Groceries, gas, and heating bills have gone up. As inflation grows, more consumers rely on credit cards to bridge the gap between income and expenses.
“It is the combination of inflation and an overall cost of living, which includes housing, that is driving people to lean more frequently on open lines of credit,” Bruce McClary, spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), told The Epoch Times.
When consumers start to use credit cards to fill in for basic expenses, it may seem like a solution, he said, but the fix is only temporary.
“The cost of borrowing itself adds to the financial pressure because interest rates are so high right now. People who are running out of room in their budget to meet basic living expenses are then finding themselves using lines of credit to fill in the gaps. But then, those lines of credit that they’re relying upon, are adding to the financial pressure that they’re trying to escape,” he said. “This terrible cycle drives people further into what later could become unmanageable debt.”…