For many people, debt happens slowly and then all at once.

Austin Kilgore, analyst for the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights at Achieve , notes that “consumers are overwhelmed by debt and the cost-of-living crisis.”

According to Kilgore, 57% of consumers estimate it would take 6 months or longer to pay off all their short-term, unsecured debt like credit cards, buy now pay later loans, personal loans and medical debt.

What’s more, 35% say it’s “very difficult” or “difficult” to maintain on-time debt payments.

Outside of medical or legal emergencies, debt doesn’t explode overnight — it grows through tiny, unexamined actions like adding subscriptions and not reviewing your spending every month.

While it’s easy to blame bad habits, Sean Fox, President of Freedom Debt Relief, notes the reality is often more nuanced: “There’s a tendency to assume that people get into, and stay in, debt because they aren’t willing to change their habits. What this research shows is a much more complicated picture.…