At this point I’m amazed anyone has a credit card.  My parents warned me about credit cards, overspending and outrageously high interest rates starting my senior year of high school.  I think at this point, everyone knows the perils of the credit card.  It’s not free money, and paying it back with interest is a killer.  If you miss a payment and your minimum payment increases you may find yourself over your head and hurting your credit.  According to an article I read in The Wall Street Journal, Americans owe about $826 billion in revolving debt with most of that figure attributed to credit card debt. 

It wasn’t shocking to me that Americans have a lot of credit card debt, what was amazing to me was, according to figures from the Federal Reserve, Americans now have MORE student loan debt than credit card debt.  The number was only a few billion dollars higher but the amount is still staggering at $829.785 billion!

 As tuitions get higher with each passing year, students may be forced to borrow federal money or take out private student loans to pay the gap in their tuition bill.  It may feel like taking out loans to pay for school is acceptable while buying items on credit cards is not.  Either way the end result is debt.  If student loans are a reality for you, it is important to figure out what you will owe and what the payments will be before you agree to take the loan.  Find out about the interest rates associated with your loans and any origination fees.  You can use our online student loan calculator to figure out payments or finaid.org has a good one as well.  If you want to comparison shop, you can see some private loan options with current terms at studentlendinganalytics.com. 

Keep your debt low!

Kerry