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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/
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Saturday July 13 2019, @04:03AM
It wasn't fancy shit, vacations, new stereos, etc.
It was fucking papa johns. Why? Because I had bed bugs at the time, and was trying really hard not to spread them to other innocent victims. I had no car of my own and would need a lyft or bus to get to the grocery store. And while I did go when I felt up to it, being constantly exhausted, depressed, and sleeping 14 hours, only to wake up needing a shower and not shameless enough to go out when I could smell myself, certainly curbed how often I went to the store.
The only things I bought for myself was a $100 minifridge because ours kept dying and I was tired of it, a $300 UMPC because I always wanted one, and a $150 parts upgrade for my old Dell Optiplex desktop.
The rest was literally delivery food. It took a very long time to get rid of the bed bugs. I was covered in horrid itchy welts constantly.
Also, it wasn't a good time for me, mental health wise.
I still have literal, visible scars on my arms from them.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti