Forty-four percent of Americans ages 18-to-34 feel like they are “drowning in debt,” according to a survey conducted by Select and Dynata, reports CNBC.
Americans have approximately $804 billion in credit card debt, according to the latest consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
That’s a $17 billion increase from $787 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
Kristen Ricupero, a financial coach and consultant at Financial Fitness Coaching, told CNBC that chipping away at the debt doesn’t have to be hard.
“It doesn’t need to be big to be effective,” Ricupero explains. “Money is more emotionally and behaviorally charged than it is about the numbers.”
“Too often the problem of feeling saddled by debt isn’t because we don’t make enough money to eliminate it, but because we don’t know where to start or where our money is going,” Ricupero said.
Most people who feel overwhelmed by debt carry balances on multiple accounts, including student loans, car loans or credit card loans, according to CNBC.
Ricupero says paying one account off will help in the long run.
“The impact on the principal is greatest when you put everything toward one debt,” she says. “You’ll make faster progress, causing you to want to continue on the path when you focus on one at a time.”
The report comes amid surging food prices and skyrocketing inflation.
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