How much credit card debt do you have?

[Anonymous]

As of today we have 2132.48 in cc debt. Which seems trivial compared to some amounts I have seen on this site. The 132.48 is because I had to get my son a fancy calculator for school.  I am checking the cc site every couple of hours to see when it posts so I can pay it right away.  Activity on a cc is good right?  Just paid that particular card to a zero bal as of 2 weeks ago.  6 months ago I would not have thought twice about charging and just waiting for the statement .  Now I am diligently paying everything as soon as it hits.  LOL!  I have not even thought about clothes and sneakers yet!  School starts on the 1st and have all supplies.  Still pretty hot here in Pa so they can wear shorts for a while.  Might get them a few pairs of nicer shorts for the beginning of school.

6/09 creditinform 579

8/09 scorewatch TU 616  EQ 636

Movin' on up!

Message Edited by jennyj on 233-43-2009 07:43 AM

[marty56]

It may not always be possible to be debt free.  Emergencies do happen and many people (myself included) do not have a fully funded emergencies fund.

In this case, have an exit plan where you put down on paper when the charge would be PIF.  Also if possible, sock drawer the card until it is PIF.  It is so easy to start making a $50 charge here and there and then all of a sudden your card is maxed out.

Also some people have strange ideas about what discretionary spending means.  If you got to have that big screen TV right now, then look for 0% deals and never exceede the term limit.

[BungalowMo]

I'm at about 6200 right now.  Not where I want to be, but better than I used to be, so I can live with that.  Yes... I can relate to the fact that "life happens".... vehicle repairs & upkeep (600.00 this mo) have gotten me lately, but I refuse to sink myself into a car payment.  I'm keeping my car til it absolutely dies. It's cost me close to nothing for maintenance...not one major repair since I bought it in Jan of 07, 95 BMW convertible with almost 200k!  I'm actually looking forward to that milestone....sort of like the 700 FICO's across the board! 

Even with the cc balances I have, I have 4 cards with a 0 bal & 2 with that 6200 total between them.  It's gettin there!!! 

Message Edited by BungalowMo on 08-21-2009 08:32 AM

[Anonymous]

Right now I am at about $11,000.

I know what you mean about feeling overwhelmed. I am actually trying to get a part time job to devote that $$$ solely to the cc debt. I think little steps is the way to go. Every $100 I can pay off feels like a small victory to me.

I plan on paying this card off - it's just 1 card that I put my school tuition on - before I get another one.

The feeling of owing this much $$$ really is unsettling, you feel like a prisoner to it sometimes...

[DI]

$49.00 credit card debt out of $12,750 available credit. 

[Anonymous]

You've got some great posts here - a lot of us have been in your shoes - and for a variety of reasons.  So, you're in good company.

Like several of your posters, I'm a big believer in debt snowballing.  DR gets that one right!

I'm not sure it matters how much the average person is in debt - that number may or may not be helpful to us as we compare it to our own situations.  But, these are the stats from the myfico home page (Credit Statistics).

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Credit Utilization

About 40% of credit card holders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15% are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When we look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 48% of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit, and loans-everything but mortgages. Nearly 37% carry more than $10,000 of non-mortgage-related debt as reported to the credit bureaus.

Total Available Credit

The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all credit cards combined. More than half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30% of their total credit card limit. Just over 1 in 7 are using 80% or more of their credit card limit.

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Good luck to you in your efforts - this is a great place to learn and share ideas.  And good luck to your family as you work together on your financial goals.