The recent spike in the cost of living has forced many people to resort to credit cards to keep their family budgets from bursting.

“The majority of people struggling with credit card debt aren’t doing so because they’re irresponsible,” Austin Kilgore, with the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights , tells the New York Post. “They are struggling to deal with essential expenses.”

On the other hand, Cotality, a property information and analytics provider, recently released a report showing that “the average borrower now has about $295,000 in accumulated home equity” at the end of 2025. Though many Americans are feeling squeezed by a dramatic rise in prices over the last six months, they are sitting on a lot of home equity that can be used to zero out their bad, expensive credit card debt.

Wooden blocks labeled “Good Debt” and “Bad Debt” are balanced on a red string against a blurred green background in a conceptual image. SaLLy Studio AI – stock.adobe.com

Many are already tapping into that reserve.…