New Jersey is known for many things. One is — shopping. So no surprise that a recent study by the personal finance website WalletHub finds that the state has the highest average number of credit cards per person in the country, almost six.
A pile of credit cards can lead to a lot of credit card debt, but analyst Cassandra Happe said New Jerseyans haven’t let their debt spiral out of control.
“It’s not a debt level that isn’t sustainable,” she said. “Based on the average debt amount it would take them about 13 months to pay off that debt, which isn’t that bad when you compare it to some other states.”
That debt was about $9500 per household back in September, before Christmas spending.
Happe said having a lot of credit cards, like most things, has its plusses and minuses.
“Having multiple cards can help you with your credit utilization ratio, because you can spread your balances out between more than one card and then the ratio of your balance to what your credit limit is will be lower,” she said. “But if you have multiple cards and you’re just not very good at managing them and paying on time, it could have a negative impact on your credit score.”