Credit Card Debt
 

How much credit card debt do you have? Does it stress you out? What are you doing to solve it?

Me, I've got about $12,000 in credit card debt. It freaks me out, but I'm with Ameridebt and hopefully I'll have it all paid off in about 4-5 years. That's right 4-5 YEARS!

It felt so good to cut up my cards...

Money in general is a huge stressor in my life, the cause of panic attacks and sometimes seizures.. If I could I would do away with money's existance and create a better way of distributing what people own to them :p

On second thought, that might be worse ;)

I currently have about $4000 on my cc but every month I pay it down to $0 so it never costs a dime. I hate financial institutions but if I can use them for my convienience without haveing to pay I do.

credit card debt free....

But I didn't get a card untill I was 21
If I had been younger,I would probably be screwed now.
They need a older age limit on those things.

cut all of mine up about ten years ago.
The damn things are a scam and in the long run will drag you down.
If you can't afford it you probably shouldn't buy it.
the interest rates they charge should be illegal and they try to sucker in people they know won't pay on time since they make a lot of money from late fees.
Avoid the damn things if you can.

I freak if we carry a balance but sometimes it's unavoidable - for example, when my brother died we could have taken the $ for plane tix and hotels and stuff out of savings, but I didn't want to dip in so we just put it on a cc and paid it off within a few months. I try to keep a tally of what's on the cc and mentally subtract it from our bank balance so we don't spend money we don't have.

ooh... Credit cards for the MILES!!!!!! pay them off at the end of the month.. feels silly to buy a stick of gum on a credit card... but :) it's miles :) that's what's paying for the honeymoon flight :) w00t!

Debit card, so no credit card debt for me. I don't like the idea of buying something with money I don't have. I'm hoping my student loans with be my last debts, but I know that won't happen with mortgages and cars in the future.

studen loans, mortgage, car = good debt er worthwhile debt according to all finance people

I got a CC to start creating some credit (never had any before), and it's a bare minimum limit card, and with school I've kept it close to it's limit. Just waiting for tuition to be payed off, and will have it back to zero before christmas (assuming all goes well), and will leave it that way.

I don't like being in debt, have done everything I can to avoid student loans and so far am on the right track with that! Only debt I really plan to incur in the future would be home and maybe a car, but I don't even like the idea of being in debt on my auto.

Some of my friends wonder why I don't have nearly as much as they do, but then I listen to them complain about the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars of debt they have and smile about the fact that I might be broke, but that's it, just broke, I don't really owe anyone money.

I activated my student visa last week so i could buy some birthday stuff for myself (my dad will reimburse me and it's help start building my credit history). I'll never charge more than I can already afford to pay off.

Been debt-free for a few yewars now. It's the only way to fly.

That's what I said too.. Oops :(

College and credit cards don't mix at all.

Debt free and I plan on staying that way.

Anything purchased gets paid off.

The credit card industry is evil and corrupt. They encourage you to go into debt, especially college students who aren't financially savvy yet... they offer cards freely to people with questionable credit.... and then yelp when people default and ask Congress to enact new federal bankruptcy laws that will make it easier to get their money back.... because they're too greedy to be good, cautious businessmen.

It wasn't like this 20 years ago; credit was hard to get then. But the banks have gotten addicted to the high-interest cash flow, and they want MORE MORE MORE. Tell you, if the economy crashes, big financial institutions are going to fall hard ... because so many of them rely on the outrageous returns from credit cards.

Rant over. Myself, never had a credit card, just an Amex charge card that had to be paid off monthly. Rarely use even that anymore, now that we've got debit cards. No car debt, paid off the mortgage, paying cash for college. It took a long time to get here, but now that I'm a little older and not as employable as I once was, it's a good place to be.

i only use my creditcard to by dvds online, so no debts here. i like my freedom.

i´ve got a fair $3k debt.
i got a credit card for emergencies when i went to Africa ... i should have gotten rid of it upon touch down back in Sydney ... but i didn´t, so it just got easy to get into a lttle bit of debt.

of course the bank doesn´t want to clear the debt... whatever... one day...

I wouldn't reallt call mine debt because I pay it off every month. Been there, played that game, not playing again.

