Economy US credit card debt hit a record high

[koquerelle]

I refuse to own a credit card. Never have never will.

You never shop online? What about hotel reservations?

I pay absolutely everything with my CC and pay bill right away. It gives me some points.

 

[Queen B]

This is why inflation will eventually go down.

 

[Edmond_Dantes]

You never shop online? What about hotel reservations?

I pay absolutely everything with my CC and pay bill right away. It gives me some points.

this is what I do as well. and it's much easier to combat identity theft as well with CCs.

 

[kahiljabroni]

Too lazy to read article. Are we sure the rise isn't attributable to so few people using cash? Most people I know charge everything and pay it off every month.

 

[Long Dark Blues]

I bought the iPod gen 1 with my first credit card from Circuit City.

I had a kid before a credit card.

 

[NickNick]

If you're smart, you can make money off your credit cards. The key is paying off your balance in full every month. I use my credit cards for all my purchases to get cash back, airline miles and other perks.

You can also take advantage of introductory perks. If I have a large purchase I know I need to make, I'll go on a site like nerd wallet and see if there are any good introductory perks on a new card. A lot of the time there are cards that will give to $300-$500 dollars back if you spend X amount in the first three months along with 0% interest for 12-18 months. Now this isn't something you do multiple times a year but if you don't have too many CCs already, it's nice.

 

[Versez]

I bought the iPod gen 1 with my first credit card from Circuit City.

I had a kid before a credit card.

Damn

 

[Corona]

I'm hoping to be above a zero balance in my bank account by the end of it. That will be a success for me.

you sound poor

 

[ThaiSexPills]

If the US government cares about people, they’d bail out credit card peasants like they do Wallstreet. They don’t though so...

 

[fedorthegoat777]

I've been paying my credit card off in full every month since I was in high school.

It's been great for my credit score.

Did you know your credit score gets higher if you carry a balance for a few months?

 

[mkess101]

Did you know your credit score gets higher if you carry a balance for a few months?

Don't think that's true. What FICO scores like is that a person has a lot of available credit, but isn't using it. When they look at your total picture, if they see ABC bank issued you a credit card 10 years ago and is comfortable giving you a credit limit at $30k of unsecured debt AND you aren't actually using any of that credit...that's what looks best for you. Basically it's saying "Hey look, this bank thinks there's little risk in extending this much credit to this guy, that's great. But this guy hasn't had to carry a balance and use any of that credit which means he's not strapped for cash, which is also great."

 

[Lubaolong]

I'd think you'd use your own to build up your credit score

Kids can't get credit cards until they're 18 unless they piggyback off a parent. Adding children as authorized users on a parent account gives them a big head start in building credit history.

 

[Lubaolong]

I refuse to own a credit card. Never have never will.

Your loss. Missing out on a lot of benefits.

 

[AristotleAmadopolis]

Like many Americans, back in my younger days I inundated myself in colossal CC debt.

had no idea what APRs were, or the magnitude of late payments, interest, debt to income ratio and how it impacts your credit score.

this should also be taught in schools.

I think lack of education on the subject of credit leads to a lot of this. People living beyond their means and not having structure or budgets. The rates are crazy too. No way that interest rates should be above 20%. I really don't know of a solution other than more education in high school and college on the subject of credit management and budgeting. I feel like this is only going get worse if nothing is addressed.

it's intentionally not taught probably

 

[Bwagster]

Credit card debt isn't near the top of the list with the issues in America. Biden is the worst president in the history of America. Oil has reached a $130 a barrel under his leadership. We are in serious trouble.

 

[lifelessheap]

I refuse to carry CC debt. LoL

 

[evansusmc2]

You never shop online? What about hotel reservations?

I pay absolutely everything with my CC and pay bill right away. It gives me some points.

debit card yes. Credit card no

 

[evansusmc2]

Your loss. Missing out on a lot of benefits.

I got friends with credit cards. The only thing I hear from it is credit card debt. But I’ll take your word for it.

 

[mkess101]

I got friends with credit cards. The only thing I hear from it is credit card debt. But I’ll take your word for it.

You just have to treat the bill every month like it's a bill that HAS to be paid in full. Your heating or cable bill doesn't have the full balance and then the "minimum payment due". You just pay the full bill every month, right? You do the same with a credit card. If you operate on a budget (like most people do) it definitely means keeping track of spending. But with a debit card you kinda have to do that too, right?

It's not for everyone, but we get serious benefits by using the credit card nonstop like it's our debit card but then just paying the balance every month.

 

[KeepingItReal]

You just have to treat the bill every month like it's a bill that HAS to be paid in full. Your heating or cable bill doesn't have the full balance and then the "minimum payment due". You just pay the full bill every month, right? You do the same with a credit card. If you operate on a budget (like most people do) it definitely means keeping track of spending. But with a debit card you kinda have to do that too, right?

It's not for everyone, but we get serious benefits by using the credit card nonstop like it's our debit card but then just paying the balance every month.

It's true at the personal level but at the population level credit card companies already figured out that they can get people to spend more money and charge fees to businesses. So while you get cash back of 1-5%, lets say you got $500-$1000 in cash back in one year, you probably spent twice as much money as you would have had you used a debit card. It's a very good business they are running. All this being said credit cards are still good for emergencies. Some cards offer a feature where you can put something very expensive on a payment plan with a fixed rate that's not as ridiculous as the regular credit card interest rate.