Credit Card Debt Statistics – How Close To “Normal” Are You?

Credit card debt statistics can be used in several ways. Unfortunately, many people use credit card debt statistics to justify their own bad spending habits. If a person, family or business is having credit problems, using credit card debt statistics for that purpose can make the problems grow. Part of the problem with using credit card debt statistics is that the numbers vary depending on their source. Some estimate that the annual credit card debt five years ago was as much as 2,700, but others insisted that the number was actually much lower than that for an individual. Like all statistics, finding a reputable source for credit card debt statistics is vital for those numbers to have any use at all. One of the biggest problems with comparing an individual spending habit with credit card debt statistics is that there are no variances for the individual. For example, a family of four with an annual income of $25,000 may want to justify increasing their credit card debt by comparing their $800 annual debt to the national average. But that national average takes in people of all walks of life, including those with annual incomes that are much higher than this family. Even using percentages of annual debt isn’t really a good way

to compare because it doesn’t take other factors into consideration, such as what bills you pay with credit cards or whether the entire credit card debt is for luxury items. The bottom line is that credit card debt statistics are valuable for some purposes, including businesses that are working on producing accurate business projections. But those statistics are not a viable reason to change your personal spending habits. To be sure that your own spending habits are on track, ignore the trends of the rest of the country. Instead, create a realistic budget that takes your income and monthly expenditures into account and decide how much of your money can be dedicated to credit card debt.