ATLANTA — Many of us are used to pulling out our credit cards at any given moment and swiping it for the things we not only need, but those we want as well.
That habit for a lot of Americans is putting the United States into a lot of debt.
The Federal Reserve bank of New York put out new data this week that showed total credit card balances in the country topped a whopping $1 trillion during just the time span of May through July.
One person who is all too familiar with the pitfalls of credit card debt is Clayton County resident Renee Whaley. She racked up $75,000 in debt years ago -- with at least $10,000 of that being racked up on unpaid credit cards.
It took her three years, but Whaley was able to successfully pay off all her debt. She used the experience of those hard times and is now a financial coach, using her life lessons to ensure others don't make the same mistake she did.
"It wasn't like my husband or my sister or brother or anybody. Nobody said, 'Girl, you know, you use that credit card too much.' It was never any of that," Whaley explained. "It was just, you know, it's like an epiphany."
11Alive financial expert Andrew Poulos called that figured "scary." He noted that the one rule of thumb he always sticks to is simple: If you can't afford it, don't buy it -- especially if it's not a necessity.
"If you can't pay the bill when it comes, chances are you're probably not going to be able to pay the bill in the future months when it continues to come," Poulos explained. "And these interest rates are basically spiraling out of control and getting higher and higher."
Financial website NerdWallet has tips and tricks on their website on getting out of credit card debt. Some of the tips they advise include:
- Settle on a payment strategy that is realistic for you
- Consider debt consolidation through a 0% balance transfer credit card or a fixed-rate debt consolidation loan
- Reach out to your creditors to explain your situation
To check out a full list of information to help pay off your credit card debt, click the following link.