On our Credit Cards discussion board, Fool Community member jtallenmd shared some diagnostic tips for those dealing with debt. Here are most of them:
You might be overextended if:
- you have more credit cards in your wallet than you have pictures of your kids, grandkids, boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, etc.
- you're on a first-name basis with your credit collector and exchange birthday, anniversary, and holiday cards.
- your mailperson sues you for the medical costs of their lower back pain after carrying around your credit card statements.
- you've moved at least once to stay ahead of the creditors.
- you pay more in interest than you do in income taxes.
- in your opinion, the national debt doesn't look that bad.
- one month's interest payments would pay for that trip to Hawaii that you've always wanted to take.
- you can't remember which card has a balance that will cover the purchase you are about to make.
- you have to hand the clerk more than two cards before your purchase gets approved.
- your credit report takes three days to download.
- you see someone else's credit card and think, "Oooh, that's one I don't have."
While these are all in good fun, if any of this rings true for you, you probably need some help digging out of debt. Just know that if you are in debt, you can dig yourself out with the tools found in the get-out-of-debt section of our Credit Center.
The Credit Center also features some surprisingly interesting information about the credit card industry. And speaking of credit cards, check out our Fool credit card. Use it responsibly, and it can serve you well.
For more great tips relating to personal finance, try out Motley Fool GreenLight free for 30 days .
This article was written by Selena Maranjian and has been updated by Foolish research associate Katrina Chan. This article was originally published on Aug. 16, 2006. The Motley Fool is Fools writing for Fools.