I was over $20,000 in debt at one point. I mean they give a 19 year old a $10,000 limit card and think I'm not going to go out and party my ass off every night. I know its not completely their fault but the Credit Card Companies sure know how to play the game...

It's just so easy to get over your head. You think "Well, I'll just put these books on my credit card." It just adds up. I only wish I had cut up my cards sooner.



Somebody else has to have more CC debt than me!!! I'm feeling lonely in debt hell :(

well, i used to have more than you. but i paid some of it off with savings and my parents helped me out with the rest (although i'm paying htem back now, but at no interest). it's really a horrible thing. you get the cards, you go crazy, and as a student you then realize that your not making enough to pay them off and pay for what is essential. so you pay for of the essentials on the card while sending money to the card, but it keeps getting higher and higher and oh my... i hate cc's with a passion now.

5 Thousand dollars in debt...And what do I have to show for it...

1) Put a Kick ass system in my car. Was it worth it? Music is something that I can't live without...So ya, I guess so.

2) My computer monitor. I was sick of the monitor I got when I bought my computer...So I upgraded.

3) Thermaltake Case, For the new computer I am gonna build.
The rest of the computer I am gonna pay with cash.

There was some other stuff that I bought, Also some repairs to my car when they needed to be done.

Alot of the stuff I charged to my credit card were material things...And I regret buying some of the stuff that I bought with it, But for the most part..I am pretty happy with what I have got.

I only owe money to my credit card company..That's it, So once I get it paid off or even brought down to maybe 2 thousand or so..I can start saving some serious money.

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I find it funny how some people blame credit card companies and banks for your debts.. If you got yourself into debt, it's your own fault. Banks never forced you to buy anything or even to get a credit card.. All you need is a minimum of self-control.

Anyway, as for me, I use my credit card mostly for online purchases. I also never buy anything unless I'm sure I'll be able everything quickly.

I completley blame myself.

I started out with one card, and I kept up with it. Then I bought my computer on it. A few plane tickets.... Went down hill from there.

Then I got a 2nd card. That card quickly reached its limit. I decided to open a 3rd card, and transfer the balences of those other cards. I did that, and stuipdly kept the 2 other cards open. And I still used them. Defeated the purpose.

I'm paying for my lack of self-control and horrible financial decisions.

I pay my bill off every month, so I don't have anything to worry about. Credit Card companies hate me :)

We're currently working on paying down about $3,000 in debt. Both of our vehicles ran into problems at the same time. I bought crap I didn't need. However, things are now settled down. I'm slowly working on repaying the kids for money borrowed from their accounts while also putting a limit on my spending. I'm currently keeping $25 from each check I get and saving for stuff I want. No more charging stuff I want but don't need. I'll be debt free by 2033! Of course, I'll be 71 at that time, but, hey, at least I'll be debt free! :D

The more I owe other people, the less I respect myself. So aside from family members, to whom I already owe more than I will ever be able to repay, I try extremely hard (sometimes to the point of absurdity, I'll admit) never to owe anyone anything.

You're talking about 18-year-olds.

I don't have a credit card. I wouldn't trust myself with one.

Credit card debt is really really bad and it can screw you for a long time.

About $1K. I need to just go ahead and pay it all off.

because we have a new forum

*bump*

I put a bunch of my living expenses on my CC's every month and then pay it off right away to help keep boosting my credit score, but aside from that I don't carry any debt.

Credit card debt doesn't bother me that much. Right now I probably have $9000 in credit card debt but $6000 of it is from two recent purchases where I took advantage of the zero interest for 12/24 months and they will be paid off before that time frame is over.

The rest were from some other big purchases over Xmas which I will pay off shortly.

I always always always pay off my balances at the end of the month. I just sort of live by the rule where if I can't pay for it in full right now, then I don't buy it.

Of course, this is only cause I'm young and don't have much in terms of assets, so I know that will have to change, but I figure I'll still keep paying off credit card bills every month. It just seems surprising sometimes when people my age don't have common sense and think credit cards are magic.

I've managed to shed about five grand in credit card debt in the last two years. Man it feels great when you get that statement that says you owe like $.62 :)

Of course - the student loan payments are kicking in full swing... at least i was able to get rid of one before i had to start the other..

I pay with a credit card just about everywhere for the miles, as someone mentioned above. I do pay it off every month, though.

The CC companies keep upping my limit, too. I think they think that if I see a huge 5 or 6 figure limit that some day I'll hit Rodeo drive or something and go nuts.

Same here, I have kept my credit card paid off at all times in the two years I have had it. It's funny when people tell me I can afford all kinds of stuff that I don't have, but I also have the freedom of not being chained to a large debt every month, and not wasting money on interest.

Averret! Feel the love!!!

I'm over FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS IN THE HOLE!!!!!

We are, however just beginning to repair this fact.

I'll get back to you in another couple of decades! :lol:

I've just put about $3,000 onto one of my credit cards.

Getting stuff for a new apartment is expensive :(

I have roughly between $5k to $8k in credit card debt each month - but that's always paid off before it's due.

About 75% of my credit card debt is company expenses (airfare, hotels, business lunches/dinners, etc...). Aside from that, I put everything I can from my personal expenses on Visa and pay it off as soon as I get home, because I have a General Motors Visa that gives me 3% towards my next vehicle. I never pay interest because I pay my debt off before it's due, and ended up with the maximum allowed $5,000 off of the vehicle I purchased last year.

Because I use my Visa so much for business, it maxes out the GM points I'm allowed to accumulate rather quickly. So, once I max out my GM Visa points, I start using my Aeroplan (Air Canada travel points) Visa so I start earning travel credits. Took the family to Disneyland last year pretty much for free. :D

If I purchase something with my credit card, it gets paid off right away, or at least within a few months. I'm very good with handling my money. Debt Free is the only way to be!!!

(That's as far a credit card debt goes.... College loans are in a whole different ballpark...)

My card has been nearly full since i had to use it to purchase books for school. My tax refund is going to help take care of that though.

I was up to 3k at one point for a while, my card's limit, just paying off what I could to avoid "over the limit" fees, until I got a job that could allow me to pay the whole thing off in a few months. I shudder to think how much of what I paid was just interest--completely wasted money that did nothing more than to keep them off my backs until next month. I don't know how it got up that high, but it did, and it won't happen again. Debit cards for me from here on out.

Also, you often hear about how important it is to not live beyond your means, but often people leave out being tempted or persuaded by someone else. It's also very tempting when you're living hand-to-mouth every month, as I was when the debt started mounting.

Our consumer culture does not reward the cost-conscious. Rather, it bombards us with messages that make us feel guilty and self-conscious for not acquiring the latest cool things, for not "rewarding" or "indulging" ourselves. It makes us want to hide our budgetary struggles out of embarrassment, and tries and often succeeds in convincing us that most other people are steadily amassing material goods and we should too.

I only ever spend what I can pay back straight away.

Either you're really friggin' rich, or don't intend to own a house!

I guess it all depends on what you call debt. Most people carry a 100k plus debt on their home. As far as credit card debt goes, I have none. I do however have a 20k debt to a bank for the neato doodad truck I bought a few months ago. But even at the 4.25% low APR I have on it, it'll be paid off in less then a year.

Or they don't plan on putting their house on Visa... :p

yes but HOUSE DEBT and CAR DEBT both are tangible liabilities attached to tangible assets.

Most people with credit card debt, have shit out the food they ate, finished the video game they bought, stopped wearing the clothes they bought because they aren't in fashion anymore, pissed out all the beer and drinks, or don't date the girl that they took on vacation.

I think you get where I'm going with this... It's one of the reasons that I don't believe in using credit cards for the sake of "stretching my lifestyle"

Ah, credit cards. As of yet, I have not chained myself into perpetual debt to some large company. At some point I will have to get one to work on some sort of credit record so that I can buy a car or house when I need to, but for the moment, I dont have a need to.

When I do, however, I will be putting very little on it, and paying it off at the end of every month. I hate owing people money, and I have seen too many people get into credit card debt trouble.

Our household debt is about 7k, but most of that is home-repair related (roof, floors, etc)... when you move into a place, you can't really save up for all the big items. And, often, a new roof won't let you save up to replace it :)

$40,000. balance

$100,000. available.

