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Your credit card bills may not be keeping you up at night yet, but if you analyze your financial situation, you may find that you are closer to the edge than you think. Here are 5 warning signs that you have way too much debt:
The original article by Denise Hill has been edited for length (…) and clarity ([ ]) by munKNEE.com to provide a fast & easy read. For all the latest – and best – financial articles sign up (in the top right corner) for your free bi-weekly Market Intelligence Report newsletter (see sample here) or visit our Facebook page.
1. Your debt-to-income ratio is too high
A long-standing rule of thumb says that monthly debt payments (excluding your mortgage) should not exceed 20% of your monthly net income. That being said, while rules of thumb are a great gauge, don’t count on this one to be the final word concerning your relationship with debt.
The 20% rule is an overarching starting point for evaluating your debt, but it doesn’t consider your total financial picture or your level of income. For example, if your net income is $5,000 a month and you pay little or no rent, $1,000 in monthly consumer debt is manageable. However, if you only earn $2,000 monthly, pay $800 in rent, and have to shell out $400 for credit card debt — you are in trouble.
A better approach is to keep your debt-to-income ratio as low as possible. To stay out of the danger zone financial experts believe that:
- being at or under 15% is considered “safe,”
- between 15% & 20% is “at risk,” and
- being above 20% is when sirens are blaring.
2. You can’t afford living expenses without a credit card or loan
The dangerous trend of charging day-to-day expenses is becoming increasingly common…It costs more to simply survive today than it has in times past and
- using credit for standard living expenses, such as gas and groceries, and
- not paying it off each month is a sign that you are headed for trouble.
It could mean that your living expenses exceed your income or that you are living a lifestyle you can’t afford. Financial experts agree that you should only use credit cards to handle the day-to-day if you are paying the balance in full every month. (See also: Should You Pay Your Bills With a Credit Card?)
3. You keep dipping into your savings
Repeatedly dipping into long-term savings to make ends meet or pay for unexpected expenses (car maintenance, traffic tickets, doctor’s visits, etc.) indicates that you may have an issue with liquidity and savings. You also probably don’t have enough money to truly handle a financial emergency.
- Another good rule of thumb as it relates to savings is that you should have at least three to six months’ worth of living expenses in an emergency fund. What constitutes an emergency are things such as a job loss or an unexpected medical expense. Your car note should not be paid from your emergency fund.
- If you keep using your emergency stash for every unbudgeted expense, that is a red flag. You need to re-evaluate your budget and spending. You may need to find cheaper housing or transportation and cut some of the little things that nibble away at your budget such as shopping, eating out, and going to the movies. (See also: 7 Easy Ways to Build an Emergency Fund From $0)
4. You can’t pay your credit card balances in full each monthThe goal with credit cards should be to pay them off every month. When you only make the minimum monthly payments, most of the money is eaten up by interest and very little goes to paying the principal. Carrying a balance from month to month is costing you.
For example, let’s say you owe $5,000 on a card at 17% interest with a minimum monthly payment of $100. If you can’t afford to pay more than the minimum, you could be paying that bill for 27 years and the icing on the cake is that over the lifetime of the debt, you would have paid double the original amount because of interest charges.
If you can’t pay your credit card in full each month, at least pay more than the minimum while keeping the balance as low as possible. You should never carry a balance of more than 30% of your credit limit on any one card or in total. (See also: The Fastest Method to Eliminate Credit Card Debt)5. You have to rob Peter to pay Paul
If you are constantly missing payments, paying things late, or using one credit card to pay another, you are on a high-speed train to financial disaster. Things will only get worse from here if you don’t make some adjustments — quick.
When you use your credit card to pay on other forms of consumer debt — especially other credit cards — you spend more money due to fees you incur. Most credit card, mortgage, and education lenders don’t allow you to pay them directly using a credit card. You have to go through a third-party service or get a cash advance in order to pay with your card, and both of those options come with hefty fees.
Summary
The deeper you get into debt, the faster it mounts. If you find yourself in a situation where you are drowning in credit card balances, you need to take action. Step back, evaluate your situation, and make a plan.
- Develop a realistic budget and eliminate unnecessary spending. You’ve got to be brutal and savagely cut the things you don’t need.
- Devise a debt elimination plan.
- This may require you to contact your lenders to renegotiate repayment terms,
- and you may have to find a way to increase your income.
- A few options for generating extra income include selling stuff you don’t need or can’t afford, getting a side gig, or even downsizing.
The point here is to regroup and take control of your debt instead of allowing it to control you.
Mr. Lorimer Wilson – Editor,
Unfortunately, persons who should be reading this ‘common sense’ advice won’t be among the readers.
If perchance a person ‘in need’ of this advice does read it, s/he will ignore the advice. Why? Ingrained bad habits which seem too painful to alter. Too bad, but more or less inevitable.
AB