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Americans may have overspent this holiday season, according to a new survey. In its latest Credit Card Debt Study, WalletHub estimated that credit card debt increased by $90 billion during 2024.
Overspending, inflation, rising costs, and a general sense of “FOMO” all factored into the jarring number.
And while consumers seemed to have spent beyond their means throughout the year, the holidays clearly made a significant dent.
- Over 1 in 10 of those surveyed said that the holidays “blew up” their credit card debt.
- Meanwhile, about 1 in 5 people said they were likely to accumulate even more credit debt by the end of this year.
If these numbers weren’t concerning enough, it turns out many Americans don’t have a strategy to get out of their debt situation.
- 46% of those surveyed said that they do not have a debt payoff plan, while ~1 out of 5 Americans planned on transferring their holiday debt to a new credit card.
It does not help that the debt most Americans are under is fairly significant.
- Currently, the average American household has $10,751 in credit card debt.
- Yet, only 2 out of 10 people expressed being “very stressed” about their credit card payment.
In fact, many seemed much more concerned about the current state of the economy. According to the data, six times more people said they were more worried about inflation than their credit card debt.