$40,000 in debt: Rising costs of living driving Aussies into the red

First published on Yahoo Finance.

For Scott*, covering rent and bills for a family of four was hard enough without rising costs of living nudging him into debilitating debt.

His money troubles started when he moved closer to the city so his daughter could attend university.

Things were already tight, with Scott’s full-time role in manufacturing the family’s only source of income while his wife studied and cared for their son with a disability.

“I started off with small personal loans and when that amount was exhausted, I got one credit card and then I got another credit card to pay off that credit card and so forth,” he said.

Before long, Scott had racked up $40,000 worth of debt, triggering a serious depressive episode that landed him in hospital.

Scott has since got himself back on track with financial charity Way Forward to pay back his debts in manageable increments.

Read the full article, $40,000 in debt: Rising costs of living driving Aussies into the red, Yahoo Finance, 14 April 2022