Orlando, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Rising prices, higher interest rates, and the pressure to splurge on holiday gifts. It all adds up to a perfect time for a financial reset. New numbers show U.S. household debt has climbed to a record 18.39 trillion dollars and one-third of Americans now carry more credit card debt than emergency savings.
The mortgage, your car, student loans, food, gas, credit cards, the kids and the unexpected! Americans are owing more and saving less.
The federal reserve estimates the average household is holding a record high of more than 105 thousand dollars in debt. Certified Financial Planner Joel Garris says now is the perfect time to hit pause. His first tip: spot the invisible spending.
“Ultimately there’s also a lot of folks that don’t realize that they have an ongoing subscription when you buy that, or you try that for free 30 days,” explained Garris.
Americans spend on average of a thousand bucks a year on subscriptions, and about two hundred of that is for subscriptions they don’t really use. Garris also recommends small, immediate resets.
“Eat dinner at home tonight,” said Garris.
A typical dinner out for a family of four runs about 90 dollars. Skip just one night out each week and you’ll pocket more than 4,500 a year. For a bigger challenge, try No-Spend November. A social trend that skips extras for 30 days.
“By not spending that money, they’re able to save up some money for the next month, which is the holiday month and ultimately that’s when they’ll wind up probably spending a little bit more than what they had hoped,” explained Garris.
And here’s a holiday spending tip. If you’re using buy-now, pay-later plans for gifts, a new NPR report warns those payments are now shared with credit bureaus and can affect your credit score, so shop smart and pay on time.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor.
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Sources:
https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/emergency-savings-report/
https://www.fool.com/money/research/average-household-debt/
https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/subscription-survey-2025/
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/05/nx-s1-5448793/credit-score-fico-buy-now-pay-later-affirm-klarna
