Debt

punkrockabye · March 2013

So, for a while now I have been dwelling on how massive our credit card debt is. I figured we have several times what "normal people" have, although I have known that it could be much higher; I never considered bankruptcy because I thought that was for people with close to 6 figures in debt, although the thought crossed my mind before SO got a job (well, pending a drug test result, but... straight edge, so... yep), since my income was literally covering the minimum payments and nothing more. It was getting very exhausting knowing that my entire paycheck went to cover only minimum payments.

But, our income is set to more than double, most likely, for the time being. This employer is changing to a new system of doing things (it's a warehouse) so the work shifts that usually last 9 hours are taking them 12 or 13. We're looking at SO working 50 or 60 hours a week, third shift, so I will be doing the single mom thing for a good while. But that is a LOT of overtime until things settle down there. So, given that our only expenses right now are gas, car insurance (no car payment until June, a refinancing perk), and credit card bills, almost all of our money is going to be thrown as these cards. We paid one off with some of our tax return already.

So anyway, back to where I started: I decided to google. And I'll admit this here: our credit card debt, of over $15,000, is exactly AVERAGE for U.S. households.

Average. AVERAGE!

At first I was relieved. And then I was very, very sad for the state of things. That's not a tiny number and to think that it's true for the average household is mindblowing. Should I be so surprised, though?

I can't say none of our debt is due to irresponsibility, but a good chunk of it was from when we had no choice but to live off of credit cards for 6 months. We've wanted nothing more than to pay it off completely but that's impossible when you can't find employment to literally save your life.

I just wanted to ask, if anyone is brave enough to share, what does your credit card debt look like? Non existent? Manageable? Ridiculous? Have you successfully tackled a huge amount of debt, or are you right now? I just want to feel like I'm not the only one, here. And clearly I'm not, seeing as our number is completely average (and sad).

We won't be staying with the in laws long enough to wipe it out completely. We could, they'd probably love for us to, but for the sake of LO and getting away from roaches and mold in the basement as well as childproofing, we're aiming to move no later than the end of June. I don't want to have her first birthday here, honestly. This is also to try to ensure that we dont move and then SO gets canned once he hits the 90 day mark at work, where they are required to join the union. He has a friendly personal history with the CEO but I still worry. We've been screwed so many times that I have an "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude.

We stand to be able to dedicate at least $3,000 per month, if not closer to $4,000, toward sending those cards to their fiery graves if the overtime hours are a real thing for the next few months at this place. I consider myself extremely lucky to not have to factor rent and utility expenses in there, and it's lovely to know that we might actually be able to get rid of more than half of this debt. Eventually of course we want to be rid of it all but I can handle paying a small amount every month. Much better than what we have been able to do.

Our plan is to make the biggest payments on the highest APR cards, focusing on one at a time to try to pay it off completely (we have many cards, some with balances of a few hundred, which can be paid in one shot). Meanwhile, the other cards will get the minimum payment plus maybe $10 or so, to make a bigger dent in them. We think we have a good idea of what the best route to take is (I mean it's pretty standard to focus on the highest APR first) but I am very open to any advice.

ks3pink · March 2013

I've always paid off my credit cards every month but recently we haven't been able to. I would say we have more like 5000 to 6000 in debt and its the result of having two babies at once. I love them dearly but as I have said before the expense is huge. I

punkrockabye · March 2013

ks3pink:
I've always paid off my credit cards every month but recently we haven't been able to. I would say we have more like

TechieGirl1 · March 2013

We have none, but we work really hard to make sure of that. We pay off everything every month. I personally don't even like having car payments, and paid off my car within 1 year vs the 3 I was allotted. Now only if we could get rid of our mortgage. &nbsp

102007 · March 2013

I haven't posted a ton since LO was born, so forgive me if this is out of the blue but I had to share. Have you heard of Dave Ramsey and the total money makeover? I consider myself pretty good with money and even so, this book totally lit a fire for me. W

nopegoat · March 2013

We do not have credit cards at all. We are also fortunate enough to not have car payments either.

We do have a good bit in student loans and medical bills though.

lady_tytah · March 2013

Hubs doesn't have any credit cards but had student loan debts, almost 18k. I have a credit card, a little less than 3.5k. I accumulated it while being a single mom and homeless. I'm just now able to even think about making payments to pay it off. I have o

mollyxcate · March 2013

Our debt is what people consider 'normal' debt. Student loans, car payments, and mortgage.

Our mortgage is about $750 a month, my car is $295, DH's car is $165, and my student loans are $138. I hate it. I wake up in a cold sweat every night think

ccam · March 2013

I racked up a lot of debt through my college years and the first few years I was living on my own. Like A LOT! Anyway, I pretty much carried those balances and was making minimum payments until I realized how much interest I would eventually be paying

AutumnLeaves2 · March 2013

We don't have any debt but DH works crazy hard to make that possible. We stay far far far away from credit cards and pay for most things in full (besides our house, obviously.) The only debt I had at any point was 1 year of college loans that got wiped

mamahawk12 · March 2013

We only have our mortgage, but I was a finance major and work in the financial sector so I'm at somewhat of an unfair advantage when it comes to budgeting, etc.

That said, bankruptcy should be an absolute last option. I promise making the sa

Crossingfingers · March 2013

We have one credit card that we pay off every month. We have our mortgage but no car payments. We also have DH's student loans but I don't really have a clue what his student loans amount to..

erjarv · March 2013

Right now we only have my card left to pay off, which right now is at like...$990 I wanna say.

However, we used to have $3500. We used our tax return to pay of DH's card. We were going to use it to pay off mine as well, but some unexpected medic

DollEri · March 2013

I've never had a personal credit card. DH had some debt before we got married from when he was unemployed for 3 months (that certainly does take a toll on you!), but we've paid all of that off, along with my student loans. We don't have car payments, so i

CandLind · March 2013

We had about 8k in debt due to paying for DS birth out of pocket and for semiliving off of credit cards. With our tax check with paid 3k, so thankfully we only have 5 left.

CoUnTryBB1 · March 2013

I don't have much debt, standard house payment and the likes. I don't put anything on my credit card unless I know I can pay for it. I am in the finance/accounting sector so I am uber conservative with what I spend.

shakinros · March 2013

4800 on the credit card. I had it down to 2000 before DD was born from a high of 9K. I'm bummed that it keeps going up but we are struggling to absorb the added costs of daycare into our regular budget. We have a small tax return coming but unfortunately

Grins04 · March 2013

We have 1 credit card and it gets paid off every month. I think we owe 400 this month. We don't buy something unless we have the money for it. Other debt is house, car...only one car payment at a time, and my school loan is almost paid off.

Jillwithani · March 2013

I have about 10,000 and SO has none. Some of it was completely necessary, like books for college, furniture, groceries and help when I was laid off but then I have an express and expedia card which went to clothes and vacations for 21 year old Jill. Now I

brandyleighxx · March 2013

I have 3 credit cards. 1 is a retail card (it was the first place to approve me for credit). The 2nd in capital one with a very low credit line and the third is chase with a higher credit line. My husband has 3 credit cards, all are retail. I entered o

punkrockabye · March 2013

I know we have several cards with "small" balances compared to a couple with 4 figures. I think only one of the high balance ones has a stupid APR [well, none are great, but I'm talking 10 or 11 vs 25]. None of them have annual fees because we always refu