Credit Card Debt Soars as Americans Borrow Like It's 2006

Habits are hard to break: Just when you think you're firmly in control, you backslide again. Such may be the case with Americans debt addiction.

According to CardHub.com's, Q2 2011 Credit Card Debt Study, U.S. consumers accumulated a staggering $18.4 billion in credit card debt in the second quarter -- 66% more than they accumulated in the same quarter a year ago, and 368% more than in the second quarter of 2009. Based on the study, Americans will end 2011 with around $54 billion more in credit card debt than they began the year with.

"A debt increase of $18.4 billion during a single quarter is mind boggling, especially when you consider that this increase is 368% higher than what we witnessed in the same quarter two years ago," says Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com.com.

The study focused on consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve's G19 report in conjunction with quarterly charge-off data to determine how much consumer debt actually increased when you consider the amount of bad debt written off the books. The upside is that consumers ended the first quarter of this year with a significant net decrease in credit card debt -- as they had in the first quarter of 2010. However, in subsequent quarters last year, they proceeded to wipe out that reduction.

www.dailyfinance.com...

The moral of the story is: don't borrow more than you can pay back...

...there's no such thing as free money, remember?

Economics 101 needs to be relearned by the money-hungry sheeple...again!

When I read this I can not help but think we are close to the end of kicking the can down the road a bit further.

I don't see this as frivolous spending a la 2006 but more as demonstrable evidence that things are getting so desperate that people are now resorting to using their credit cards to buy a little bit more time for themselves.

Those credit lines only go so far.. we the average people can only kick our own cans a short way down the road.. once we hit that dead end things will really start getting unpleasant and this report says to me that is not far away.

Sending my hopes and best wishes to all those who are struggling

reply to post by thoughtsfull


That's exactly what I thought when I read this article, too. Lots of long-term unemployed folk have gone by the boards lately. It's a sad, sad time.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


I think we are now seeing the flip side of the recession full on with people using whatever they can to get by and credit cards are the number 1 quick easy resource.

I know if I was in dire straights and could leverage some credit to keep a roof over my head; the electricity turned on or food on my table I know what I would do without blinking an eye.

What is truly and desperately sad is that I suspect most of those people now dipping into this credit line of last resort is that they have been trying to pay down those cards over the last 2 years and yet now see no other option open.

Without new jobs and new wealth things are only going to get worse as the pauperisation of the masses really takes hold.

reply to post by ironfalcon


When it comes to loosing your house or using your cash to pay the mortgage and use credit cards for the rest,,, you use the plastic.

Inflation has deteriorated our incomes over the past few years, I don't find this surprising at all..

I am surprised there is so much available credit. With lending standards getting pickier across the board I would have assumed consumer credit would have been in decline. I remember reading a bunch of articles where banks were cancelling peoples credit cards who were not profitable to them, or taking lesser payments to close the accounts out. Does this mean there is more debt in less hands than before?

Well, with our government setting such a shining example of how it's done, what do we expect?

One thing I've noticed...right after the 2008 financial crisis, the "zero percent" credit card offers disappeared almost overnight, for about a year. Then they started trickling back, and now everyday when I check the mail there's at least 2, sometimes more offers for introductory "zero percent" rates, sometimes for as long as 2 years!

What your looking at is whats left of the middle class; now using their credit cards to save their possesions as it happened to myself and others in 2006.

Going to get real interesting real quick this coming up year

I cranked up the credit card use this month. bought my GF a dimond ring and asked her to marry me. Im now in debt to my eyes but the ring looks nice. hahahaha. I dont care, its all going to hell any ways. wanted to get a ring with worthless fiat money first before they started asking for silver and gold as payment.

it eather a really smart move or a really stupid move.

reply to post by camaro68ss


I like your eff'it and see plan

BTW congrats on your proposal... sending you a million good wishes across the pond

Originally posted by allprowolfy
What your looking at is whats left of the middle class; now using their credit cards to save their possesions as it happened to myself and others in 2006.

Going to get real interesting real quick this coming up year

Yup . . . and here's a wee bit of the old proof to back you up

46 Million 'poor' people as of 2010 . . .

And it's affecting the kids, too . . .

Household incomes are fallling . . .

And it ain't gettin' much better anytime soon . . .

Although I cannot find any statistics on it, I'm betting people are surviving on credit cards and that's a short run kinda thing before the bottom falls completely out. Yet, I'm betting the current administration puts together something to keep it going until about five minutes after the polls close next November.