Control Your Debt - Credit Repair Advice & Articles :: Here's to a debt-free new year Here's to a debt-free new year by Admin at 10:12AM (PST) on January 10, 2005 | Permanent Link | Cosmos Don't let your 2004 debt hangover drag into the new year You bought the perfect holiday gifts for your family and friends, along with a little something for yourself. While that December merrymaking may seem priceless your January MasterCard statement will remind you that it was not. Now, it's time to start tackling your debt. Phil Harriman, a financial adviser with the Million Dollar Round Table, says monthly debt obligations -- credit cards, auto loans, etc.-- should equal no more than 40 percent of discretionary income. Even then, your "good" debt should outweigh the "bad." "Good debt would be to borrow money to remodel your bathroom or kitchen or add a deck to your home -- something that would build equity on an asset," Harriman says. Student loans tend to fall into the good category, as do mortgages. Credit card debt, however, tops the list of items you're much better off without. The average American family carries $9,200 of credit card debt, according to Cardweb.com. And about one in four to five households are struggling to pay off their credit cards, says Chris Viale, president of the Cambridge%2