Whitney Restall got her first credit card just a few months after finishing high school.
“I never prioritised paying it off … I’d max it out and then the bank would be like, ‘Oh, would you like to increase your limit by another thousand dollars?’ And then I’d max it out again,” she says.
Whitney, who lives in Wagga Wagga, NSW, on Wiradjuri land, and only paid the minimum repayments for years, is far from alone.
Credit card debt was the third most common reason for calls to the National Debt Helpline (NDH) last financial year, and the second most common reason for seeking help via chat.
With the cost of living continuing to rise, what steps can you take if your credit card is starting to feel like a problem?
Whitney Restall got her first…