Georgians paying off record amount of credit card debt

ATLANTA - Looking for a silver lining during a pandemic that has stalled everyday life can feel futile. But the FOX 5 I-Team found one. Consumers are not only spending less but also saving more.

And it gets better. With those savings, we are paying down credit card debt. I don’t have to tell you that COVID-19 has changed our spending habits. You know that. But I am here to pass along this good news nugget.

WalletHub, in a credit card debt study, writes, that consumers posted, “the biggest first-quarter credit card debt paydown ever.” And we didn’t stop there. Second-quarter we did it again.

WalletHub goes on to add that it projects, by year’s end, a reduction in credit card debt that we haven’t seen since the Great Recession of ’09.

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I know I said it too before COVID-19 that I didn’t know where else in my budget I could stem spending, but I did and you did, too, because Georgians are in the top 10 of states that reduced their credit card debt.

OK, so what do we do with this extra money?

I’m telling you to make a budget or redo your current one to fit your new spending habits. Please start that emergency fund we always talk about. And, stop using the credit card and start paying it down. If you see more money in your pocket these days then you have no excuses now not to do this.

I would also go back and look at credit card receipts from a year ago and compare them to this year. What are you not spending money on in 2020? Make these changes permanent.

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