How much credit card debt do you have? - Page 2

[4Marmalade]

Originally Posted by EmsMom 

No credit card debt here.  I use mine for everything for the points and pay it off every month.
 

Same here.

[Sunshyn74]

No credit card debt here. I haven't owned a credit card in 5+ years. We discovered Dave Ramsey about 7 years ago, and paid off our debt, cut the cards, and never looked back. I am divorced now, and am so thankful that we were debt-free when that happen.

[pohaha]

None. We have an Amex card for costco and another card with cash back rewards, so that's what we use to buy stuff ( I don't like carrying cash). We pay it off every month and we can see exactly where our money goes. Then we get our rewards check every year, which is cool

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by LoveOurBabies 

I keep reading that the average credit card debt per person is around the 8k mark. That sounds a little high to me..

So, I dug into this number a bit:

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/

According to this site, the $7xxx number is actually *household* debt.  What I find more interesting, though, is that that is an average number. Only 46.7% of households actually carry a balance.  So, for 53.3% of households the credit card debt would be $0.  Then, for the remaining group, the average household debt it $15xxx.  So, the MODE (most common) amount of credit card debt for a household would be $0--- there is just a sizable minority that might carry a LOT of credit card debt.

[erinmattsmom88]

Our debt is more than just CC's. We have about 9K out there right now total. Two-thirds of it is DP's IRS debt. The rest is broken down into 3 small CC's, a medical bill, and a furniture payment. By my calculations, all should be gone by summer 2014... at the latest. Hopefully this spring/summer will be busy at DP's new job, so maybe we can be quicker about paying stuff off.

[esenbee2]

DSp let me quit working my 3rd shift job before having found another one in order to finish school because I was so drained all the time and falling asleep at work. It took a while to find a job and we had to put half our bills on credit card for that time period. We were pretty good until that point. It's like quick sand. I have since finished school, gotten a much better job, and we are living more consciously. We have signed up for ReadyForZero.com and have paid off 1 of 13 cards so far. Our plan is to have 11 more paid off in the next 12 months. I am so happy to have found ReadyForZero. They make it very easy to visualize all of your debt, how long it will take, and how much you will save.

[justmama]

Right now?  None.  It's been that way for about 3 years.  HOWEVER 6 years ago I had my single credit card maxed out at $5,500  I also had a car payment.  I cancelled the acct, cut it up, and started paying it down.  Took me 3 years but I paid off both and we've been debt-free ever since.  I haven't had a credit card since that day 6 years ago.  Credit cards scare me.  So total with credit card and car, I think I had about $15K in debt at the time.

[rightkindofme]

We pay it off every month. In a month we spend between $1400 on credit and $12000. Some months really blow my mind.

[mcturner]

The number is high because it's an average, including Americans with no credit card debt alongside those with 35k.

[mcturner]

The number is high because it's an average, including Americans with no credit card debt alongside those with 35k.

[sarafi]

I voted $8,000, BUT it's at 0% interest for another year and is all from current expenses so we didn't pay to transfer any money. Before this year we paid in full every month, right now we are aggressively saving and paying off a rather large car payment, and are using the money we would normally spend of gas/groceries/etc to pay off the car early. Four more months and that monkey will be off my back!

[A&A]

Originally Posted by rightkindofme 

We pay it off every month. In a month we spend between $1400 on credit and $12000. Some months really blow my mind.

 Hopefully you're putting that on a cash-back card.  

[rightkindofme]

Heck yes. I never have to pay my October bill because cash back covers it.

[3timesamom]

0

[BennyPai]

Ours is nowhere near that amount, but still much higher than we'd like, and the feeling is awful.  Right, now DP and I are making some hard life changes to put us on track to being debt-free and finally experiencing that feeling of freedom 4 years from now.  Please wish us well!

[IngaAnne]

In my late 20s, I had over 10k credit card debt, plus car payment, plus a mortgage on my own. I got married at 30 to a man who also had some CC debt, car payment and his own mortgage. Somehow, we managed to pay off all the CC debt shortly after marriage (and after carrying two mortgages for 7 months and paying for a wedding!).

Now at 36, we've had zero CC debt for several years. If we use the card, we pay it off within a month. Both our cars are also paid for now. The big problem is our house, which is worth less than we owe plus we've been paying off a loan for a sump pump and trench drain we had to have installed about 5 years ago. We have to work hard to stay frugal and not spend money we don't yet have, but it's very worth it not to have that extra debt hanging over our heads.

[journeymom]

Does it count if we declared bankruptcy and have no debt?  We recently got a joint, prepaid card for $1,500.  We've used it once and paid it off, for the express purpose of building some credit.  Prior to the bankruptcy we had $12,000 - $15,000 credit card debt.  This whole bk process was/is just miserable and I'm scared straight.  I'm never going there again. 

2013 is truly a year for starting over for us.  I'm pretty excited!

Originally Posted by BennyPai 

Ours is nowhere near that amount, but still much higher than we'd like, and the feeling is awful.  Right, now DP and I are making some hard life changes to put us on track to being debt-free and finally experiencing that feeling of freedom 4 years from now.  Please wish us well!

I wish you all the best! 

Really, everyone working their way out, working hard to stay out of it, go you!!

[mmace]

No credit card debt here - no debt other than mortgages.  We both had first marriages that ended with us holding a big bag of debt, and we both dug out of that and had no credit card debt before we ever found each other.

[kathymuggle]

Around 8000.  

About 2/3 of it was for a dog (who turned out to have fatal cancer and died anyways…..but I do not regret trying to save him).  Not my new doggie, for those who read about Cleo on another thread - she is fine. 

The other 1/3 was for my daughters orthodontia - a well thought out and non-impulse move.

I am actually glad I can access credit when I want/need it.

We also have some savings and a fair amount of equity in the house, so it is all good.  I know I should get rid of the saving and pay off the credit, but that would drive Dh insane.  I also know that if we used the savings to pay off the credit, we would not build the savings back up very quickly.  The debt, with its nasty interest rate, actually forces us to budget a bit to get it paid off.  

[3timesamom]

BennyPai, It was a long road to get out of debt. Still my husband tries to drag me back in. I wish you luck!