Posted on 04/07/2022 5:33:43 PM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
New York (CNN Business)Americans got into a lot more debt in February as rampant inflation kept up the pressure, the Federal Reserve's consumer credit report showed Thursday.
Debt levels jumped by nearly $42 billion to a total of almost $4.5 trillion. That's an annual increase of 11.3%, seasonally adjusted, far outperforming economists' expectations and setting a new high. In January, total credit had grown only 2.4%. The Fed's historical consumer credit data goes back to the early 1940s. Revolving credit, which includes credit cards, jumped by 20.7% to about $1.1 trillion. The category increased by only 4% in the prior month.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
..... As prices of goods and fuel continue to skyrocket .... Instead of making lifestyle changes to adapt to our new economy .... Hoping for better times in the future .... people will fall into the trap of charging their purchases on credit cards ..... Then they will begin to realize they can no longer pay the purchases off every month.
“My best friend admitted he has $75,000 in credit card debt.”
My wife who hasn’t had a job in 10 years, some how acquired a credit card.(She stays at home taking care of our 6 year old son)
She blew through that line of credit in a mere 2 months.
Looks like someone is going back to work in September.
This will not end well.
L
How much
So glad I murdered as much debt as possible...ug house
Consumer spending has kept up the pace so far, but it is not immediately clear whether that’s because people are paying more for the same items that got more expensive or are actually buying more goods and services.
could be both.
A friend of mine refinanced his property, and then told me they gave him an extra $80,000 cash. I told him he was nuts, he’s going deeper into debt. He said they offered it, so he took it. Sure enough, he spent much of it foolishly and ended up in more debt.
I was at Chik-Fil-A today, turmoil at the cash registers because half of them were telling people credit only, no cash, so customers were being moved aside to the one register taking cash. What the heck? I always pay in cash, and had to back up twice as other customers were moved over. Paying in cash is a good way to keep rein on your spending - you can see the impact on your wallet.
“My best friend admitted he has $75,000 in credit card debt”
Good grief, I can’t even imagine that? The most I ever had was 5k.
As of last year was the first time in my life I owed absolutely nothing. House on a lake payed off, both credit cards 00 balance, and kids higher education done.
Having 0 debt and a 7 figure net worth is a wonderful feeling. But it comes from decades of scrimping and saving, there’s no other way.
‘’ the real stunner was revolving, or credit card debt, which soared nearly six-fold February to $18 billion from $3.1 billion in January, the second highest print on record, just in time for those credit card APR to starting moving higher, first slowly and then fast.’’
Many of us are buying ahead to beat inflation. We are doing that but our credit cards are still cleaned up monthly, we are cutting back on other items like cable or satellite TV... Restaurants and such have never gotten a lot of our money...
I am afraid to ask our kids and grandkids what they owe...
........ My Lady and I fell into the credit trap a few decades ago .... Then I realized that if we ever wanted to retire ..... We would have to pay off all of our debt and go on a Cash Only Basis ....... We have been cash only for 12 years now .... Best strategic move of our lives.
Great googly moogly! ಠ_ಠ
And the ravages of inflation have only just begun. Yes, people are likely trying to maintain their lifestyle, but I'll bet a lot of people are trying to survive with gas and food prices climbing almost daily. And, durable goods I personally bought a year or less ago have jumped in price on average by about 16%. It's staggering and considerably worse than the 7% or 8% inflation rate they're trying to publicly claim.
75k? I can’t even imagine, unless I were bill gates.
What percentage is gas and groceries?
After a divorce from my first wife, I changed all the rules.
Second wife, I made it clear. You get a credit card, I then file for divorce. So fast, your head will spin.
Congrats! We've been retired at least 15 years, and live comfortably because we pay cash. We only use two credit cards, and pay the balance off each month; used for large purchases. We have a car loan, only because it's 0% and we have the savings to cover it. Our home is paid off, because we refinanced to pay it off in half the time (which saves on the interest versus principal). All our planning started in our twenties for an early retirement. Our adult children are following the same plan, and are debt free with their families. Unfortunately, both my wife and I have siblings who fell into the credit trap and are broke in their senior years (and they're Democrats).
“How much?”
Not much, IIRC $3,500-4,000.(I caught it in the mail)
I’ll make her “sweat it” before making a minimum payment on her behalf. She apparently had enough cash to make monthly payments for a couple of months.
I think handing out credit to the unemployed is ridiculous.
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