Low-income households aren’t the only ones that struggle with bulging credit card balances, said Krystina Gustafson in CNBC.com. In fact, upper-income earners may be even more prone to such debt. Consider Will Chen, a California attorney “with a six-figure salary” who nevertheless found himself $100,000 in debt. “Chen’s financial trouble began when he bought a nice house and new cars and joined several country clubs before he finished paying off his student loans.” It wasn’t until he took a lower-paying job, for which he felt less need to keep up appearances, that he brought his spending under control. Chen “got himself out of debt in about three and a half years” and today maintains a blog about frugal living, Wisebread.com.
If you’re serious about getting out of debt, consider simply cutting up your credit cards, said Donna Rosato in Money. “You’ll never have to worry about $39 late fees, 25 percent penalty interest rates, or creeping card balances again.” Studies show that consumers who pay with cash are frequently more attentive shoppers than those who pay with plastic. “A 2003 survey of supermarket receipts indicated that credit card shoppers rang up 30 percent bigger bills” and carted out twice as many nonessentials. Getting by without plastic may seem impossible, but these days debit cards are a “worthy substitute” and accepted everywhere credit cards are.
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