Americans said they were pocketing the plastic this Christmas shopping season.
But it looks like we were talking the talk without walking the walk.
The Federal Reserve’s Consumer Credit Report came out this week, and it shows that revolving consumer credit jumped 3.5% from November to December.
What that means is it increased by $2.3 billion to more than $800 billion!
Americans were heading in the right direction last year. Credit card debt dropped by 8%. According to a study by Credit Karma the average household now carries arond $7,400 on their credit card balances.
Eight states slashed their credit card debt by more than the 8% average. In fact, I’m proud to say my home state of Wisconsin cut credit card debt by 31%, according to the study. Maybe that’s why the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl. God knew we deserved a little reward for being so responsible! 
Needless to say – it looks like most of us let things slide towards the end of 2010.
Falling into debt or adding to your existing debt over the holidays is a pretty big mistake.
Holiday debt will sneak up on you, and many consumers find themselves still paying off last year’s shopping expenses when the next Christmas season rolls around. Merry Christmas credit card companies!
We spent more money over the 2010 holiday shopping season than in recent years. It was predicted the average family would spend $714 over the holidays in 2010 compared to $638 in 2009. But the economic situation in this country and the financial situation in many homes isn’t much better than it was in 2009.
Some analysts said that American consumers were just plain sick and tired of sticking to their budgets and couldn’t resist the urge to splurge because old habits die hard.
Only 18% of those questioned in a holiday shopping survey conducted last year said they planned to put all of their gifts on credit cards. 56% of shoppers surveyed said they wouldn’t use plastic at all, and the number jumped 70% of shoppers between the ages of 18 and 29.
Looks like plans changed. That is – unless only 18% of American consumers added $2-billion in credit card debt all by themselves. I doubt it.
I have to admit, there were times when I was really tempted to use credit cards to make it a Merry Christmas. And my family actually did put a few things on plastic. But we paid it off right away.
Unfortunately, that meant the Christmas cash from Grandma went to pay some bills. But at least we stayed out of debt – which wasn’t always the case for us during the holidays.
If you do have credit card debt that you’d like to get rid off before the next Black Friday shopping binge, BankRate.com has some great tips for digging your way out. Read their article Tips for Toppling Credit Card Debt.
Watch the video below for some tips on staying out of debt next holiday shopping season.
Image Credit: cgarbiano
Kasey Steinbrinck is the lead blogger on personal finance and the economy for Check Advantage. When you order checks from Check Advantage, you’ll find hundreds of unique photography featured on Nature Checks as well as Flower Checks and much more! Contact Kasey if you’d like free original content for your blog or website.
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