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Clark Howard's Tips

April 14, 2008

Clark is shocked by the level of debt that Americans carry. In the last year, the average American family's credit card balance was up 10%, according to stats from Moody's and The Wall Street Journal. The average balance on home equity lines was up 8%.

In some states, the figures are even more horrifying. Credit card balances are up 15% in a year in California and Florida and up 20% in Nevada! What's going on? As home equity lines get shut off, people have turned to using credit cards to maintain their lifestyle. As a result of that, bankruptcy filings are up 30% year over year.

Amassing lifestyle debt is like walking a tightrope with no safety net. There are a lot of reasons why someone may dig themselves into a financial hole. Maybe you had a job loss or medical problems. But these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

On Clark's show, you sometimes hear calls from families with children who are on constrained incomes and they manage to make things happen financially. That may mean doing without possessions that might be fun to have; that's the choice they made -- and it's working for them. That may not be the way you want to live. But the reality is that if you're living on borrowed dough, what fun is it to have anxiety whenever you open the mailbox or pick up the phone? The possessions are nice, but the insecurity that comes with borrowing to get them isn't.

Consumer advice courtesy of