Whether it is a credit card balance, a student loan, an auto loan, or a mortgage, most of us have some sort of debt. As long as you’re trying to pay it off, your debt should not concern you too much. On the other hand, if you’ve allowed debt to accumulate so much so that it’s having an effect on your health then you may need to mend your ways and quick. You’re here for a reason and that reason is finding out whether you have too much debt. How can do that? Let’s take a look.
Determining your debt-to-income ratio is one of the easiest ways to find out whether you have too much debt. The percentage of your monthly income that goes towards debt payment is referred to as your debt-to-income ratio. According to many financial experts, the average household debt in the United States is $10,000. Your debt is likely is likely to be somewhere around that figure. Following are some signs that you have too much debt.
All your money goes towards debt payment
As mentioned earlier, determining your debt-to-income ratio is a good way to find out whether you have too much debt. Basically, if most of your monthly income is going towards debt payment then there’s a good chance that you have too much debt. In an ideal situation, you should not spend more than 35% of your monthly income on debt payments. However, if you spend more than half of your monthly income on payment of debts then you, my friend, have too much debt.
You’re living a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle
If you’re living a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle then a major reason for it could be too much debt. Generally, people who have too much debt aren’t able to save any money. The reason for this simple: most of their monthly income is spent on debt payment and the remaining goes towards utilities/groceries. So, if you’re always without money at the end of each month, there’s a good chance that you have too much debt.
Your debt is causing you health problems
If your debt starts to cause health problems in you, it’s a good sign that you have too much debt. Too much debt can cause you to miss debt payments. When you’re behind on payments, creditors are likely to call you for collection. Thinking about getting a collection call from creditors can keep you awake at night and cause anxiety/stress in you. This is turn will cause health problems in you.
You’re denied new credit
Your credit rating significantly depends on how much debt you owe. A poor credit rating indicates that you have too much debt.
As seen above, too much credit can damage your credit rating. If you have too much debt then get in touch with a credit counselor to reduce your debt and improve your credit rating.
