10 Reasons Why Your Debt Keeps Rising

1. Past medical bills: insurance may not have been able to cover them entirely, leaving you with more than you can afford

2. Source of income decreased: whether it be losing a job, having hours cut at work or a death in the family, monthly bills cannot be paid with current monthly income

3. Poor management of money: spending too much on luxury items and not leaving enough to pay bills afterwards

4. Financial illiteracy: not understanding the financial system and how credit may have a substantial effect on your future if you would like to purchase a home or car

5. Supporting a family member financially: someone in your family may have run into financial trouble themselves leaving you to help them out and forcing you to miss monthly payments

6. Expectations do not match up to reality: a bonus at work may be planned and not work out or a substantial check may end up bouncing after you spend the money

7. Divorce: splitting up with a spouse can be costly not allowing you to make monthly payments on other accounts

8. Student loans: by the time you are out of school and have a stable income, a student loan balance might be too high to make reasonable monthly payments

9. Too many bills: if you have too many accounts, you might have lost track of one or more accounts in the process allowing the balances to grow with interest

10. Cost of living increases: the same cart full of groceries or the same tank of gas might cost more over time and income is not enough to cover it