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HomeDebtHow much credit card debt do you have?

How much credit card debt do you have?

Every now and again I like to pick your guys/gals brains. It’s not only helpful for me to see if I am at relatable to the people who read PDITF, but hopefully it’s also helpful for you to see where you stand against the masses. Since the value in today’s post is probably coming from the comments section, and not these words, I’ll cut right to the chase.

What is your total credit card debt? 

It’s really that simple. Apparently the average household (that has at least one credit card) has nearly $16,000 in CC debt. Let’s see if that rings true for this community.

I’ll get this party started. Our CC balance currently stands at $6,505, and like always, will be paid off at the end of the month. What’s depressing is that our most expensive purchase included in that balance was $140 for car insurance. That means we have a ton of freakin’ small purchases that amount to a rather large balance. Dang.

Your turn. What’s your balance (and why is it what it is)? 

extra credit questions: What is the interest rate on your card(s)?

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73 COMMENTS

  1. USD 1453.- to be paid in full as always. I have no idea what the interest rate is since I have never ever paid a penny in interest for the last 26 years that I have been using a credit card.

  2. AUD$4900. It went down to zero back in March but given a few expenses, purchasing plane tickets for family to come visit us from Europe and other unexpected items it went back up again. It should be fully paid off by October though.

  3. Paid in full each month. I had to check the rate on my last statement as I have NEVER cared. 13.24% on purchases and 19.24% on cash advances and overdrafts.

    IF YOUR PURCHASES ARE $50 THAT JUST OVER FOUR $50 PURCHASES EACH DAY!!! Or about $210 per day!

  4. Two credit cards, $1,450 and $6,050, both at 0%. Both can be paid off immediately if needed. One card used for miscellaneous expenses – $352, probably 14% interest, gets paid off every month.

  5. At the moment, zero. That will change in a few days as I charged my Medicare Part B premium to the feds and am about to buy a new vanity and tiles for the bathroom. But I never let my credit card balance get very high, as I’m always transferring funds online from my checking account to the card, rather than waiting for the monthly statement.

  6. $5010.27….paid in full each month. We are going on a trip in a couple of months and this includes airfare and hotel for that (over $2k), which we have money saved to pay for. Also, all of our utilities are put on our credit card so that is about $400. Really only about $2500 of actual spending.

  7. $1200. Paid in full at the end of the month. Not sure what the interest rate is. 17.99% maybe?

  8. $2500ish… we just purchased plane tickets to see my wife’s parents at the end of September. The balance will be worse next month as we pay off the medical bills from our new little girl (we get them all re-imbursed so in the end that is a wash)

  9. Looks like I’m in the minority here…our cc debt total is currently $33,570.57. We are finally on a roll in getting it paid off/bringing those balances down and haven’t added ANY debt in 7 months. That is huge for us. I hope you will continue to post ideas/inspiration for those readers who are in paydown mode. I’m impressed with all of those who have $0 debt and I want to join that club!

    • It will feel awesome when you pay it all off! While it may seem that most of us have <$10,000 in debt, many of us had a lot higher balance years ago. Mine was about $15K to $20K ten years ago. I started a serious commitment to paying off the last $7500 last September, and it was gone in 8 months.

  10. ~$3000 which will be paid off tomorrow (paid in full each month) and every single living expense which can be put on the credit card is b/c of those lovely little cash back $$ I get every January… This means food, gas, utilities, everything possible. So just about the only monthly expenses that don’t go on this cc are the mortgage and (driver’s and life) insurance… I have no clue what my interest rate would be because I don’t plan on ever needing to carry a balance.

  11. $2,000 every month, but paid off bi-weekly. I use my CC like a debit card for every purchase possible, to get the cash back. I use MBNA World and get a $50 cash back check about every other month from them.

