You're in debt...serious debt

eflatminor

Classical Liberal
May 24, 2011
10,643
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Your mortgage is underwater and your credit cards are maxed out but you do earn enough money make the interest-only payments on your debt, which leaves enough left over for food and shelter only...but not much else.

You've asked your boss for a raise but the company you work for is in no position to offer you more money and your performance at the company makes you just an average employee. Threatening to quit is no threat.

The question is what do you do in this situation? Is there anyone that would advocate getting another credit card and spending more than you currently do? If so, what's your rationale for that approach?

Personally, I would stop spending money on any and all non essential items and I would sell any possessions that I don't need for survival in an effort to bring that debt under control. Simply put, I would live within my means so as to ensure I don't leave my family with debt.

What would you do?
 
Granny says, "Dat's right - dem Christmas bills come due in January...
icon_grandma.gif

Study: Americans Charged $21.9B in Third Quarter, Could End 2016 $80B Deeper in Debt
December 23, 2016 – Americans racked up $21.9 billion in personal credit card debt during the third quarter this year and are likely to end 2016 with a net $80 billion increase in debt, according to a study by WalletHub.
At the end of the third quarter, Americans owed $927.1 billion on their credit cards, “almost exactly as much as we did the quarter before the Great Recession,” the study noted. “Outstanding credit card debt is at the highest point since the end of 2008, and Q3 did nothing to divert us from a collision course with the $1 trillion mark,” according to the study, which tracked credit card spending going back to 1985. “The average indebted household’s balance rose to $7,941 in Q3 – just $523 below the tipping point WalletHub identified as being unsustainable,” the study stated.

credit-card_ap.jpg

Although consumers cut their credit card spending during and after the Great Recession, the latest figures show that they are closing in on the $8,463 average owed on credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2007, which was the highest credit card debt load in the past 30 years. “With 16 of the last 23 quarters reflecting year-over-year regression in consumer performance, it’s clear that we’ve reverted to pre-downturn habits,” the WalletHub study warned. “If charge-off rates begin to rise, things could get ugly fast.” However, credit card debt is only six percent of the total $12.35 trillion debt owed by Americans, according to the New York Federal Reserve Bank’s latest Household Debt and Credit report.

credit_cards_2_ap.jpg

Other debt includes:

* Mortgages (68%);
* Student loans (10%);
* Auto loans (9%);
* Home equity revolving lines of credit (4%); and
* Other (3%).

“As of September 30, 2016, total household indebtedness was $12.35 trillion, a $63 billion (0.5%) increase from the second quarter of 2016,” the Federal Reserve report stated. “Overall delinquency rates worsened slightly in 2016Q3, reflecting an uptick in early delinquencies. As of September 30, 4.9% of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency. Of the $609 billion of debt that is delinquent, $400 billion is seriously delinquent (at least 90 days late or “severely derogatory”).

Study: Americans Charged $21.9B in Third Quarter, Could End 2016 $80B Deeper in Debt
 
Your mortgage is underwater and your credit cards are maxed out but you do earn enough money make the interest-only payments on your debt, which leaves enough left over for food and shelter only...but not much else.

You've asked your boss for a raise but the company you work for is in no position to offer you more money and your performance at the company makes you just an average employee. Threatening to quit is no threat.

The question is what do you do in this situation? Is there anyone that would advocate getting another credit card and spending more than you currently do? If so, what's your rationale for that approach?

Personally, I would stop spending money on any and all non essential items and I would sell any possessions that I don't need for survival in an effort to bring that debt under control. Simply put, I would live within my means so as to ensure I don't leave my family with debt.

What would you do?
Don't go into debt in the first place.

Living beyond your means always results in bankruptcy eventually.

Then you will probably lose the house and the car and become homeless.
 
My Advice: Cancel cable TV. Cancel your gym membership. Cancel everything that doesn't bring you $$$$. Then sell everything you have except the things you need to do your job. Use that seed money and every spare moment you have to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits. Nights weekends and holidays are now additional working hours. Build your own business!!! Employees, even highly compensated, are still wage slaves. The only way out is to start your own business!!!! and LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS!!!


Living below your means is not only financially rewarding, it is spiritually too. It changes who you are. You no longer are a slave to your possessions. A slave to your debt. A slave to your "job". You own your own life- and that is true freedom.

It should be taught in school that the primary goal of every person should be gaining financial independence as quickly as possible.

We need to continuously teach and educate our children about money, debt, financial instruments, insurance, etc....we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we are financially illiterate!!

PS- Fortunately, the US Government is not an individual. IF they were, they'd be in debtors prison!!

PPS- Start your own business!!

:thup:
 
Your mortgage is underwater and your credit cards are maxed out but you do earn enough money make the interest-only payments on your debt, which leaves enough left over for food and shelter only...but not much else.

You've asked your boss for a raise but the company you work for is in no position to offer you more money and your performance at the company makes you just an average employee. Threatening to quit is no threat.

The question is what do you do in this situation? Is there anyone that would advocate getting another credit card and spending more than you currently do? If so, what's your rationale for that approach?

Personally, I would stop spending money on any and all non essential items and I would sell any possessions that I don't need for survival in an effort to bring that debt under control. Simply put, I would live within my means so as to ensure I don't leave my family with debt.

What would you do?
Don't go into debt in the first place.

Living beyond your means always results in bankruptcy eventually.

Then you will probably lose the house and the car and become homeless.

Agreed

Wow, you pulled out a 5 1/2 year old post. I think that's a record for me.
 
Your mortgage is underwater and your credit cards are maxed out but you do earn enough money make the interest-only payments on your debt, which leaves enough left over for food and shelter only...but not much else.

You've asked your boss for a raise but the company you work for is in no position to offer you more money and your performance at the company makes you just an average employee. Threatening to quit is no threat.

The question is what do you do in this situation? Is there anyone that would advocate getting another credit card and spending more than you currently do? If so, what's your rationale for that approach?

Personally, I would stop spending money on any and all non essential items and I would sell any possessions that I don't need for survival in an effort to bring that debt under control. Simply put, I would live within my means so as to ensure I don't leave my family with debt.

What would you do?
Don't go into debt in the first place.

Living beyond your means always results in bankruptcy eventually.

Then you will probably lose the house and the car and become homeless.

Agreed

Wow, you pulled out a 5 1/2 year old post. I think that's a record for me.
waltky pulled it out not me.

You need glasses ... or new glasses.

You cant see well.
 

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