The average American is over $16,000 in credit card debt alone, up 10 percent from a decade ago. The average minimum payment per card is $189 per month, but if you only pay that, it will take ten years to pay off the average balance -- and cost over $18,000 in interest alone. There are worse things than being in debt, but not many. Debt impacts your total quality of life, causing stress and costing sleep. Being debt free sounds great, but the prospect of getting there is daunting.
Credit card debt is death by a thousand cuts to your personal finance. All the money you’re spending on interest rates and paying down debt is money that should be invested, put into retirement accounts or spent on things you want to spend it on, like upgrading your lifestyle or taking that trip around the world you’ve been planning since high school. The process of getting out of debt can be painful at times, but it’s not impossible.
Here’s how to tackle it:
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