A new AARP survey suggests nearly half (47%) of adults 50 and older who carry credit card debt use their cards to pay for necessities like health care, car payments and housing. Some 17% admitted they charged expenses to cover gaps in their budget every single month last year, putting them deeper in the red.

Americans defaulted on $59 billion in credit card debt and took on an additional $74 billion in credit card debt.

Borrowers should recognize these early warning signs to address credit card debt before it becomes unmanageable.

At the moment, U.S. credit card debt jumped by $45 billion in the fourth quarter to $1.21 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, as reported by Forbes.com. While the central bank did not provide a breakdown,