[MCN] Black Friday: forego that credit card, avoid the debt

[Lance Olsen]

Despite recognizing the downsides of debt, the lure of spending remains strong.  After covering off on necessities, Americans said 40% of their monthly income goes toward discretionary spending on entertainment, leisure travel, hobbies, etc. In fact, when asked what financial pitfalls they are prone to, one quarter of Americans flagged “excessive/frivolous” spending.

https://www.northwesternmutual.com/about-us/studies/planning-and-progress-study-2017

Marketwatch Published: Nov 25, 2019 6:32 a.m. ET

Personal Finance <https://www.marketwatch.com/personal-finance>
One-third of Americans admit to making this costly mistake during the holiday season
 
This one decision could put millions of people in serious debt
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-credit-cards-are-getting-way-more-expensive-what-shoppers-need-to-know-2019-10-10 <https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-credit-cards-are-getting-way-more-expensive-what-shoppers-need-to-know-2019-10-10>

Retail credit cards have some of the highest interest rates on the market — but millions of shoppers are still planning on opening new ones during the holiday season.

Nearly one-third of Americans said they’re likely to apply for a store credit card this holiday shopping season, up from 24% who said so last year, according to a recent report from CompareCards.com.

Many retailers this time of year will offer significant additional discounts on purchases if the customer signs up for a store card on the spot. But nearly half of all people who’ve had a retail credit card at some point have said they’ve regretted it.

The average annual percentage rate (APR) for retail cards now stands at 26.01%, up 37 basis points from a year ago, according to a separate report from CreditCards.com <https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/retail-store-credit-card-survey.php>. That’s nearly nine percentage points higher than the overall average credit card APR <https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/rate-report.php> of 17.21%.
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