How much credit card debt do you owe?

I used to have a lot of credit card debt but got rid of it all through a lot of hard work. I now fanatically pay off my CCs every month, and my credit score is over 800.

I have a $65.00 credit on my one credit card right now.

Just the current monthly balance which I pay off each month.

OP You need credit counseling. There is help available

Zero. I've always paid it off in full each month.

I'm like R1. I used to have over $20,000 but I was able to pay it all off over time and now I never carry a balance.

I have $34,000 in credit card debt, but I don’t tend to worry because if you add up all my debts and savings, I’m comfortably in the black by hundreds of thousands of dollars. I should pay it off, but for some reason I have no urgent desire to do so.

I have two credit cards and I hardly charge a lot on my card. Besides I live within my means and I avoid paying for expensive items with my card. Most of my credit card bills is from grocery shopping.

Someone needs to take the checkbook away from R7. He clearly has no idea how to handle money. Anyone who would pay interest on $34,000.00 in debt every month when they could easily pay it off and not suffer financially is nuts.

What is your income level OP?

Seriously. That determines whether it is feasible for you to pay that off or do you need to look at bankruptcy.

If you your income level is high the interest on 34k is not something you are really going to care much about r9.

Not saying it's smart, but that poster isn't the only person I've seen behave that way.

0 Credit card debt, doesn't matter if it's $200 or $2000 I pay it off every month.

I don’t have credit card debt but I have fallen on hard times and am “robbing Peter to pay Paul” as they say and its the worst feeling I have ever had in my life.

OK, R11, but why not just pay it off? That's not hard when you have the money to do so -- you don't even have to visit your bank, just go to its website and move funds from savings to checking and pay the bill from the checking account. Then you can take 19% of your former credit card balance and donate it to charity every month.

I wonder if any of those credit counseling services are legit. I know there are some that are scams (they try to convince you NOT pay them and get worse off than you are or something) and even charge you, but Suze Orman used to say there were legit ones who helped you. But how do you know which is which? Yo hear ads for some on the radio all the time and they seem like scams. A relative had a lot of cc debt and not sure how he handled it.

About $300 currently, I pay mine off every fortnight usually. Ocassionally I have something that results in me paying a small amount of interest, but generally I pay it off every fortnight

I used to have about 12G in credit card debt & every night it used to gnaw away at my mind as soon as I put my head on my pillow. Then one morning I woke up & said "That's it, no more!". I paid it off over a few months in large amounts & what a relief. Anyone struggling with this dilemma owes it to their well-being to struggle, scrape & skrimp to free yourself of the anguish. You'll never bust your ass for anything better. I still have all my cards but never use them. I keep them open so my credit report remains in good standing, as the ratio of available credit to credit balance reflects upon your score. After paying off my balances my score shot from mid-600s to over 800. Nothing that will Just end up collecting dust in your house is ever worth the stress of owning money on it.

^ "Fortnight" is a quaint and dare say underused word.

I try to filter every purchsase through one of my reward cards -- groceries, utilities, internet, cell phone, even property taxes on my house. That has allowed me to use those points for some nice trips (airline tickets, hotel rooms). I pay off the balance on that thing every month, even if it's substantially more, such as the month when I pay the property taxes on my house.

[quote] If you your income level is high the interest on 34k is not something you are really going to care much about

Incredible that anyone in this age and time would have such a cavalier attitude about throwing good money away every month. Because that's exactly what he's doing. It would be better to take that interest money outside every month and throw it into the wind so at least someone could get some benefit out of it besides the credit card company.

[quote]I try to filter every purchsase through one of my reward cards -- groceries, utilities, internet, cell phone, even property taxes on my house

Don't you have to pay a %fee to pay taxes by cc? usually 3% ish? Isn't that more than the value of travel points (usually $0.01 per point?)

Zero. I pay the balance in full every month. Credit cards for me are just a mechanism to make a payment for something. If I can't afford to pay off the balance, I don't make the purchase. If there's a large unexpected item, that's what my emergency cash fund is for. I use that to pay the balance, then start replenishing the cash emergency fund. I had about $10K in credit card debt with I finished college (decline to state when that was!) but kept living like a starving student for a year after I graduated and paid off the balance. Haven't paid interest since then.

