Average Amount Of Credit Card Debt

I have a son who I have put through a private Catholic High School (not cheap!) and he is on to college in 2007. I bought a modest house last year. I receive no child support. I carry a balance on my credit card (low interest rate) and I pay as much as I can every month. I am never late and have an excellent credit rating.

I'm wondering if the balance I carry is high/average compared to rest of US? Of course, I'd love to pay it off, but with the mortgage, tuition, expenses, etc. I cannot.

All things in their proper order.

I am older than you by a good many years I expect. I divorced my husband when my daughters were just 11 and 14 years old, and never received a dime in support from him.

I worked full time at a job I absolutely hated while my daughters were in high school, and then college.

10 years ago my parents needed me to live with them in their home to supervise their daily care. My father's mind was going and my Mom couldn't handle him alone.

I had been saving to put myself through University up to that point. My plan was to do the five years of university to obtain my degree. Then to purchase a house afterwards.

Taking care of my parents shelved those plans. And after five years when my mother died, I had to quit my job as well, because my Dad needed full time care.

I was left my parents house after my Dad died last year, but it sounds better than it is. The place actually needs about 50,000 dollars spent on it (minimum) to bring it up to date.

I have a house. And I have no credit card debt. But I have no job either, and no prospects of one now, since I am getting too old to be considered employable in my former profession.

I guess the point I am trying to make is to keep slogging along. And be thankful for each bit of security you can wrest for yourself. Debt is a b1tch, but it beats having nothing. Just be sure that you get well ahead on paying off your mortgage and other debts before you add anything more to it now.

A personal thought...there seems to be a lot more Superwomen out there in the world then Supermen. You don't see too many of them succeeding with this sort of daily pressure hanging over them. Women just seem to have a greater degree of responsibility and staying power.

2006-12-13 10:47:33 by Marcjc

www.totaldebtrelief.net uses a pitcher and a glass of water demonstrate the effects of minimum credit card payments. This video uses a simple ...

How much credit card debt do YOU have? Just wondering where I fit...I have about $2500.00 combined debt on all my cards.

When I worked in credit the average household have $25,000 in credit card debt. I have $0...after working in credit and seeing the holes people bury themselves into I stay away and charge maybe $1500 a month then pay it right off.

2006-12-28 08:33:09 by pattycake123

And how many cards does the average person have?

according to this USA today article , in 2004, the average was 9,312$

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/cred it/2005-11-17-mym-credit_x.htm

according to a yahoo article, it was $8,562

more stats from the same article dated 2/9/04

Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion.
Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion.
Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%.
Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million.

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20040209.html
i could not find reference to anything more recent, but I'm sure it has gone up some