January 13th, 2010
Wednesday Trends in Credit Cards & Debt
According to Credit Karma’s end of year data, American consumers’ credit card debt increased 18% nationally from July. The average consumer is reported to have $8,079 in credit card debt. CEO Ken Lin comments, “2009 was a rough year for many consumers, especially with unemployment topping 10-percent and the holidays.” He also predicts that early 2010 will usher a return to frugality. Here’s the round-up of updates on credit card and debt news, plus advice on reducing your own mountain of credit card debt.
Credit Card News
- MarketWatch reports that credit-card issuer’s policy change notice might be good news, for once.
- More on whats in store for credit cards in 2010 from the Orlando Sentinal.
- Itching to go on vacation? Doughroller blogs on the tops picks of first class airline miles credit cards.
- If you’ve been hit with an annual fee by your issuer, you might too might be wondering, “is a credit card annual fee acceptable?” The Smarter Wallet discusses.
- Read 6 ways to knock out creditors from Budgets Are Sexy, like how to stop the 25 phone calls a day from collection agencies.
Debt News
- “Tip 4: Save like there is a tomorrow; start an automatic savings plan.” Check out the rest of Bankrate.com’s 10 ways to dump your debt in 2010.
- Reduce Debt Faster adds more advice on dumping debt with some options for consolidating credit cards and unsecured debt.
- Debt Free Adventure answers a great question on handling debt: which loan do i pay first?
- Is it possible to avoid debt by living on a cash-only diet? CNN Money tells a few personal stories for people who succeeded in climbing out–and staying clear– of their mountain of debt.
- The Digerati Life presents debt solutions to break out of the debt cycle.
It is GREAT to see people returning to the wise practice of fiscal responsibility!