Credit Card Debt Solutions in Georgia

Credit card debt seems to be an unfortunate result of the US economic downturn. At some point over the last several years, many Americans have had to turn to their plastic cards to help dig themselves out of the financial hole, but most of them have ended up in a bigger hole than what they started with. With this unfortunate turn of events, its often nice to see how your state compares with others so that you may find out how well you have been handling your debt for the area you live in. Here we are going to focus on the state of Georgia.

Whether you are a resident of Atlanta or Savannah, you probably have fallen into some sort of debt. Luckily, Georgia has faired rather well in the state of the economy when compared to other states. The average credit card debt in Georgia is only about $4335. That number may seem high if you are in a sound financial place at the moment, but when compared to a place like Kentucky where the average credit card debt is over $10,000, that number actually seems rather favorable.

The main reason for these low numbers is the fact that Georgia has a lower standard of living than many other states. As with most places in the south, stuff simply costs less here than it does in New England or other areas where credit card debt may be fairly high. People have to spend less money and so they have less debt to pay off. Annual interest rates for the state remain around the national average, sitting at roughly 14.3%. This number also has an impact on the minimal debt found in cities like Augusta and Athens. Interest rates are typically lower in large cities in the state as there are more reasons for lenders to compete for customers.

Unemployment rates in Georgia are also fairly low in Georgia at only 10.3% as of July 2009. This means that there are many Georgians out there that are able to work to pay off whatever credit card debt they may have accrued in recent years. That said, the state is still subject to a national trend of consumers getting more credit cards than they need over the course of time. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there were only 159 million credit cardholders in the year 2000. Less than a decade later, that number is already at 181 million. Georgia has faired well overall, but with such an increase in use for the nation over the last nine years, its only a matter of time before it too falls prey to poor debt numbers.

Though race is not a factor in the way that a person spends money, it has been shown that among the African-American population, more than 51% of people admit to not paying their bills on time. Georgia has a particularly high number of African American residents when compared to other states, especially in cities like Atlanta and Savannah. Though these numbers may not hold true in that area, they still pose a concern for the future of the credit card debt in the area.

The fright of the effects of these numbers goes beyond the African American population though as more than 59% of Americans as a whole will wait to pay off their credit card bills until last during tough economic times. As the state of the US economy continues its downward spiral, millions of Americans are now piling up large amounts of interest rates and fees as a result of delinquent payment history. This makes it even harder for people in Georgia and everywhere else to eliminate their debt and state living in financial freedom.

If you are struggling to reduce or eliminate your credit card debt, don't worry. There are a lot of tools available that can help get you back on track. We offer a credit card debt optimizer on our site which allows you to select what debt should be paid first so that your money goes to the right place. With this tool you can find out if bank transfers would provide a viable solution for your credit card debt. You could also use our roll down credit card calculator to start paying off your bills as this tool allows you just make payments on a general account so that when one credit card is paid off, the excess funds roll over to the next credit card. If this continues long enough, you can eventually get out of debt and back on your feet again.

There are times when simply paying off your debt isn't an option, in which case you should turn to debt consolidation. During debt consolidation, you essentially combine all of your past debts into one monthly payment. This eliminates the hassle of having to remember what to pay and who to pay from month to month because everything comes in one bill. Oftentimes your credit counselor can get you a lower interest rate or longer term on a loan in that situation, thereby reducing your monthly payment. You should note that this may not decrease the amount of loan that you take out, but it will help you manage the monthly payments. Overall, you may actually end up paying more because of the long term loan, but as long as you can pay it off eventually, that's all that matters.

If you don't know how your credit is currently favoring, you need to turn to your FICO. This is a score that companies use to rate you based on your payment history and the amount of money that you pay off on various debts. There are three companies that provide scores to create your FICO, namely TransUnion, Equifax and Emperian. All three companies have a unique set of criteria that they use to determine your score, and that score can be relayed to credit card companies to determine your interest rate. The score is also pulled during times of auto financing and home loans when credit history is a prominent  factor in a person's ability to obtain financing at all.

In Georgia, the average credit score is roughly 668, which is considered to be in the "Good" range of the FICO. Once you start reaching numbers above 700, creditors are a lot less likely to answer questions about employment history and the like. Thus if you want to be financed for something you must first have a solid score and a solid background in financial stability. You can earn this by paying off your credit card debt in a timely manner, perhaps by using the tools we offer on our site.

The only down side to building credit is that you have to be in debt to do it. That doesn't seem to be a problem though as most consumers nowadays have more than 13 balances on their credit report, including credit cards and installment loans. Nine of the 13 are said to be credit cards according to MyFico.com. If you have been trapped in a situation where you have that many active credit cards, you now know that you are not alone. You are just one of the many consumers in Georgia and the US as a whole who has found themselves in need of a little financial boost.

Contact Your Senators to Talk About Credit Card Reform
	Senator Johnny Isakson PHONE: 202-224-3643 (DC office) FAX: 202-228-0724 (DC office)		Senator Saxby Chambliss PHONE: 202-224-3521 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-0103 (DC office)