When I was struggling right after I graduated, I had about $3,000 in credit card debt. I kept taking advantage of low transfer rates and moved the debt from bank to bank until I got on my feet and could pay it off. I used every trick to keep it that low, including finding stuff at garage sales to re-sell on eBay, taking on piece work part-time, coupon-clipping, and anything else I could think of. I don't think I ever paid more than 3% on the debt.

Now I pay it off credit cards every month, carry no debt, and maintain a small accessibe savings account in case something unexpected comes up.

$0. I learned the hard way to pay it off by spending more than I should. Now I use it like a bank card, linked to travel points.

OP, don't beat yourself up. It happens to so many people, sometimes out of need, sometimes out of carelessness, but it happens. You should look for some credit counselling to understand the sensible path forward.

When I get old I'm gonna run up my credit cards like crazy and die without payin' 'em off.

Real men and women pay off their credit card balances 100% by automatic bank draft every month.

[quote] When I get old I'm gonna run up my credit cards like crazy and die without payin' 'em off.

R25 is sticking’ it to the Man.

With a walking stick.

R25 -- I would do that too if I had some terminal disease and x months to live. I have no heirs who are expecting an inheritance or support after I expire.

This thread has been an eye-opener. I don’t know why I’ve been okay with paying so much interest…it’s just paying $34,000 has seemed more overwhelming than paying $500-600 a month.

[quote] "Fortnight" is a quaint and dare say underused word.

Not in the UK it's not. It simply means 2 weeks.

R31 But it sounds weird when used with an American accent.

Perhaps we should starting using phrases like "four score," as in "four score and seven years ago" from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

I'm swimming in reverse debt.

around $6000.00 U.S. Annoying. But, shit had to get done the last few years. I'm chipping away, though.

"Four score" isn't a common phrase amenable to wide use.

Score by itself to mean 20 is a word usage out of common favor though.

7 cards, $1600, fresh from a vet bill.

Around 20k, my total limit is around 100k. My credit is fine. I use transfer balance offers sometimes so I don't pay astronomical rates. I make sure I pay all the bills on time and that my credit usage ratio isn't insane.

Other than that I don't care about having CC debt. Some people can't sleep at night knowing they have any debt, that sure as hell will never be me lol. If I die tomorrow that 20k won't be my problem anymore!

My advise to everyone for years has been, don't live within your means. If at all possible live below your means.

Years ago there used to be a cap on what the credit card companies could charge you but like so many consumer protections ... it just went away. Funny, huh?

Zero.. I had $75.00 which I promptly paid, no wonder my FICO score is 826.

zero.

The government should require that credit bureaus notify card issuers when a customer racks up too much debt across all of his accounts, so that the card issuers can cut the person off and block any new credit applications. We need to cut people off who can’t handle credit responsibly.

r43 that's the purpose of credit scores

What does that mean you bought, R43? I’m the guy with a $34,000 ($33,000 as of tonight) credit card bill. I pay a little over the minimum payment every month, and have for the past 10 years. While I have never come close to paying it off, I’ve never missed a payment…yet the high debt alone leads some to believe I’m irresponsible and don’t deserve a credit card.

[quote] I pay a little over the minimum payment every month

You will never pay off your debt doing that.

Nothing particularly wrong with "living in debt." Most Americans do it with their mortgages, as do almost all large businesses. Just a question in your case whether you're paying too much interest for carrying that debt on your cards.

I had $20K credit card bill - after I got myself untangled from that I vowed never to have a credit card again. I use my debit card to any online transaction I need.

if you don't have the money, you can't purchase it.

R46, while that’s factually true, I have no incentive to give away tens of thousands of dollars tomorrow. My credit score is high and of I died tomorrow, my debts would be covered. Other than bragging rights, I have nothing to gain from having a zero balance on my credit card.

I gambled for years (slots) and lost a lot of money over a long period of time. I eventually racked up $20,000 on my credit card that I struggled to pay off because I was a gambling addict. The stress over this was awful. I don’t know how people with financial problems deal. COVID closed the casinos which finally allowed me to get a clear head and stop. My debt has been paid off for a year now after I aggressively tackled it. Gambling and debt almost destroyed me, but COVID proved to be a good thing. Glad to see those casinos suffer!

Zero

However, there was a time that I maxed out on a few cards. At the last minute, the money to pay them off came through.

