$8000?

moneyfolk · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 03:09 PM

This is the estimated Credit Card debt for the average American household. How do you compare? Above or Below?

karnic3881 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 03:21 PM

I was exactly around there when I started out, but am now down to around $1100.

moneyfolk · #3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 03:25 PM

Karnic - I would like to hear how you got down from $8000 to almost nil. Do you mind sharing?????!

karnic3881 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 03:43 PM

Sure - let me just say this board helped me tremendously. First off I changed my thinking about money and spending. I created a budget and 'spent' all the money before the check even came, meaning I'd have bill pay set up to send money off to either bills, savings, etc. Every single thing in my life is budgeted for. I refuse to loosen up until I am done. I of course stopped using credit at all, and started with the snowball method (although I didn't know it was called that, I just did it how it made sense to me). Instead of trying to pay off the biggest card, I decided I would work in the opposite way, starting with the lowest balance, just to get rid of the card and give me motivation. I was able to use my tax return and pay off 4 cards at once. I got a second job, which brings me $1k extra a month. I started throwing money at my debt, and honestly would've been done with it by now, except I have been out of work for 3 months due to carpal tunnel surgery. I am actually returning to both jobs tomorrow, and may be able to get rid of my last cc this month (I have 2 cards left, one is being paid off this Thursday). I don't have any special advice, except that getting rid of a bill made me feel so good I wanted to keep going. Plus, when you have less bills coming in the mail, it's easy to throw more money at other debt. I once had 14 credit cards, had 10 at the beginning of this year. It does work.

cercis · #5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 07:24 PM

We just rolled a high interest loan onto a cc, so that's right at where we are. We'll have it paid off in about 10 months, I think. Compared to the 3 years it would have taken at the original interest rate, that's not bad and it's not a decision I regret in the least.

baselle · #6 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 10:39 PM

Under, way under $8000. But it used to be about $11,000 also, from 3 credit cards. It took me about 3 yrs.

I was lucky, I had stable credit for a couple of years and I had just finished off paying my student loans, so I was on a roll. I started by taking my most hated card and rolled it over in the first 0% offer I got that had an interest rate that was reasonable. I managed to clear that in about 8 months. That was a big psychic victory! Then I did what amounts to the "debt snowball" --putting the payments from the hated card into the next lowest card, then the last card. I finished in October 2004.

Right now I have about $500 on a credit card.

PrincessPerky · #7 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 04:44 AM

I about a year ago it was right under that, now it is less than half. Our goal is to have it done by next spring, but I am not sure we will make it

.

PRICEPLUS · #8 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 09:14 AM

Above.

Gailete · #9 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 11:22 AM

We pay our cc off in full every month, but that doesn't mean there aren't huge charges on them. We just put close to $10,000 on a card a week ago for a building project. When we get the bill, we will pay it off from our construction loan money. In the meantime WE are collecting interest on the money and we charged it on a reward card that will gives us about $100 back on the purchase.

I do remember days of paying over $1000 a month on cc bills and it was just horrible and I felt like we were making no headway with them. Eventually there was a divorce and selling our house to pay off the bills. I NEVER intend to be in that kind of trouble again unless it is for something like a huge medical bill (we have no health insurance).

gail

Gail

Tree0164 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 11:26 AM

We have Zero credit card debt

We did have over 20k and it took us about 3.5 yrs to pay it off.

The only debt we have right now is a car loan which we are aggressively paying off plus our mortgage. After we have a car replacement fund, the extra money will go towards retirement and our mortgage.

DivaJen · #11 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 12:04 PM

We have zero credit card debt. Our only debt is our mortgage.

The only time we haven't paid off our cc's in full was after our wedding/honeymoon. I think we took about 3-6 months to pay it all off. (We paid for everything.) We'd been saving for our wedding when our house came on the market - usd that savings for a down payment instead.

One of our better moves, in retrospect.

jmjj215 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 12:32 PM

We don't have any revolving debt - or any other debt for that matter. I'm grateful to my wife for being frugal - and finding joy in things that are priceless

Fern · #13 (**permalink**) 09-12-2005, 01:30 PM

i use credit cards, but pay in full every month, NO MATTER WHAT or HOW HIGH.

byusteeler · #14 (**permalink**) 09-13-2005, 08:32 AM

I have a credit card balance currently at about $6500 which I pay $550 a month on. Interest rate is 7.9%. That said the answer to how do I compare to the national average depends on if you include my Discover card which I pay off every month. I spend about $1500 a month on it. I use it for my groceries, gas, cell phone, satellite TV, entertainment dining out and any miscenllaneous spending as well as my commute ( i live in Utah and work in California.) If you use the $6500 figure I have 81.25% of the national average. If you use the additional $1500 on my Discover I am right on.

niki_the_tiger · #15 (**permalink**) 09-13-2005, 09:46 AM

We have about $8500 right now, down from about $9,500 a month ago. It would be further down but our cat got sick and that bill was $300.

About $1500 of that is my husband's business expenses, which he will get back soon enough (he's just starting up).

We hope to have it all paid off in a year. Other than that, we have $4200 on a car loan and our mortgage which we just started last year.

Bluezy · #16 (**permalink**) 09-13-2005, 12:53 PM

I have $65 dollars on my card right now...I sent flowers to my niece who is having her baby just now

robex · #17 (**permalink**) 09-13-2005, 10:26 PM

We pay ours off in full every month. If I have to dip into savings to cover a major expenditure, it 's usually a planned expense and comes out of our freedom account. We've been debt free (other than our mortgage) for 11 years!

marglo · #18 (**permalink**) 09-13-2005, 10:34 PM

We have more than that....

meaghanchan · #19 (**permalink**) 09-14-2005, 03:46 AM

I pay my CC in full every month. So technically I've got about $500 in credit card debt, but I'll pay it off before I pay any interest on it.

BAGAGT1 · #20 (**permalink**) 09-25-2005, 09:37 AM

Far lower, I have $559.66 on a 0% interest card. I did have $4800 on that card at the beginning of this year, and worked vigorously to pay it off. Then the auto and home insurance bill came in, and rather than pay it out of my savings accout, I decided to charge it and pay it off in two installments (the insurance company charges $3.00 a month if I pay them in installments), but I will be done paying that card this month. We have another card which has a balance of $495 from a business trip my wife just returned from, but that balance will be expensed in full.