Resolve Credit Card Debt in Kansas

Ever since Dorothy made her way to Oz, Kansas has been a common namesake in American households. This quiet state in the Great Plains features all of the benefits and hassles of highly populated states, acting as a microcosm for the nation as a whole. Among all the ways that Kansas has followed trends in the US, the state has gone into a time of credit card debt. The nation's economy crashed and so did the hopes of many Kansans looking to stay above water in the financial world.

On average, a citizen of Kansas currently has almost $8,500 in credit card debt to pay off. This is more than the national average, resting around the highest quarter for the nation. As the economy began its path downward, citizens across the country started reaching for their wallets only to find that all their cash had to be replaced with plastic cards to accommodate for a lack of money and an increase in prices across the board. Though there have been efforts to alleviate some of this in recent times, the struggle to keep the US economy stable has proven to be a greater challenge than most citizens were prepared for.

In spite of these troubled times though, Kansas has faired well in terms of unemployment, with a mere 7.4% of the state currently without a job. In other states, high unemployment has led to high debt, but in Kansas, the problem seems to just be a result of popular spending trends. The credit card debt may also be due to the fact that Kansas jobs do not pay as well as others in the nation, thus people have to allot a higher percentage of their overall income to pay for the same things that everyone else does. No matter the case though, Kansas has seen a poor trend in its economic welfare that likely will not improve until the status of the country does.

The most populated cities in the state (namely Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, and Topeka) have been hit the hardest by the debt. These areas have to carry more people and thus have hire prices to combat high demand. This inadvertently leads to more debt overall, which often emerges in the form of credit cards. According to MyFico.com, the average American has 13 credit obligations on their report, nine of which are credit cards. Why? Because credit cards are easy to get and easy to use. The problem is that they aren't always easy to pay off.

If you're having difficulties trying to reduce or eliminate your credit card debt, we have a few tools that may help you out. First, you can check out our rolldown credit calculator which will allow you to put money toward your credit card as a whole. With this tool, your money goes towards a certain credit card and once it gets paid off, the money is "rolled over" to the next card. If you continuously add money to the account, you'll eventually get rid of all the debt accumulated.

If you want to pick and choose which credit card you are going to pay, you can use our credit card optimizer option. This will allow you to select a certain card that your money and payments will go towards. It is best if you choose either the card with the highest amount owed or the card with the highest interest rate. Both of these will have a greater impact on your debt than small cards or small rates will, so it's best that you tackle the big cards and work your way down. You can opt for the snowball method which actually does that process in reverse, but you'll end up paying a lot more for your debt in the end.

When simple management doesn't work, you can always go for debt consolidation. In that process, you will talk to a financial adviser about your credit card debt and devise a plan to condense everything to one payment. In most cases, this will not only result in a lower payment than what you had for all the debts combined, but it will also lead to lower interest rates. You may have a longer time frame to pay off the loan, but that could be a benefit as it will further decrease your monthly payment to a manageable level. After all is consolidated, you are simply responsible for one payment a month, thereby eliminating the stress associated with forgetting a payment.

Though debt isn't always the most pleasant thing to live with, it is not always a bad thing. In fact, the only way you can improve your credit score is by falling into some sort of debt. This may sound unfitting, but the fact is that credit companies need to know how well you can manage your finances. They do that by monitoring how often you make payments on a loan or credit card and how frequently those payments are made on time. In Kansas, the average person has a credit score of 677, which is well in line with the national average of 680. This is just one more way that this small state has followed the financial trends of the nation.

Since Kansas reacts in debt similarly to the US as a whole, it may be nice to review some general statistics for the country. The following are some valid numbers from the past year

*MyFico.com reports that most people in the US have credit obligations dating as far back as 14 years. One in four citizens have obligations older than 20 years, with only 5% of consumers having fresh credit (lower than two years on the bureau).

*The average college student leaves school with more than $20,000 in debt, and the amount of people using student loans to pay for college has increased by close to 50% in the past two decades.

*The National Foundation for Credit Counseling found that as of April 2009, more than 15 percent of adults admitted to being late on a payment, and 8% admitted to missing payments entirely.

*59% of Americans say that when they have little money to spend, they wait to make credit card payments after every other bill has been paid.

In short, you can't avoid credit card debt no matter where you live. It's an unfortunate side effect of bad times in the nation's economy, and it's something that we all just have to fight through until improvements come about. The best thing you can do is monitor your spending and debt to keep your numbers reduced. Consider this a good time to build up a solid credit score so you can seek financing when looking to make a big investment. The state has an average interest rate of only 8.4%, so the debt that you accumulate should be easy to pay off if you make enough money to do so. Stay employed and stay informed and you'll get to financial freedom some day soon. 

Contact Your Senators Credit Card Advocacy in Kansas
	Senator Sam Brownback PHONE: 202-224-6521 (DC office) FAX: 202-228-1265 (DC office)		Senator Pat Roberts PHONE: 202-224-4774 (DC office) FAX: 202-224-3514 (DC office)