  12. I wish we could pay ours off, but not possible. Moving to Japan three years ago really hurt us financially. But we are getting better! We have three cards interest rates are: 0%, 6%, and %9.99%. Balance of all three cards is: $13,500. Realistically this will take us about 2 years to pay off, we have been paying off these cards for the last 3 years. We had some emergency plane tickets bought from Japan to the States (family emergency) which were expensive and a few other HUGE expenses with the move. For us one great thing is we haven’t put anything on these cards in almost a YEAR! So I am proud of us for that!

  13. $3,000.00 – My balance has been shifting between $1,500 and $4,500 for the last 10 months or so. I recently purchased my first house, and there have been a lot of anticipated (yet still unanticipated) expenses that go with that. Hoping to have this balance paid off in full by the end of September, and then I will continue paying the balance off in full every month.

  14. Current balance is $91.49 (most of our cards were just paid off). Usually adds up to $1,500-$2,000 a month, paid off every month. The interest rates are between 13.24% and 19.99%.

  15. At this moment the 2 cards are at $1118.86. Not sure about the APR on either of them, they are paid in full each month.

  16. $1492 paid off each month. Not sure what the interest rate is. Every purchase goes on the two CCs I have – get cash back for all of it.

  17. About $31,200 at the moment.

    1,300 is on monthly bills ~ cable, cell phone, crossfit, ez pass, some small misc items. This gets paid in full monthly.

    300 ~ Target. Also gets paid monthly

    14,100 ~ 12 month 0% cash advance and 0% APR. This gets paid a few hundred a month and will be done by March of 2015.

    4,500 ~ 12 month 1% cash advance and 0% APR. Started at about 10k and will be paid off in November of 2014. 100$ for a 12 month loan is a small price to pay.

    6,000 ~ Wife 0% 15 Month. Expires June 2015

    5,000 ~ Personal 0% 12 Month. Expires March 2015

    Yes, this may look crazy, but I have never paid a late fee before. These bills are all paid off before the the intro rate expires.

  18. Paid in full each month. With another baby due in Oct., we are on a mission to pay other loans off. We have no loans on 2 vehicles, and only my 3k student loan and our 160k mortgage left to go!

  19. currently at about $1,300 between two cards – higher than usual as we just booked a trip. Amounts are paid in full every month.

  20. That’s a scary number of transactions!

    At this moment our credit card balances stand at $702.66. Half of that is for my flight to FinCon14 and another big chunk is gas because we took a road trip last weekend. We pay it off a couple times every budgeting period, so I have no idea what the interest rates are.

  21. I just installed laminate flooring throughout our house (it’s gorgeous, BTW) so got the Home Depot cc to get the 10% discount (@$800 reduction in materials cost). It’s at 0% til March 2015. Interest is 18.99% and balance is $2500. It will be paid off well before end date so essentially, no interest.
    We each have an Amex and a Cap One Visa which we use for all other purchases in order to earn the points. I’d put our mortgage payment on them if possible. Interest is @ 13% but no matter as we pay them in full each month. Amex is usually @ $1200 (combined) and Cap One @ $200. Just have the Visa for spots where they don’t take Amex.

    Our only real debt is the house: $89,000 left on that one.

  22. Ours is about $5,000, but we always pay it in full each month to avoid any interest, of course 🙂 I don’t even know what our interest rate is – we’ve never had to pay any interest.

  23. Current charges = $755.00 – which is unusually high this month because I bought a tv – my first new one in over a decade. Most months the charges = $500.00 or less – and are always paid in full. I’ve never paid a penny in interest.

    Interest rates on my cards = 19.99% each

  24. $9100. Expenses from a several month unpaid medical leave. Current plan is to pay it off within the next three years. Fixed 7.5% interest rate (the only reason we carry a balance on that card). Three other cards, all currently at 0 balance: a $0 fee rewards card paid off the month it is used, a $0 foreign currency fee card used for foreign travel and paid off the month it is used, and a store card also paid off the month it is used.

