U.S. Consumers Fell Behind on Credit Card Payments in November

According to Moody’s Investors Services, credit card debt charge-offs and the delinquency rate both rose in November. The up-side is that the dollar amount of card balances is now lower than it was a year ago. “ The charge-off rate on U.S. credit cards, as measured by Moody’s Credit Card Index, rose to 10.56% last month after falling for the two previous months. October’s charge-off rate was 10.04%. The charge-off rate measures those credit card account balances written off as uncollectable, as an annualized percentage of total outstanding principal balance. The record-high of 10.76% was reached in June. ” – USA Today My best advice is to close credit card accounts, pay off the balance and not use credit cards at all. My wife and I cut the credit card “cord” nearly 5 years ago. We now only use debit card, cash and check. The up-side is don’t buy things we don’t need, and we save for large purchases. Our mortgage is the last thing we have tied to credit. We are working hard to get that paid off, so we can be 100% debt (and credit) free. Do it, it’s the best financial decision you will ever make and yes you can live without credit cards. Continued here: U.S. Consumers Fell Behind on Credit Card Payments in November

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U.S. Consumers Fell Behind on Credit Card Payments in November