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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @02:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @02:38PM (#866625)

    Nope, not just the 1%. Why shouldn't we encourage people to make better financial decisions? Why shouldn't we discourage people from being mindless Consumers who try desperately to keep up with the joneses, put themselves into massive debt, and aid in the destruction of the environment as they do so? If you're an actual progressive, this is not desirable behavior.

    No one needs ridiculously expensive haircuts, coffee, or cellphone plans; all of those things can be had for cheaper, resulting in less long-term stress. If you apply a mentality of frugality across the board, that can result in massive long-term benefits. You act like people are powerless, but that is far from the truth.

    Financial literacy is an entirely separate issue from the 1% and income inequality.