6y ago
Is student debt really in thing in mainland Europe? Certainly some people need to borrow money to cover costs of living, but tuition is very low (from free to a couple thousands a year) in most places I know about.
- Cederfjard 6y ago
  You said it, cost of living ain’t free. My experience from Sweden is that few people work alongside studies, and even fewer have expenses paid for by well-off parents. Maybe if you’re from the city where you study you stay living and eating at home, but otherwise it’s very common to take out a (fairly cheap) student loan from the Swedish Board of Student Finance to cover your expenses.

hellweaver666 6y ago

I was so surprised when I moved here how few places in the real world take credit cards, even online you just pay straight from your bank account using iDeal (which is the most stupidly simple online payment system and I freaking love it!). I've been in NL for 9 years and don't have a credit card (recently I did take out an account with Revolut so that I could get a MasterCard Debit for buying filament from Prusa as they don't accept PayPal but that's all I use it for, and I have to pre-transfer money from my local bank to Revolut for this purpose). Debt beyond mortgages doesn't seem to be a thing here.

dustypotato 6y ago
> just pay straight from your bank account using iDeal (which is the most stupidly simple online payment system and I freaking love it!) The UPI system in India is also really simple.