Here is something fun to do. Grab a calculator and type in this number- 57718. What do you get? Bills. Just what you need right? More bills.
No we are not talking about the Buffalo Bills here. We are talking about those bills you pay off every month. That amount of money owed for goods supplied or services rendered, set out in a printed or written statement of charges. You are paying them off every month right? Yeah, sure.
My Grand Pappy did not have a credit card until the very golden years of his life. Every month when the bills came in he would figure out what he owed and head down to the bank where he withdrew what he needed to pay his bills in full. He would then travel to each of the places needed to be paid; gas company, electric, water, phone and whoever else he owed money to and paid his bills in full. Each and every month.
You would think finding an accurate number for the average bills and debt for the general American public would be easy but it is not. Very often the information gathered is based on balances, which is different than debt. Not to mention people skew statistics all the time. Regardless, according to Experian Intelliview tool the average credit card balance per consumer was recently reported at $3,779 while Nerd Wallet says the average US household credit card debt total stands at $15,191. Americans, and probably the rest of the World from the news I read, have a lot of bills. In 2012, the average American has $117,951 in debt while about 25 percent of American’s have practically no savings at all. This is grim. (Again, it is hard to say if these numbers are accurate. If the average American has $117,951 in debt does that include mortgage? My friend just bought a house for $300,000 but 4 people live there so that would be an average of $75,000 even though only one person is responsible for and pays that mortgage. See?)
Regardless of the accuracy of the amount of each person’s bills, the reality is most of us have them. Hopefully, and if you have played your cards right, you are debt free (whatever that means) and at the end of the month you can pay off your bills in full and have a bunch or money left over with no one to owe any to. I was there once in my life, not counting the time when I was growing up. No student loans, or credit card debt or mortgage and a chunk of change in the bank. Like Grand Pappy all my bills got paid when they came due. Life was a little easier that way without having to worry about bills.
This time last year I had a doctor bill I could not afford to pay in full. They were nice enough to extend me credit and yesterday I finally made my last payment to them. Boy did that make me smile!
Do you pay your bills or file your taxes online? Why or why not? Click here to leave a comment and share your opinion and experience. Would love to hear from you.