Two years ago, Robb and Gabby Gray looked at the debt they were carrying and didn’t like what they saw: $9,000 to $12,000 in monthly credit card balances. Combined with concerns over job security, it had them worried.
So the Atlanta couple dumped their land line, car lease and premium cable service and paid off the balance. Now they pay their cards in full each month.
“We said, ‘If we can’t afford it, don’t buy it,’” said Robb Gray, 42, a medical imaging sales manager.
The Grays are on the front lines of what might be called the Great Deleveraging. Studies show U.S. consumers are reducing their dependence on debt. They’re also more likely to pay bills on time.
The national credit card delinquency rate — payments 90 or more days past due — is the lowest in 17 years, according to TransUnion, an information and risk management company. Credit card debt per borrower is at a near-record low, too.
However, Georgia is fifth-highest with $5,242 per borrower, TransUnion said.
In Monday's newspaper, the AJC takes a deep look at how metro Atlantans are trimming their debt. It's a story you'll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
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