  25. I just paid mine yesterday and it was at $3304. Of course that includes $2300 in tuition and $380 in car insurance.

  26. I have a 17.55 credit on one card because I paid off a book I preordered that hasn’t actually been charged yet

    5.12 on my Amazon card, 138.13 on my everyday card, and zero balance on a couple other cards that i don’t really use anymore because they don’t have the best perks

    Everything gets paid in full when I’m shuffling around my paycheck money once or twice a month, I think the interest rates are all 19%

  27. $2221 and will be paid off by the end of this year. 22 months ago it was $11,031 and I can finally taste that the end of my CC debt payoff is NEAR! So excited to NEVER carry a balance or pay interest again!!

  28. Currently at $1918.14, which are between my husband and my credit cards and one store card (Home Depot). Paid in Full every month. We get about $40-50 a month in free credit card rewards points, which we use for one night out to eat a month (or a festival or fair). These are our regular everyday purchases – food, gas, bills, vet, household stuff, etc. Husband and I haven’t carried a balance for nearly ten years.

  29. Mine is at about 6k… I’m just getting start on my PDITF journey! Once I pay off my credit card I AM NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN EVER.

  30. Currently my credit cards debt total is $5000 across 3 credit cards. That’s definitely high for me. After renovating my aunt’s attic so I could move into it, the start up costs were a bit expensive. I expect to have all of these credit cards down to their usual balances of about $1500 before the end of the year. I was a little scared about charging so much initially but I didn’t purchase anything that I didn’t need. With a little creativity, frugality, and saving, I can get them paid down quickly.

  31. $7500. Paid in full each month. Everything, and I mean everything goes on the credit card to earn those delicious travel rewards points.

  32. There is my experiment with debt arbitrage that has $5000 at 0% which ends in September (the $5000 is sitting in a interest account so it can be paid off at any time), the rest is $3200 which is PIF every month. $800 of which was medical (which we are getting reimbursed for from insurance).

    BTW the results from the arbitrage is that it really isn’t worth it unless you can get a spread of at least 2% with no risk and borrow a relatively large amount.

  33. My Credit Card is at about $1400 right now, which is the highest it’s ever been. I will be transferring this balance to my Line of Credit so that I only pay 7% interest (instead of 20%). This is high because I’ve been laid off since April, my fiances hours have been cut (but he’ll be starting a new job soon!), and we’ve had some pet emergencies this month that required trips to the vet, medication and other things.

  34. I routinely rack up approx. $1,200 in credit card charges each month on routine bills/expenses and then pay it off in full when the bill is due.

  35. My current balance is $51.98. I pay it off every month.

    I think the interest rate is relatively low (for a credit card), but I’ve never paid a penny in credit card interest so I honestly don’t remember what it is.

  36. Paid in full yesterday, so $0. Was about $780.
    Our interest rate is around 13%, but we haven’t paid any in about 8 or 9 years.

  37. $4177. I pay it off every month, and it’s usually less than this, but we made some travel reservations on it (it is a travel rewards card). I have an astronomical amount of student debt so I’m trying not to make it worse by piling CC debt on top of it.

  38. 4500, we just bought a hutch and I bought a ticket to Denmark, but we will pay it off when the bill comes due. Not sure what the interest rate is, it is just the normal Alaska Air card, so I’m sure it isn’t great.

  39. Right now about $200, but I pay my cards off approximately every two weeks. Always pay in full every month, no desire to end up with consumer debt!!! I usually rack up to about $1,500/month on my cards because I love earning my points and cashback.

  40. This month, my husband and I have a combined balance of $1,324.64 which will be paid by the end of the month. He usually makes one payment to pay off his balance per month, I tend to pay my balance off multiple times during the month. We’ve never carried a balance and therefore have never paid interest. Like others have mentioned, we’re paying off tons of student loan debt, so we avoid credit card debt like the plague.

    Interest on my card is 19.8%, with 1% cash back rewards on everything. Interest on his is 12.9% with 1.5% cash back rewards on everything. He has a longer (and stronger) credit history than I do, but I’m hoping to qualify to open a card with a stronger rewards program soon and start using that card exclusively.