0$. I use a credit card as a convienient method of autopayment of monthly bills. Pay for actual purchases with debit and/or cash and/or financing...

Debt Free. I pay off the balance each month. The largest card debt i ever had was $3500.00. Came into a sum of money from an old retirement account that i didn't even know about from a high school part time job. The company went out of business, so they had to distribute the accts. I used this to get debt free and have remained that way for the past 10 yrs. Damn good feeling.

I owe my last year of college to the credit companys, thanks VISA! I hated doing it but I could only get 1/2 the needed money for college in student loans so my parents applied for the other half. That worked fine till my parents both got really good jobs. They decided to not get their half of the loan and just pay it out of pocket. Not a bad idea if you do it. They forgot to pay the bill all the time so it was either put thousands on the card or leave school. Well they would finally get around to paying me what the bill was, after 3 months of 21% intrest. So I was left trying to pay off everything else. Then I got one the slippery slope of spending, sort of. I used to have money in the bank so I did not have to use cards, well that all got used trying to pay the minimums till my parnets got around to their end of the deal. That all really pissed me off because when my brother left for college they set up an auto transfer, every Friday all his bills get paid and he gets extra "FUN" money. UGGG, well that is a different rant for later.

When I left college I was a total of $24k in debt, less than 2 years later I have almost 1/2 of that paid off. So that makes me happy.

I don't spend money I don't have, I've seen first hand what bad credit can do to you. I'd hate to be tied down financially with that kind of a liability.

I have 4 cards with over $10,000 limits on each and a little $2K amazon.com card. I could easily sink myself if i ever got depressed and started maxing them out..

with that said, i've never carried a balance on one and i've never paid interest on one. I mainly use an Amex Blue card for the rewards points and pay the balance off. All my cc's have no annual fee, so they don't cost me anything.

Mainly, i like the monthly statement of my expenses and the fact i only have to touch my savings or checking once or twice a month to pay bills. I'd scream if i were in debt to a cc company. Seriously, you could probably mortgage your arm and pay it off at a lower interest rate than a credit card...I think all my cards currently have about 18% interest..one has 22%..I'm not going to buy something and end up paying 20% more..nono, that just seems insane to me.


With that said, i'm glad i don't have to live off the credit like some people i know.

God damn I hate my credit card debt. It makes me reach for the mylanta just thinking about it. Oh crap...

Between the wife and I we have around $100k of purchasing power.

Usually have around 1k a month of living expenses on it and pay it off. Don't like using debit cards, and Discover gives us 1% back a year.

Me too :(

i'm a debit card man myself, you know exactly how much money you have, and no need to pay of large interest sums.
can be a bit of a bummer when you have no extra strech to buy something cool, but on a student budget, it's probably all for the best:p

This is really true for college students and its shameless of the credit card industry to stoop this low. They even set limits on the card they issue to a student but they don't enforce the limit at a point of sale. Instead the opt to charge interest and penalties every month you are over the limit. These types of credit card issuers (and you know who you are) are SHAMELESS! :mad:

$0

They gave me a credit card when I was 17 and had a part time job.. I mean come on.. I was making 6.00 an hour and they gave me a 1000 limit.. And when it got topped out thier solution was to give me two hundred dollars more in my limit.. They took it away from me a year later and Im still trying to rebuild my credit

I have about $3,500 in debt on a couple cards (down from around 8,000) and it kills me. I have been taking serious strides to try to pay it down and I have been pretty successful, but it sucks when you put down $100 in a month and you have $50 in finance charges. I wish I had never gotten these cards in college, but truth be told, they are what made it possible for me to go to school. Money was very tight with my folks and I worked through my entire college career, but it just wasn't enough. Those cards fed me and paid for my books. A necessary evil unfortunately.

That's what I hate. You think you're making a decent payment, and you see that the finance charge is nearly the same amount of the payment you just made. It's depressing.

Thats the game, that way when you make your minimum payment they can increase the debt.. lovely people

Actually I saved myself from Credit Card Debt with a neat little tax trick (but it only works in Canada). Global Learning Systems or whatever they used to be called had an awesome way of doing it before. Too bad they're gone now though. The Gov't changed the law, so the company basically shut down.

