How much credit card debt do you have

MrMrsandBaby

I was just wondering, based on the checking account question, how much credit card debt people have. It seems like it is in the news every couple of months that it is up, then down, then flat, then up...so I was just wondering!

DH and I are working to pay ours off but it isn't gone yet. It does seem like every time we get close something happens and we end up charging stuff. Hard cycle to break!

MrMrsandBaby

I should have put an answer of "more than I want but less than I had!"

MrMrsandBaby

@Starbuck128 - that is a shitty way to get through college.  Sorry for your DH...but WaHoo! for paying it off in a month!

DH and I are so close - sadly it means using his inheritance but it also means being able to do more with Allison once we aren't paying an ungodly amount of money to CC debt every month.

Oh, and maybe have something in savings!

DaizyMay22

We have more than we would like but compare to what the average is in the I tied states its notch at all. We only have a small student loan and this credit card to pay off and then we will be comepletely debt free. It should happen middle of next year inless something major comes up. I'm hoping by Christmas we'll have most the debt gone by a littl extra money we'll have coming in that time of year.

Sept07b2b

Maybe I should save this for UO, but I don't really understand how the majority of this country is in cc debt!  I can understand somewhat extenuating circumstances, like Starbuck's situation, where someone pays for college on a credit card instead of getting a student loan, but how does one rack up thousands and thousands of dollars on cc just from basic purchases?  

$500 here or there because your car broke down unexpectedly or something, I get, or because of emergencies but there are SOOO many people who are in substantial cc debt, but aren't willing to go through some pain to pay it off.  They just "needed" a new couch or a new handbag.  To me, paying 14%+ in interest every year would just make me crazy!!! 

Mar5195

I have more than the average bear.  But I am doing Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover and I will be debt free (except our mortgage) in December.  I CANNOT wait!!!

sunnyday016

None. We have a car loan and 2 student loans to pay off though. 22 months until we are debt free (except for our mortgage).

MrMrsandBaby

Sept07b2b said:

Maybe I should save this for UO, but I don't really understand how the majority of this country is in cc debt!  I can understand somewhat extenuating circumstances, like Starbuck's situation, where someone pays for college on a credit card instead of getting a student loan, but how does one rack up thousands and thousands of dollars on cc just from basic purchases?  

$500 here or there because your car broke down unexpectedly or something, I get, or because of emergencies but there are SOOO many people who are in substantial cc debt, but aren't willing to go through some pain to pay it off.  They just "needed" a new couch or a new handbag.  To me, paying 14%+ in interest every year would just make me crazy!!! 

It happens fast...especially if you don't think about it.  I got my cards in college and used them for everything...books, dinner, gas, clothes.  Then DH and I put a lot of our wedding on cards.  It only took a few years of stupid decisions (and at 19 most decisions are stupid) to put us each in a hole that we couldn't dig out of quickly.

Honestly, we got to the point where it was like, "well what is another $200?" And we were playing shell games, transferring to 0% cards and paying it way down...then start using it again.  Learning to live without credit AFTER using it for so long is hard.  More power to you if you can but we live in a country where credit was cheap and easy to get for a long time. 

The only positive is that we can teach Allison a lot about it now...and she will grow up with parents who use credit responsibly.  I don't think it is all that easy to live without credit (like a morgage or car loan) but I know people can do it.  I just don't think it is necessary to avoid it alltogether.  However, using it for everything...not a smart idea!

suitern

We have accumulated alot over the past year with moving expenses. However, we will be credit card debt free when DH gets his reenlistment bonus next month. I can't wait!

DaizyMay22

I just wanted to add that if you're looking to get rid if debt Dave Ramsey's baby steps have been so awesome in helping us. Heck just doing a budget every pay check has helped us. It's changed our view on how we spend our money and even though the debt free process has been really slow for us (going on 6 years) its been really cool to see how much we have paid off in that time.

kittyh8r

We are finally free of CC debt. Finally! We didn't have much, it was around $4,500. We paid for a lot of our wedding with the card. We almost paid it off once and then took a leap of faith and moved across the country using that card. It's paid off now, though. We still have a car payment that I don't expect to be paid off before 4 years. 

We paid it off with our tax return. We won't be getting money back anymore since H is self employed....boooo.

sapphirebride06

I have less than $6,000 in credit card debt and that includes medical bills for when my older DS had 105 fever and I had to take him to the ER and he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  Everything I have is 0% interest so I make sure to pay it off in that time frame.  

I have way more student loan debt though, and I will pay it off within 7 years at my last calculation so I'm happy about that.  It sucks but I got my MBA and my BBA from the colleges I wanted to go to and both were private universities.  I have less for both degrees than my friends did with just their Bachelors degree so I'm happy about that but I really hope we can help our kids a lot so they don't have a ton of loans when they graduate.  

sapphirebride06

I have 3,750 in actual credit card debt - that is on two cards with 0% interest on both and will be paid off by April.  

The hospital bills I have are just over 2,000 and will be paid off within 11 months - I will pay it off faster once I pay off the credit cards in April. 

MollySm

We are almost done paying ours off. Less than $400 left. After that our only debt will be student loan debt.

jk382

Sept07b2b said:

Maybe I should save this for UO, but I don't really understand how the majority of this country is in cc debt!  I can understand somewhat extenuating circumstances, like Starbuck's situation, where someone pays for college on a credit card instead of getting a student loan, but how does one rack up thousands and thousands of dollars on cc just from basic purchases?  

$500 here or there because your car broke down unexpectedly or something, I get, or because of emergencies but there are SOOO many people who are in substantial cc debt, but aren't willing to go through some pain to pay it off.  They just "needed" a new couch or a new handbag.  To me, paying 14%+ in interest every year would just make me crazy!!! 

This exactly!  We use our credit card for almost everything because we typically don't carry a lot of cash.  However, we pay it off at the end of each month.  If we can't pay for it, we don't buy it unless there is an emergency (but we have an emergency fund for that).  My mom overspent when I was growing up.  She was/is always in debt.  It put a lot of strain on my parent's marriage and I vowed to never live that way.  My husband is a CPA and is good with numbers so I know that helps too!

cmytutu

I'M DEBT FREE!!!!!  Thank you Dave Ramsey!