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I read some statistics about credit card debt today that simply blew my mind. There were three items that stuck out big time to me. The first one was that the average credit card debt in the United States is $15,788. The second one was that the average person in the US has 3.5 credit cards. The third and most shocking point was that the average interest rate was 14.99%. Wow!

There are actually reasons for all of this. The very first reason is that currently unemployment numbers are still high. Apparently, the less people work, the more of the chance that they’re going to be piling up the credit card debt. This is also true because there was a decrease in the number of hours for those people who are employed. So they really are only taking home less cash. While they’re taking home less cash they most likely are still spending exactly the same that they were when they were making more. Where’s the outlet? Credit card.

I believe that the number of credit cards the average consumer has as well as the amount of credit card debt that they have on these cards can be contributed to just how easy it is for people to get credit cards. Banks spend big money on marketing the lifestyle that you can live when you buy things with their credit cards. They make it look glamorous to spend money. So there has been a pretty picture painted with how spending on credit cards can be.

So, once the pretty picture of credit card debt is painted. Then they mail bomb anyone with their credit pulled recently. The banks are actually allowed to buy credit information and can target those people who might have either recently applied for a loan or another credit card. They then send out credit card offers to those people with predicatively a much higher response rate as they are already in the game. (This data by the way is the same reason you get a bunch of phone calls and mailers when you apply for a mortgage loan. It’s called Trigger data, because it is triggered when you get your credit pulled.)

So while a person might have all kinds of money on one credit card. They will get an even better offer on a new credit card. This can be contributed to the average number of cards being almost 4. They come in the mail and signing up take very little effort. Personally I signed up for a Citi card the other day and was shocked at how fast I was approved. The more shocking part was how fast I got the card. That card showed up in less than 5 days.

Perhaps the biggest problem with credit card debt in the United States though is ours, “keep up with the Jones’s” lifestyle. It has been engraved into the fabric of our society that we need to have as nice of things as our neighbors. You see this all the time. We have a culture which is based around the collection of material possession. This mindset plays right into the advertising of the credit card companies. The credit card companies make it easy to spend the money.

The conclusion to draw from this is scary. The total U.S. consumer debt is $2.45 trillion, as of March 2010. Americans have more debt than any other country in the world. No wonder so many people are looking for credit card debt relief like Indiana debt relief or Virginia debt relief. People get in over their heads and realize that they are in need of Debt Settlement to help them get Debt Relief and let them know how to eliminate credit card debt. Therefore, control your urges to spend and avoid being like the average American with almost $16,000 credit card debt.

Learn more about Indiana debt relief. Stop by Amanda Stuart’s site where you can find out all about the ways on how to eliminate credit card debt online.

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Tags: Credit Card Debt, Debt Consolidation, Michigan debt relief

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