At least 60% of Americans have credit card debt and it’s not hard to figure out why: when using a credit card, the average transaction is 112% higher than if cash was used for the same transaction. That means (on average) that a $100 cash transaction would be a $212 transaction if you used a credit card.

Does that seem hard to believe to you? Well, it probably does. But if it does, odds are you have some kind of credit card debt.

Think of it this way: say you’re going to the mall to buy some new clothes for school or work. Do you pay for everything in cash? I doubt it. If you did, how much would you spend? I doubt it would be as much as you’d spend when you’re there putting it on plastic. If you were handing over cash, my guess is that you’d stop and think about every shirt, pair of pants, blouse, skirt, etc that you were thinking about buying.

That, my friends, is how a $100 transaction turns into a $212 transaction. Think about that the next time you’re standing at the mall and paying with plastic.

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