Great job, R50!

Back in my 20s mine got up to $25k but I was able to eventually pay it off. Shockingly last week a good friend from college texted me freaking out about possibly having to sell her house. Turns out she has debt on 15 credit cards & has borrowed three loans from the bank. It is a mess. Don’t bury your head in the sand folks!

[quote] I have no incentive to give away tens of thousands of dollars tomorrow

Actually, that's exactly what you are doing. You have probably already paid the credit card companies twice your actual purchases or more, if you've let this debt ride for five years.

You think you are winning some sort of game. For every dollar you have charged, you have already paid them 200 or more. They won.

As R54 says - just paying the interest is like flushing money down the toilet

You gay deadbeats are hopeless. OMFG.

R56 No, not hopeless. We just need a good woman to take charge of our lives.

Busy, Suze?

Thanks, R52. 🙂

$1,300. That's it.

Ten years ago, I had over $30k in credit card debt and settled it with the credit card companies. One sued me but I settled that too and ended up paying half the balance. Now I have no debt and $25K in available credit. My score is over 800. I think credit cards are convenient but a trap. You definitely have to pay off the balance every month or it will snowball.

$500-&1000 probably. I haven’t made any big purchases lately.

R15 I did the credit consolidation thing and it worked out for me. Had over $22K in balances that got negotiated down to about $7K. Paid that off over a couple of years. Got some scary letters and calls from collection agencies, but survived. My credit score took a hit, but it bounced back to excellent after about 5 years. Now I’m getting credit card offers galore and one of the banks that had blocked me has allowed me to open a new card with them.

[quote]If you your income level is high the interest on 34k is not something you are really going to care much about

This is one of the dumbest things I've read in my whole life. You're paying interest on $34,000 in credit card debt just because you can? Are you some kind of idiot?

$2K on one card.

Quarantine really helped me cut down my debt.

Whatever I spent last month.

I pay it all when the statements come. CC interest rates are usury.

$0.00

$5k! I make about 80k per year

r63, CC debt is totally relative to income and total available credit. 20k is not a big deal if you have 150k total limit across cards. And some people don't care as long as the monthly payment is manageable. It happens with mortgages all the time; as long as they can afford the monthly payments and get the house they want, they aren't hugely concerned about interest over the life of the loan. Like r47 said most people and business operate with debt, its more about how you manage it.

[quote] And some people don't care as long as the monthly payment is manageable.

It's not a matter of whether they care or not. It's just stupid to make ridiculous interest payments month after month. You are trying to justify throwing away money.

I feel for you OP - my ex husband took out lots of joint credit cards and I got stuck with 70k in debt (had to file bankruptcy a while back). It’s not fun, but try to get it under control now. Trust me- it just gets worse.

r69 honey I have no need to justify what are commonly known facts about how people use credit cards. You dont need to be Suze Orman to know that many people only pay the minimum payment because that's all they can afford, and they are fine with it. Yeah it can be stupid but that's reality! Deal with it.

[quote] [R69] honey I have no need to justify what are commonly known facts about how people use credit cards. You dont need to be Suze Orman to know that many people only pay the minimum payment because that's all they can afford, and they are fine with it. Yeah it can be stupid but that's reality! Deal with it.

That's pretty much the definitioin fo "justify." By saying people are paying the minimum because that's all they can afford you are saying it's OK.

But if people just stopped running up credit card debt and didn't hand over half their paychecks to credit card companies in interest they could actually afford MORE.

It may be "reality," but it's just stupid. And if people don't want to be told they do stupid things, they shouldn't do them.

(And, by the way, there was no indication in the original post that the reason that person was paying so little on his credit card was that that was all he could afford. All that he said was that he paid what he wanted and that was hunky-dory.)

It’s crazy that even 40 years into the credit card disaster that was spawned in the 1980s, kids still aren’t taught how horrible credit card debt is. It really is the most basic trap that corporate America plays on the young. Doubt you will find anyone over 40 who doesn’t realize what a fraud, scheme and outright evil credit card debt is.

$310.

How are young people retiring? I think more people have huge debt than imagined.

I owe $1,200 this month on one CC. This amount includes a vet charge for $430.

