debts

The average American household carries $8300 in credit card debt. Forty percent of American families spend more than they earn. Debt affects your credit score, which affects your car insurance rate, job possibilities, utility bills, cell phone rates, and car loan rates. It also increases your chances of foreclosure.
Spending more than you make is, of course, a certain recipe for bankruptcy. My nephew had several credit cards, one at 12%, one at 13 % and one at 19%. He will NEVER be able to pay them all off at those rates, and he is suffering. He has put his house up for sale at least once but now has taken it off and is holding on somehow. In three years he accumulated $155,000 in debt, from zero debt at the beginning. My Mother gave him the house when she died. He has no clue as to money manangement. Of course, he is not completely to blame, as his Mom, my sister, has no money management skills to teach him either. My Mom and I have tried to teach him some skills over the years but, like any young man, he didnt listen and had to do it HIS way. Well, he has done it HIS way, and is suffering. I have loaned him money in the past but refuse to loan him any more, for two reasons: one, he hasnt paid me back the original loan and still owes me over $13,000 now; and two, I am not going to bail him out so he can throw away more money. He needs to learn this lesson the hard way, it seems. So be it, as it will hopefully be a lesson he will never forget.