How much Credit Card Debt do you have?

[ICF]

no CC debt....never have had any, and hopefully never will. We do charge almost everything for the rewards, and just pay it off each month.

Currently only a mortgage to worry about, although in the next year or so we will be getting a new car.

 

[disykat]

Why do these threads always turn into rants about how people DARE to live without credit card debt and insinuations that people who say they do are lying?

To me, it makes perfect sense. We are on a board where people talk about expensive vacations many people can't even THINK about taking. This board is NOT real life. I don't know where everyone else lives, but I know MANY people who have never even left their own state or been on an airplane. Since Disney only has two US locations, it is not affordable for many.

In general I would assume that people who have cash to go on big vacations probably have the ability to live within their means and are thus less likely to have cc debt.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

$0.00


I run my bills through the CC and buy stuff with it for the cash back bonus. I pay it off in full every month.

 

[Colleen27]

What bugs me on this site is it's a BUDGET board, not a "I have no debt and anyone who does is evil or irresponsible" site. Budgeting means planning how to spend your money, not having no debt at all.

Yeah, but any conversation about the subject in a setting that includes a lot of Dave Ramsey followers tends to take on that tone. I'm not a big fan of his because of the lack of balance he advocates, and I think people who are fans tend to forget that his job is to get people listening to his show, attending his courses, and buying his books... Moderation and common sense just don't grab an audience the way extreme/shocking statements do, and his anti-debt/anti-credit rhetoric is absolutely an extreme in our society.

In general I would assume that people who have cash to go on big vacations probably have the ability to live within their means and are thus less likely to have cc debt.

I seem to remember an anonymous poll a while back about household income, and it is certainly NOT reflective of the country as a whole. Not even close. And on top of that, this is the *Budget* board so it is a more financially conscious sub-group within that skewed demographic. Ask the same question about credit card debt over on the Community board and you'll get a very different distribution of responses, I'm sure.

 

[kerplop]

When we were both much younger DP and I were really bad about credit cards. Ended up with bankruptcy before we were 25 . But we've learned our lesson and since then the most we've owed is $500 when we had to take the cat to the vet and that lasted about a month before it was paid off. We do use our ccs for our online purchases since we don't drive and get almost everything delivered, but are blessed enough to be able to pay them off in full immediately afterward.

 

[lovepurple]

We have $32K in credit card debt. Rate is 4.9%. Balance is composed of putting two kids through college and start up money for business. Balance was over $50K at the beginning of the year but I make huge payments every month to knock it down. It was just a better rate than getting student loans and a business loan.
We also own three cars with no car payments and have about 50% equity in our home. I probably could get an equity loan and wipe out the credit card debt, but that does not appeal to me.
Also, I think we might go to Disney for my son's birthday in December. I have the cash to do so.
Judge away.

 

[lovemylife]

We have more than we have ever had at $17,000. Will transfer to a 0% interest for 21 months here soon. Ours is due to the fact that my DH became a late in life diabetic, which has been costly with Rx's and a new diet. Other part came from just buying an old house and having to get new furniture, blinds, repaint EVERYTHING, etc. So unfortunately, no equity here. Hopefully we will get a good tax return to help.

 

[Mommy23Princesses]

We finally have no credit card debt and never plan to again! We do however have ridicilous student loans, took out a private loan after we had our first daughter to help make ends meet, worse mistake ever! We also have 2 car notes but I believe we only have about 18 payments left on both and I am planning on keping my car till that bad boy runs itself into the ground and using the car payment money to then attack those darn student loans. My DH drives his truck for his job so we'll hold on to his for as long as it can last.

Hard times right now for everyone so I never judge. Living in Vegas we have seen a huge hit in every aspect of the economy and I am extremely grateful to still be afloat. People are doing what needs to be done to survive the times and I do believe in a balance. Not an enjoyable life to put all your extra money towards bills, one should also be able to enjoy the pleasures of life as well.

 

[Jessica527]

No Credit Card -

2 Student Loans
2 Cars
1 Mortgage

But no Credit Card at all - use all cash

 

[Praying Colonel]

IMHO a better question would be what % of your household annual income do you carry in credit card debt. $1,000 in debt to someone who makes 25K annually isn't the same as $1,000 in debt to someone making 100K annually.

