Maintaining a budget and building a savings fund can be challenging. However, some states struggle more than others, because Georgia has been named one of the least financially savvy states in the country by WalletHub.
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The personal finance website determined the results by evaluating the 50 states and Washington, D.C. across 24 key metrics, including foreclosure rates, credit scores and credit usage. Those measures were then categorized into four major sections: debt and spending, financial literacy, credit rank and saving rank.
After analyzing the results, they found Massachusetts was the most financially savvy state in America with New Hampshire and North Dakota following at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
As for Georgia, it fell to the bottom of the list at No. 42, overall. It was No. 47 for debt and spending, No. 32 for financial literacy, No. 46. for credit, and No. 36 for savings.
"One of the biggest challenges people face is they spend more than they earn. This can become a vicious cycle because debts start building that also need to be paid," WalletHub expert Benjamin Cummings said in a statement.
This seemed to be especially true for southern states as many ranked low across several categories. Florida, which was No. 40 overall, had one of the highest percentages of population spending more than they earn. And Alabama and Tennessee, which were No. 43 and No. 44 respectively, had some of the highest percentages of credit usage.
To combat debt, the experts suggest rethinking your budget process.
“The best idea is to set aside a specific amount each month that’s going to go towards paying off debt. Ideally, this amount will be at least a little bit more than all the minimum payments,” Cummings said. “It’s a great way to make serious progress towards paying off debt.”
Want to know how other areas ranked? Check out the map of findings below.
