Credit card debt reached a milestone we shouldn’t ignore. Americans’ outstanding balances swelled to $1.17 trillion in the third quarter, up by $24 billion from the previous three-month period, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data.

That’s an 8.1% jump year over year, a mere 15 months after the nation’s collective credit card balance crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time.

Meanwhile, household debt — mortgages, auto and student loans, and credit card debt — increased by $147 billion to $17.94 trillion.

Though the numbers are staggering, there are slivers of good news. Americans are increasing their incomes at a faster rate than they are accruing debt, the New York Fed data shows. And more consumers are staying on top of those Visa and Mastercard payments: The delinquency rate was 8.8% in the third quarter, compared with 9.1% during the preceding three months.

But let’s not do a happy dance. These numbers still signal a troubling trend. Paying on time doesn’t mean the debt isn’t a financial stress for families. Consumers can make monthly payments for years, preventing them from achieving other goals.

With your budget, cash flow is essential. It’s what you have left after paying your bills that you can save for an emergency or invest for the future. You can’t do that if too much of your income is used to service debt.

It raises the question, as researchers did in a blog post, “Are rising aggregate debt burdens sustainable?”

To find the answer, they compared debt balances to disposable personal income, essentially their pay minus taxes. Mortgages account for 70% of household debt balances, while nonhousing balances, including credit cards, account for about 30%.

“Income growth has averaged a robust 6.2 percent annually, while aggregate debt balances have expanded at just over 4 percent per year,” the blog said.

As the New York Fed pointed out, although mortgage debt is larger, other, nonhousing liabilities “may account for a disproportionately larger piece of monthly household budgets.”

It’s the revolvers — those who don’t pay off their balances every month — that concern me.

According to a Bankrate credit card debt survey, half of cardholders don’t pay their credit card bills in full.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that there is good and bad debt. All debt is a weight on your budget, but revolving credit card debt is, without a doubt, not good.

The average interest rate on this type of debt is about 20%. Low minimum payments can fool people into thinking this liability is manageable, but it creates a deep hole, making it harder to climb out.

Many consumers aren’t recklessly spending. They reluctantly rely on credit for unexpected emergencies, medical bills, car repairs or day-to-day expenses like groceries.

Although inflation is easing, many Americans are struggling and have turned to credit cards to bridge the gap between their earnings and higher expenses.

However, there are some folks whose credit card usage is avoidable. They are intentionally living above their means.

They charge the cruise to the Caribbean or overspend during the holidays buying gifts people don’t need and probably will end up returning. The debt reaches a point where it’s simply a fixed expense.

The average debt per borrower for the third quarter was $6,380, according to a report by TransUnion.

You might be saying to yourself right now, “Is that all?”

There was one time I got into credit card trouble.

I had made it through college with no credit cards. When I was starting as a full-time reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun, I wanted some nice clothes for work and a few items for my newly purchased condominium, so I applied for a retail card.

I quickly ran up $500.

That amount may not seem like much today, but it felt overwhelming.

I put the card away and spent several months paying it off. I rejoiced each month when my statement came, as I saw my balance dwindling.

To this day, I hold onto that feeling of oppression and remember it whenever I use a credit card.

When teaching a budget session, I often show a YouTube video of comedian Tim Clue joking about credit card debt.

He starts the routine by saying, “I don’t know if anybody is in debt tonight, but if you are, I’m going to tell you right now not to worry about it because I used to worry about it, and it doesn’t help at all.”

I’ve encountered this carefree debtor many times.

“I used to be in a little bit of debt, and it bothered me a lot. Now I’m in a lot of debt, it just bothers me a little,” Clue says.

I even laugh at that line.

And, why isn’t the debt bothersome?

“I figured it out,” Clue says. “I finally hit the number. And you know what’s key about the number? It’s that you don’t even know what the number is until you hit it. And then, one day, you’re home just kind of looking through the bills — the Discover, the Mastercard, the Visa — and all of a sudden, it hits you. ‘Wow, I can never pay this off.’ ”

It’s a funny skit with not-solaughable results.