 

[Cinerbelle]

In January 2008 we started a debt management plan... have not used a credit card since then. We are down to a little over $10k left to pay...down from just over $50k. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as we will be done with our payments in April 2012. I'm so excited!!! The beginning was rough thinking we could never do it... go cash only, but we have and I'm so proud of our family!!

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I'll admit it. We have cc debt and a mortgage and one car payment. Our income is about 15% more than our minimum bills/month (that includes everything). I'm paying things down, but it's not going to happen tomorrow and guilt or shame is not part of the package. And, our income went down this year due to DH retiring from the reserves.

What I'd love to see is how many people are prepared for retirement, to me that means more than current cc debt. A lot of people have nothing saved for retirement and we have quite a lot.

I'm not ashamed to say we have 3 cruises and a WDW trip planned in the next 16 months. We've been in and out of cc debt over the last 30 years and have never, ever been close to bankrupt or homeless. We'll be out of it again within 2 years, even doing the vacations we have planned.

What bugs me on this site is it's a BUDGET board, not a "I have no debt and anyone who does is evil or irresponsible" site. Budgeting means planning how to spend your money, not having no debt at all.

I agree. We have a large-ish amount of credit card debt. We'll be paying about 90% of it off come October when DH gets a bonus. We also have DVC, travel a lot, go to Disney a lot and have a cruise coming up next year. DH has 15 years in the military (active duty), we've spent the last 3+ years living apart and we take vacations together because of it. We can easily pay our bills, we have housing and food money because of the military, we have two years of GI bill for each of our kids (we have two) and have $40,000 set aside for retirement aside from his military pension which he can start getting paid for at the age of 38. I think we're doing okay. Will we be better off when the debt is paid off... yes, of course. But I refuse to live like a hermit because we have debt. We'd be miserable and it's just not the right decision for our family.

 

[Sunnywho]

I am glad for the Dave Ramsey followers here! I followed a link from here and we started on it two months ago. Almost $10,000 of cc debt to pay down, on a 0% interest card for the next 20 months. The biggest advantage with Dave Ramsey has been getting my DH and me on the same page.

 

[Tikitoi]

I'm so glad that I am able to pay my CC bills off every month.

 

[kathie859]

In January 2008 we started a debt management plan... have not used a credit card since then. We are down to a little over $10k left to pay...down from just over $50k. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as we will be done with our payments in April 2012. I'm so excited!!! The beginning was rough thinking we could never do it... go cash only, but we have and I'm so proud of our family!!

Cinerbelle, reading your post made me smile. I feel so happy for you having taken steps to rid yourself of this debt burden. You have every right to be proud of your family's efforts!!!! Congratulations.

 

[beansmom]

LOL. just once I would love to read "yep, I'm 10K in credit car debt, I've got a big ole house, and planning 3 disney vacations this year and I'm perfectly happy with it"

Just to watch folks here hyperventilate.....

"Ask and ye shall receive"...

I just paid about $60K in credit card debt, our mortgage is over $3k per month, we have a car payment and we've been to Disney twice, Italy and had a wedding in Texas in the last 8 months...and we ARE planning a disney trip in October as well as a diving trip to Belize in the winter. Oh, and we still have about $4k on a couple cards.

My DH works 80+ hours a week and I don't care what anybody thinks about our debt, living expenses or anything else. Til I ask somebody else to pay our bills, nobody has the right to tell us how to spend our money.

Our CC 'debt' has taken us to Europe twice (air and hotels for 12 days in Italy..FREEE) and a few domestic flights over the last 3 yrs...with enough miles in our AA acount to go to Europe or Hawaii now (if only I could decide where!)

There ya go, Eliza dear. I'm soo glad I could make somebody happy today.

 

[Chee Chick]

No credit card debt for me. I do charge everything to my Discover card to get cash back bonus awards and pay off the balance every month. The only debt I carry is my mortgage.

 

[disneyofcourse]

Zero. I am anti interest so I just pay everything off a few times a month. I love hearing stories on here that people post saying how they are working down debt!! Good for you guys! Now the lady who just kept on filing bankruptcy and then going on several trips a year..not proud.

 

[JodiR]

What if the credit card debt you have is business related. I own a retail store.

Would it be ok to consider a trip with that kind of debt? It's somewhat different than consumer debt, KWIM?

 

[Cinerbelle]

Cinerbelle, reading your post made me smile. I feel so happy for you having taken steps to rid yourself of this debt burden. You have every right to be proud of your family's efforts!!!! Congratulations.

Thanks!!