Finally at a place where I have paid off all my debt. One thing that helped me is to just stop buying stuff and putting any extra I had down as a cc payment. Every little bit helps. I indulged too much in eating out and still do but less often. I think out culture puts unrealistic dreams in people's head. If you were born poor, are a poor adult, you will probably remain poor and die poor. Not everyone gets to be rich. Not everyone gets to be comfortable- which is terrible. I've traveled to other countries where families who may not have have much are happy and proud. They don't feel like failures because they are not rich. We need to give up the notion that everyone has a ship that is coming in. Find a way to live our days in peace and happiness. A warm place to live and food on the table with people we love is enough.

You're a lousy capitalist, R77. Good for you!

Actually things are looking up for me. I started a small business back in October and it looks like I can do a lot of write offs on my taxes and get a sizable refund to put towards my debt.

Happy to hear, OP! You can do this.

I stupidly got into credit card debt in my 20's during a short stint of unemployment. The thought of owing that money made me crazy - I think the total was about $5-6K. This was the late 90's, I was single, no kids, no student loan - eventually got a new job and buckled down to get rid of this debt. It took about a year and when I finally finished paying Chase Bank, it was a great feeling.

My next project was to amass a nest egg so I would never have to go to family for help. Luckily, it all worked out. I got outsourced from my job in 2008 and have been able to live off my savings, along with some small inheritances that helped me avoid dipping into my funds up until last month, when I applied for SS Retirement. Besides the SSR, I also have low 6-figures in Pension and 401K.

Nothing. I pay my cards off every month.

[quote] This thread has been an eye-opener. I don’t know why I’ve been okay with paying so much interest…it’s just paying $34,000 has seemed more overwhelming than paying $500-600 a month.

Look at, actually read your credit card statement. I bet that $500-600 is interest only. Your principal is remaining the the same.

This monthly, instead of total amount, mentality is what keeps people in debt.

I was $26k in credit card debt by age 30. Turned it around by getting a job paying 20% more, made double/triple the minimum payment on cards with highest finance charge, and used all of my annual bonus to take a big chunk out of card balances. Paid it all off in a little over 2 years.

For the last 35 years, I've always paid the balance every month, except on cards that have deferred finance charge promotions when I want/need to buy something big.

R7, That would make you a pretty stupid person. My guess is that you pay double digit interest every month on that debt. Question is why when you can easily pay it off. Only answer I come up with is:,stupid. Perhaps you’re a Republican, lol.

R47, paying down your mortgage on a home is NOT equivalent to credit card debt. As you pay down your mortgage you are increasing your equity. Further, interest on a mortgage is tax deductible up to a maximum.

I continue to be amazed by the stupidity and ignorance on this thread. Trumpism rules!

Oh for fuck's sake, charlie: you're a doctor in NYC, and by your own admission you're from a wealthy family and were sent to fancy schools.

You have zero idea what it's like to be genuinely struggling.

I got about $24000 in debt when I was in my early 30s. I forced myself to pay $2000 a month for more than two years until i paid the whole thing off. It was very hard to do, but it was worth it.

The only way anyone is ever going to pay down their cc debt is to pay off much more than the interest (which is usually just a little under the minimum payment). But it's very hard to do.

I had a lot of credit card debt but have paid it all off and now pay off my credit cards every month. I think back on all the useless things I spent money on that ran up the debt and how much better off I would be now if I had saved and invested that money instead.

We in the U.S. do a terrible job of educating young people about personal finance. I include myself in that lost educational opportunity.

r86 charlie, equity is also totally relative to home values. During the recession tons of Americans were upside down in their loans. The point is that debt has many variables and there is no one magic solution for everyone when it comes to handling debt.

Same as R1 I always was way deep in debt and I came in to enough money to pay off my debt and now pay it off every month and have a credit rating over 800.

I was $34,000 in credit card debt guy…now $32,500 thanks to this thread. I guess I justified my high CC debt because I have a relatively low APR on my card—7%—and I’ve always preferred having my cash parked on my checking account or investments. I always joke I’m a combination of my parents financially. My mom is horrible with money and filed for bankruptcy in her 40s, while my dad is cheap as…

As a result, I’m nowhere near being in debt (I could pay off my credit card tomorrow with savings and selling some investments), but my debt on one card has been over $30,000 since the early 2010’s…which means I’ve probably paid the equivalent of the entire debit in interest payments at this point.

