We're paying more toward our debt while the amount of household debt keeps growing

SALT LAKE CITY — Americans are paying more toward their debt than ever before. At first blush, that sounds like good news — and it is. After all, the only way to get out from under the crushing pressure of debt is to pay it down.

According to a LendingTree study shared with the KSL Investigators, Americans now pay an average of $1,597 toward their debts each month. That's up almost 1% from last year.

LendingTree also found that Utahns are paying even more toward their monthly debts – $1,721 every month.

So yay, that's cause for celebration, right? Well, not exactly.

With the cost of everything we buy also going up, it actually means we are in worse shape. According to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve, household debt keeps rising. And more people are missing payments — specifically car and credit card payments.

"People still have a lot of work to do when it comes to knocking down their overall debt," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

To that end, financial planner Shane Stewart said his best advice is the same as it ever was: Get serious about sticking to a budget. That starts with tracking what you actually spend.

"Without knowing that, you'll just be in a debt cycle," Stewart said. "You'll just continue to go around in circles with your debt because you don't know what the cause of that is."

As to whether to pay off debts with the high interest rates first or the debts with lowest balances so you can knock them off your plate, that's a personal choice.

"Whatever works for you is the best thing to do," he said.

But what is the best way to stay on track?

Stewart said: automate, automate, automate. Set up your bank's bill pay or an app to make automatic payments on your debts.

"Then you're not making that decision literally thousands of times over your lifetime," he said. "You're making that decision one time, and then you maintain that. You tweak it as you go."

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