and there are people like me who buy everything with a credit card but pay off the entire balance each month

even though I technically have a credit card balance it gets reset every month and I never pay interest or late fees so the numbers don't tell the whole story

but I'm sure there are an alarmingly large number of people who actually are buried in debt, especially with rent and other costs rising so it won't be pretty when things reach a tipping point (probably already have...)

Stop trying to throw statistics into sensational headlines!

Or maybe interest paid. I sometimes have a higher balance for the month, but I always pay it off entirely. Nonetheless, my credit score fluctuates based on the balance at the time of reporting.