What’s holding you back from paying off the $32,500 balance? You now realize that you’ve wasted about $34,000 in interest payments. I’d be pissed.

R92 is a dumb gay man. DGM!!!!!

R92's choices don't make sense.

Just because I could pay off a debt in theory doesn’t mean I want to say goodbye to so much money at one time.

If the money needed to pay the credit card balance were earning more than the amount of interest being paid on the credit card balance, than it wouldn't make sense to pull money out of a profitable investment. That is: if the credit card interest rate is 7% but the invested money is earning more than that, it make sense to leave the money invested. But the numbers seldom work out that way.

So you say goodbye to another $34,000 over the next 10 years. $68,000 in interest on $34,000 principal. Principal that you will probably still owe after 10 more years at the rate you’re going.

[quote] Just because I could pay off a debt in theory doesn’t mean I want to say goodbye to so much money at one time.

Then go part way. Pay off a big dent of it now, and start paying off a few thousand every month thereafter.

Zero in credit card debt. $481.76 on my plasma donor debit card.

Subscribe to my newsletter for only $10 a month!!

OR, alternately: do exactly what you're doing now and continue to rack up your debt while you're paying lots of money every month almost entirely on interest, and encouraging the anxiety to continue forever until you die.

But just don't go whining to everyone else about it, especially here.

No one will help you if you will not first try to help yourself.

R83 That's just a couple of Starbucks and a Danish or two a day. If he pays off his debt he'll become a fat whore, get heart disease and be dead at 65. All because he followed your advice.

As a finance person, I so often forget most people don’t have a good understanding of economics or finance. In a world filled with capitalist vultures, it’s dangerous. Elizabeth Warren tried to do something - but a lost cause.

R90, watch some of Susie’s talks and buy Andy Tobias’ book “The I Only Investment Guide You Need”. Nice to hear the 34k guy is using some of his cash to head of the interest he need not pay. Not hard to understand some simple facts of borrowing money and inciting debt. You really shouldn’t do any of it until you know the basic facts.

[quote] As a finance person, I so often forget most people don’t have a good understanding of economics or finance. In a world filled with capitalist vultures, it’s dangerous.

R103, I admit I'm good with #s, took a couple of accounting classes plus economics. However, isn't most of this shit simple math? Adding, subtracting, dividing (by 12), multiplying (again, by 12)?

0. My mother extended her credit card to me so I could share her excellent credit score but I only used it on groceries. Now I am well past that age and never use that card. I just use my debit for everything. The thought of credit card debt makes me nervous.

R81 You're in great shape! No one taught me the value of going into a line of work/company that offered a pension. I hope for my great nieces and nephews that they bring that back someday. Without it, it's not going to be pretty for a lot of people.

[quote] I had a lot of credit card debt but have paid it all off and now pay off my credit cards every month. I think back on all the useless things I spent money on that ran up the debt and how much better off I would be now if I had saved and invested that money instead.

It’s refreshing to hear someone who had debt admit that their debt came from bad decisions.

[quote] As a finance person, I so often forget most people don’t have a good understanding of economics or finance. In a world filled with capitalist vultures, it’s dangerous. Elizabeth Warren tried to do something - but a lost cause.

Warren and people like her take advantage of people not understanding economics. Her standing is made possible only by her followers not understanding that her economic policies are nonsensical and can’t work.

[quote] How much credit card debt do you owe?

All of it, of course. That’s how debt works.

OP I declared bankruptcy in 1998 got rid of 53K in debt. Smart move on my part.

R50. Same problem, fucking Ultimate Poker. at Red Rock Casino in Vegas. I was drowning in debt - I just got my BK discharge and the Final decree. Covid gave me a small window of opportunity to file Chapter 7 when I was furloughed for 6 months. All $58K of CC debt is gone! I'm back at my $200K+ Real Estate job and will be saving every fucking dollar. Never again and the BEST decision I could ever make.

$1,500

I just don’t understand the $34,000 credit card debt poster who can afford to pay it off. If you have enough funds for emergencies after paying it, then you should be paying it off. You are effectively paying twice! You are paying the credit company interest and a lot of it unnecessarily. You are foregoing the opportunity to save/invest the money you have unnecessarily paid them when you could have been paying yourself (the opportunity cost). You’d likely have done very well investing your interest payments over the last few years as markets have gone up. You might feel rich now but you won’t stay that way making stupid decisions like this.