I heard that there's another idea in the works though - but I don't think I will get info until around Sept-ish. No point until then anyway - since I can have my money earn interest while I wait for another tax shelter.

The only problem I have now - is that I'm going to be going into debt soon due to a wedding (my own). So much for financial freedom :D - although on the up side - I will get a house.

I'm 19, and pay mine off every month. I make more per month then the limit, after taxes at my job, heh.

I watch my GF's and my own CC debt very carefully (we share 2 card accounts). Usually we only use the CC with online purchases, then pay them off in a few months.

Man, I'm behind the times. I really need a credit card to build that shit up. But I don't think I can afford one. Ah well. Such is the college life, I'll just keep using ye olde debit card.

Debt free baby!! But about a week ago or so had about $6,000 CC debt. Just paid it all off.

Shit, I've moved up a category :(

Be careful. It is really easy to wallow in consumer debt.

I hope it was an "emergency" problem that pushed you over the edge. Even so, you have to budget for them...

Good luck getting back down a category. I'd say "keep at it", but that might be taken the wrong way. ;)

Err... Would new undies be considered an emergency? :p

I just moved into an apartment a month ago and I've put quite a bit of stuff for it on my credit cards. I'm pretty well settled now so now it's just a matter of getting that debt back down.

Now it's just a matter of sticking to my budget.

Well, I just cut up 4 credit cards. Gap, Target, MBNA and Chase. That leaves me with two, Bank of America and Capital One. Those two have the lowest interest rates (0% for 6 months, and 8.9% respectively) and about $1,000 in available credit.

Time to work on paying things off, and not using my cards.

Oh good! =)
It really depends.

...

No pun intended. ;)

Ok, so I can say "keep at it" safely then. :)

I completely agree with that. So many people are caught up in this "I want it RIGHT NOW" and "I have to keep up with everyone else" culture that they heap on debt that will take eons to pay off while acquiring frequently very empty or temporary returns.
My credit cards were not too bad until I moved and watched one of them slowly double while I was looking for work. :rolleyes:

my thoughts on non-essential debt (i.e., anything other than a house mortgage or car note*) run tandem with my thoughts on eating in restaurants.

if you can't afford to tip your waiter generously with the money** on hand when you walk in the door to the restaurant, regardless of what you order, you have no business eating there.

subsequently, if i can't afford to pay 20% interest on whatever I buy, with money I have immediately available to me, I have no business using my credit card. If I can afford to pay that 20% interest right away, then by all means I'll have the cash on me at the time of purchase.


*I consider a car note essential debt for two reasons: most of us don't have 10k in available assets (I'm 20) to just slap down cash for the automobile; it takes automobile transportation to commute to work in a reasonable amount of time for most of us.

**by money on hand, I mean cash (physical bills) or a debit card with no interest tied directly to a savings/checking account.

EXACTLY!!

I know I have the money to pay it off at the end of the month so I figure if the CC company is going to give me a ~20 day "intrest free loan" I'll use em for all they've got.

On top of that, as Cynthetiq said, its all about the miles!!

I put everything I possibly can (utilities, groceries, my daily coffee, the occasional used car, etc.) on my cashback bonus card. I never spend more than I can pay in full, so I get paid to use it.

Then again, it'll probably be years before my cashback bonuses compensate for when I had no money, no credit, and a card with a 23.99% APR. :eek:

I majored in credit card debt 101 in college. Discover card saw me coming from a mile away... replaced my car engine with it, then it died, so I bought another used card with it... it took me years to pay off that card. but by that time, other credit card companies found me. So, 12 years later, I am still about 5 K in the hole, not mention my wife's car loan... and a smal chunk of stufdent loan. But I am determined to pay it off.

My question is, do I need to pay it off before I can buy a house? I guess this is a question for the finanial forums....

I have had several cards...all of which I pay off in full each month.

This is the total opposite of most, but I spend cash more eraticcally than I do with my credit card. Plus, I get 1-5% back on all purchases I'd be making anyways! Huzzah!