I don't even live in the US, but based on the stories I've read, I guess it only takes one nasty accident leading to hospitalisation. Is that not a possible scenario?
It cost $20K to fix the plumbing in my house. Didn't want to put it on a credit card, so instead took out a 0% loan. I'll be done paying it off in November. That's $20K in debt in one day.
It was financing through the plumbing company, so I guess not a true loan in that sense 😬 Sorry for the confusion!! They just gave us 2 years to pay off the balance interest free.