Tag Archives: personal finance

Despite the budgeting, splurging, the holiday sales, and the inevitable panics over our credit card statements, our latest Credit Karma data shows consumers overall chipped away at their debts in 2010. Pause for celebration—Whooo! From January 2010 to December 2010, the average consumer credit card debt fell from $7,925 to $7,404, a 7% drop nationally. Here are more numbers to showcase the average American’s debt situation in 2010: Decreased home mortgage loans 4% to $173,340 Decreased home equity 4% to $49,803 Increased auto loans 4% to $15,274 Increased student loans 10% to $29,016 But what we really want to know, Credit Karma users, is beyond these national averages of debts up and down, how are you personally doing in your financial situation? The thing is that your finances aren’t isolated to one thing — not your credit card debt and not evern your credit score. Think of your finances as many slices in a pie, and they all need to be in sweet standing if you want it to be whole (the picture is a pizza pie, but stay with us). Aspects of your finances are all related and impact each other, and one thing can better your whole situation (like a raise in your salary!) and one thing can drag you way down (like a bankruptcy).