Credit card debt in America has reached $905 billion dollars, according to a recent NerdWallet survey. Kimberly Palmer, Personal Finance Expert at the company, joins Cheddar to explore some of the reasons behind the increase.
Two categories have outpaced income growth over the past decade: medical expenses and food. Healthcare costs, in fact, have increased by 34% while income has only grown by 20%. She gives some alternatives for how to pay off those expenses without whipping out the credit card.
Plus, people always say you're throwing out money when you rent a home, but how much money are homeowners throwing away in credit card interest? Palmer says that a house may be a great asset, but owners tend to ring up double the amount of credit card interest versus renters when spending on things like upkeep.
Investors weren't jolted by the downgrade because they already know the fractured state of U.S. politics, the size of the country's public debt, and the challenges it faces to pay for Social Security, Medicare and other expenses.
The national average for gas prices stood at about $3.78 a gallon on Tuesday — about 25 cents higher than that seen one month ago, according to motor club AAA. While today's prices at the pump remain far lower than they were last year, when energy costs soared worldwide in the months following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, experts say such a jump is unusual.
