How Americans Get Out of Credit Card Debt

> I haven't had credit cards in years

That raises flags for me, because as far as I know from what I've read, some of the key components of your credit score are 1. length of credit history (i.e. if the average age of your open credit lines is 0, then that's bad) and 2. credit limit (if you have no credit cards, you have no credit.

Certainly having no debt helps, but many of the other things hurt more than they help.

One interesting tidbit: the most popular support request we've received since launching is to make the service available in the US and Canada.

One natural reason that this situation has gotten worse is that the credit card market has become completely saturated (everyone who wants a card has one [almost]). This, combined with relatively easy credit recently has resulted in the card companies marketing to people that they would previously had stayed away from.

We've learned that people often become accustomed to credit at an early point in their lives (college), rely on it for awhile, then don't suffer any explicit repercussions, and so grow accustomed to it until the problem grows and it's too late.

I don't really think it's a 'conspiracy' either, since it's clear what the motivations for all of the involved parties are.

Would love to chat about this more, but I need to tend to the serverz :)

You know, obviously you are right. But, I think people (especially intelligent HN type people) greatly underestimate how much psychological tricks affect them. I know deep down that spending with credit card is the same as spending with cash. But, I tracked my spending using cards and only withdrawing from ATMs and using cash. I spent about 20% more. And my life didn't feel any better or anything. Now I use credit cards on the big stuff- like travel, transportation costs, and other large ticket items where credit versus cash is unlikely to affect me spending habits. Point is, you get some tiny cash back, but I think for 99% of people you spend more than you get.

Is their business model subscription based or recommendation (like Mint) based? I don't know if I would trust anything from a company like this if I was already in debt. Usually people already feel screwed over. They should really work on PR and branding so people feel like they can trust then.

i rang up about 5k in credit card debt. six months ago, i decided to put my nose to the grindstone and get it done.

i paid my last $600 off this morning.

i stopped buying unnecessary shit, stopped eating out all the time, and most importantly, made payments -every- time i possibly could. if i opened my bank account online and had $400 left in checking, i'd put $250 into the card. if i had $200 left, i'd put $100. there are a whole boatload of $50 payments and many even smaller.

just start paying and don't stop until it's gone. pay your bills, stay fed, and whenever you have money left over, move it to your credit card. try to make a small payment every couple days. just focus on that damn number and make it smaller every single opportunity you have until it reads "0".

i also made enough during this period to pay for a trip to jamaica in cash. i only make $39,500 yearly so it's not like i'm hauling in bags of dough, but focusing on my credit card debt also had some interesting side effects - like learning money management and learning how to save WHILE paying down old debts.

it got to the point that i found more joy in moving $50 to my credit card than going out and dropping $50 on drinks over the weekend. it's funny, but all that stuff that i just 'had' to buy before ...... it turns out i didn't. imagine that.