Americans have a credit card debt problem (www.newsweek.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[-] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I'm in this boat too. I'm on track to pay it off completely by May but the damage is done: I clipped the card in two. I had originally used this card for emergencies and travel, but what happened is I used it to pay for a mover, and the debt has not moved much since.

If I have to travel with a debit card, I will find a way.

Looking at the debt numbers in the articles, I'm reminded of similar numbers before the 2008 crash and we are not in a place to recover if it happens again. Which it will.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Clipping the card into is just about the best decision you could have possibly made. And not opening any new ones is the second best decision to make.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Does cutting the card actually do anything? I've used my physical card maybe three times in the last year, and once was to test it. Most of my purchases are made online, and the rest are by tapping my phone to the terminal.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Well, you're supposed to remove it from any electronic devices first, and then cut up the physical card, so that you have no access to it at all.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Hah, true. Gotta remember the "electronic" cutting up, too.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

That’s awesome! I am not going to get through mine that quickly, but am aiming to be credit card debt free by 2026. Just hoping the economy doesn’t tank to the point that becomes impossible for me to do.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Good on you! See if you can do it by April instead. Find the extra money however you have to so you can be free that much earlier.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

[-] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

I believe this article misses the real reasons: labor isn't paid enough.

Capital makes record profits but that isn't being shared with the people who do the work.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Wage slavery.

I should be able to get a loan from the federal reserve on the same terms as banking institutions. This is supposedly OUR institution, why is it gatekept away from the general public?

Class based hierarchy, the cause of many societal ills.

Nothing lasts forever... but it most certainly can last longer then my life. Maybe next life.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

No fucking shit. Income disparity does that to people.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I have heard this all my life, going back to the 80s. There are always high-interest loans that unsophisticated and desperate people take out. I don't think there's some unique new problem.

this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025

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