Debt Free America

Striving For A Debt Free America

Do you want to live in a debt free America? Maybe you think that a debt free America is impossible. Certainly, getting into debt is easy enough. It seems that with each decade, stores have more neat "stuff" for Americans to buy that they just can't live without, and more ways for them to pay for it that usually involve some sort of credit. At this rate, we are nowhere near having a debt free America . Even the term debt free America sounds like a bit of a fairy tale in today's times. Consider these statistics:

During 2003, more than 4% of U.S. credit card accounts were delinquent, with another 5% charged off and considered uncollectable
Current outstanding debt in America totals $800 billion
Credit card debt for Americans living below the poverty level doubled by the mid 1990s
The Commerce Department reported that the personal rate of savings has fallen to a near record-low. In recent months, American households have saved only two-tenths of 1% of their disposable income. For a family with a net income of $40,000 a year, that works out to $1.50 a week.
Senior citizens' average credit card balance went up 89% from 1992 to 2001
Average consumer debt per person is $7,100
The average American household now carries more than $12,000 in credit card debt
Every 15 seconds, someone in the United States goes bankrupt, which is five times the rate it was in 1980.

To make matters worse, the cost of basic everyday needs such as gas and milk has gone up significantly in the last two years, while Americans are experiencing pay cuts and layoffs. With incomes going down and prices going up, we are not headed down the road to a debt free America.

How Can You Help?

Most Americans who live debt free (or almost debt free) do so because of good planning and living within their means, and it pays off for them eventually. But once debt takes hold, there's not a lot you can do about it unless you want to pay it off over a number of years and pay a lot of interest. Obviously, a debt free America has to happen one person at a time. If you're in debt, you may be asking yourself, "What can I do to contribute to a debt free America?" Try seeking guidance from a credit counselor or even help from a debt consolidation service. If more Americans did this (and preferably before it's too late) we really might be on the road to a debt free America.

If you're more concerned about your personal situation, there are options. You don't have to file for bankruptcy. In fact, that should be your last resort, especially since Congress recently signed a bill into law that requires anyone filing for bankruptcy to go through a debt management program first. A good place to start is a debt consolidation program. When you contact a debt consolidation company, they will:

Talk to you about your situation and offer debt free solutions
If you have a lot of credit card payments each month, they can consolidate them into one monthly payment, and it's usually at a lower interest rate than what you were paying before on each card
They make the monthly payment affordable for you

You can feel good about debt consolidation too, because you'll be on the road to debt free livingand contributing to a debt free America.

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