Actually you’re paying three times. The third is paying 7% interest on a credit car balance while earning likely far less than that on a cash balance. Pay it down, keep an emergency cash fund and invest the surplus and/or overpay your mortgage if you have one. Whether you think the interest rate is low is immaterial.

Having cash real draw on it today cash in the bank gives a lot of people comfort. Intangible comfort you can't quantify. You don't have to worry about your bank one day suddenly saying no.

So managing your cash position isn't just a matter of minimising cost on a spreadsheet.

So many incompetents.....you should have both low or no credit card debt AND high cash reserves. It should not be either or. It should be AND. If you cannot get to AND, you are living beyond your means.

Some of you are spending money on things that are not necessary like having a pet and spending hundreds at the vet. Some of you probably eat out a lot and spend money on designer labels.

The majority of credit card debt problems, not only in the US but all over the world, lead back to one major problem. GREED. People who have little to no self control with money and want everything they see, whether they can afford it or not, usually die old and broke, have little to nothing to show for all their spending, and wondering what they did to deserve such a fate.

Spending a lot of money on pets, eating out and designer clothes isn’t an issue IF you can afford it.

I never understand why people do not just pay off their card every month. Are they expecting a windfall?

It's simple. It's because they spend more than they have money to pay for it in full with.

Cash is king here, no credit card debt, I have PayPal, Venmo apps. I have two credit cards I keep active, but do not carry a balance. Been there, done that in the past. I refuse to be a financial slave to the big credit card overseers. It is very liberating to not need them. They need you. Show them you do not need them. :-)

I carry no balance. Years ago I had a lot of credit card debt at one point and realized the risks of furthering the problem. I stopped buying things and concentrated on paying off the balances as efficiently as possible, which took a few years to get the balances down by to zero.

It took time and doing without and discipline, but the lesson was a useful one and now I value the freedom of paying off every bill in full, owning property outright, and having no debt.

R122, so where do they think the money will come from?

I really do not get the thinking. If you spend more than you have.....what?...everything will work out in the end?

R125, even Mr Micawber knew better than that:

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

about 18,000

So this thread is not about honestly talking about credit card debt,it is about virtue signalling how good you are at paying it off and then telling others who can’t they are hopeless…. Got it

R128 Without question

R128 Yep - so much fakery

About $5500

Roughly $80,000.00.

Gadzooks, r132! I am aghast!

I feel the 34k guy and did much the same. I had over 50k at one point but I always maxed out retirement savings. I wanted to save but also wanted to live it up. Hence the cc debt.

Of course the interest is insane and foolish. Anyway, I too, make good money so I have 9k now but that will be gone by April. I did a lot of travel this past year so I don’t regret the current debt.

There are the spenders and there are the savers, just as there are the fat and the lean. The thrifty and skinny among us admittedly look down on the obese spendthrifts for lacking self-control. But down deep we know it's not their fault, no more than being left-handed or bald.

I know it seems like virtue signaling, but I really do not get how someone runs up debt like that. I can understand if you are unemployed, or have medical expenses. But a lot of these people seem just doing this as a matter of course. Are they expecting a promotion at work? A rich relative to die?

R136 No, there are people who by nature buy stuff without much attention to price or need, they'd just like to have it and with a credit card in hand they can.

Hard to understand for those of us who by nature always look at the price first, but there you are.

Zero. I paid off a credit card about twenty years ago, and have never carried a balance since. I have absolutely no consumer debt. I decided to stop living beyond my means. Unfortunately we've been taught that it's okay to carry debt on multiple credit cards. It's not. I don't buy anything unless I know I can pay it off at the end of the month. I'd love to live in a nicer apartment, and buy the car of my dreams, but because I haven't done that, I have no worries at all about money. It's so great to know I don't owe anything.

[quote] Of course the interest is insane and foolish. Anyway, I too, make good money so I have 9k now but that will be gone by April. I did a lot of travel this past year so I don’t regret the current debt.

It’s a given that people who are foolish with credit don’t care as they rack up debt. That’s how they get in the hole they dig for themselves.