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posted by martyb on Friday July 12 2019, @05:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-can-spend-until-I-reach-my-credit-limit,-right? dept.

If you have credit card debt, it may be time to scale back what you spend on luxury purchases.

But we’re not talking about doing without small luxuries like your morning coffee or an afternoon snack – things like your car loan or lease, leisure travel, dining and more can make a bigger difference.

A new CreditCards.com poll shows U.S. consumers who have credit card debt are outspending debt-free households in seven of nine discretionary spending categories (see chart). However, few are willing to cut back on any of their luxury purchases.

In fact, 18 percent of Americans who have credit card debt are unwilling to trim expenses in nine categories, including dining out, leisure travel and clothing (see chart). This despite the fact that the average credit card APR is nearly 18 percent.

[...]Our luxury spending poll also found:

        - Many can live without dining out. Dining and takeout is the category all respondents – in debt or not – are most willing to cut in half. Still, less than half of those with credit card debt (48 percent) would trim their dining budgets, which average $2,186 per year.

        - But vacations are a big budget item many won’t budge on. The average household with card debt spends $2,211 per year on leisure travel. But only 3 in 10 of those respondents would be willing to cut their travel spending in half.

        - Cars, haircuts and cellphone plans are the biggest must-haves. The three categories people in debt were least willing to cut in half are personal care and beauty (23 percent), cellphone services and upgrades (25 percent) and car loans or leases (26 percent).

        - Cut my streaming? You’re dreaming. Only 39 percent of respondents with debt would be willing to cut back on subscriptions services such as Netflix, Spotify and Xbox Live. However, at $1,198 per year, it’s the second-least-costly luxury expense among this group.

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/luxury-spending-poll/


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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday July 12 2019, @08:47PM (1 child)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 12 2019, @08:47PM (#866391) Journal

    There's more to it than that, but yeah, sugar and carbonated drinks are hard on teeth... the thing is, some genetic lines have worse teeth than others...and not all in the same way. Harder teeth are more brittle.

    If you doubt this, check out the dental problems of various breed of pure-bred dog. (People will jimmy the studies by eating whatever they decide to, but dogs don't have that option.)

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  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday July 13 2019, @09:06AM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Saturday July 13 2019, @09:06AM (#866535) Homepage
    Dad has the hardest of rock-hard teeth, mum had the softest of talc-soft teeth. I suspect I got my dad's genes.

    Life has caused many a hard object to appear at high speed between my jaws, little things like pavements and cars (yes, I was once a cyclist, I know you couldn't have known that, as, sorry mate you didn't see me), and I don't have complete integrity to several of my pearly whites any more - they are indeed brittle as you say - but despite the missing enamel, they still seem to be holding up. Just.
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