  41. We have two as well. One AA card for accruing miles and the other lingers from a business I used to run. I think our total limit is like 11K. Our balance is around $4,400 between both but half of that is actually work related spending and will be expensed. We pay our full balance every month as the interest is at 1.9%

  42. My CC balance is $0.0, I would never use my CC for normal everyday purchases, I use my visa\bank card, that way I only spend what I have.

  43. I fall with the minority group here and pay interest every month 🙁

    I am 2 years out of school and still have about 30k of student loans to pay off. The average interest on that debt is 4%. I currently pay 500$/month between my two loans.

    I also have 13k on a visa. Most of which is school related expenses or travel costs. I put 750$ towards this debt every month. The interest rate is 11.9%.

    Over the last year, I have paid off a total of more than 10k. This includes completely paying off two credit cards. I have no problem paying interest on my debt as my education was more than worth it, however, my goal is to be debt free within 5 years of graduation.

  44. $800. Bought myself a MacBook Air as a graduation present. 12 months no interest, but it will be paid off long before then.

  45. ~$2,500 – I just sent in a $1,100 payment to one, and $1,000 of it is a loan for a family member that they are slowly paying off (I know, stupid me, but it was for a surgery that had to be done!) and the other $400ish is new purchases for the billing month (mostly new tires because a repair couldn’t be done to the old ones, argh!)

  46. $2300 for 2 major car repairs that occurred within months of moving into my first house and I was just a little too strapped to pay cash. Currently on a 0% interest promotion although I did pay 2% or 3% in an initial transfer fee. I think the regular interest rate is 11.99%, but I should have it paid off before the promotional period ends.

    Before my personal finance awakening I owed upwards of $14K so I know I can pay it off!

  47. $0.

    Stopped using credit cards a few months ago unless its a big purchase and then I pay it off immediately. MBNA world mastercard, I think its 18%.

  48. $2670. It is that amount because I booked a vacation to Disney World in October (it’s a Disney Rewards card that I got specifically for that purpose) expecting to receive my customary $5000 bonus in December. We got no bonuses in December and were acquired by another company with a different pay structure that meant we only got one paycheck in January, which caught all of us completely by surprise. We also paid a small tax bill with the card anticipating to receive said bonus, which did not happen. We had a burst pipe in January that required various home repairs. I also have a new high deductible insurance plan and wouldn’t you know it, I had to go to the emergency room for the first time ever a few months ago. Excuses, excuses, I know. I’m chipping away at it while getting a few other tax issues straightened out (PRO TIP: never change your withholdings 5 days after a C-section whilst high on Percocet), but the medical bills have taken priority. It will be paid off sometime in the next few months depending on my husband’s monthly bonuses and the balance of my dependent care account. I’ve never carried a balance before this year and most of our income is spoken for, so it’s been slow going. No debt outside of that card though, and I could cover it with money in my savings account but I get antsy without a certain amount of cash immediately available.

  49. 1926? in one credit card, we used it for small purchases and to pay my state taxes ($600) in one lump sum but it has a 0% interest for another 8 months and by then we hope to have paid that off.

  50. $620 right now between the two cards, usually we put about 1k on them and pay them off in full. I’ve never paid the interest fees so you made me look them up (probably a good thing to know!) and they’re 16.9% and 18%

  51. Ninja,
    Once again- very little thought has been going into your blogs lately. New baby.I get it, but you could do some blogging while baby naps.

    You can at least respond to some of the comments, or update us on your net worth.

    I hate to have to delete your website from my bookmarks. No good material lately.

    • After time, his enthusiasm for blogging may have waned, or he’s running out of new topics to write about. I wouldn’t be too critical about this; I still look at the blog daily but I don’t expect it to continue on the same level of involvement indefinitely.

  52. At this time, zero. That will modify in a few times as I billed my Medical health insurance Aspect B top quality to the feds and am about to buy a new mirror and flooring for the bathing room.

  53. Right now I am looking at $3300 – generally I have a $0 balance, but this is my damage for being overseas for a month/getting married. I just started a new job, so it will be paid off by Christmas while I’m paying student loans and regular expenses as well.

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