Inflation has low-income households taking risks with loans, credit<\/title><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'I exhausted my savings': Inflation has Americans turning to loans, credit cards to cope. Does it pose big risks?\"\/><meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"Paul Davidson\"\/><meta property=\"article:content_tier\" content=\"premium\"\/><meta property=\"article:opinion\" content=\"false\"\/><link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/user.usatoday.com\"\/><link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/user.usatoday.com\"\/><link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\"\/><link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/cm.usatoday.com\"\/><link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/geolocation.onetrust.com\"\/><link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/geolocation.onetrust.com\"\/><link rel=\"preload\" as=\"fetch\" type=\"application\/json\" href=\"https:\/\/user.usatoday.com\/USAT-GUP\/user\/\" crossorigin=\"use-credentials\"\/><link rel=\"preload\" as=\"script\" href=\"\/tangstatic\/js\/main-q1a2z3bd29b977.min.js\"\/><link rel=\"preload\" as=\"script\" href=\"https:\/\/geolocation.onetrust.com\/cookieconsentpub\/v1\/geo\/location\/gnt.otgc\"\/><meta name=\"description\" content=\"A persistent rise in missed payments could lead banks to pull back on lending to people with poor credit histories, putting more stress on that group.\"\/><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A persistent rise in missed payments could lead banks to pull back on lending to people with poor credit histories, putting more stress on that group.\"\/><meta property=\"fb:pages\" content=\"13652355666,48958576760,156345381090801,110471702456365,6566864515,137698179626815,315942225236045,927427260614748,183850168300771,1443524575938047,251228454889939,158095147555989,115535341805950,236655713446291,1621466394844549,250325640686,177037772444433,1972936962947967,2047091012096533,535551216797440\"\/><meta property=\"fb:app_id\" content=\"215046668549694\"\/><link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2022\/06\/01\/loans-inflation-credit-cards-debt\/9954436002\/\"\/><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2022\/06\/01\/loans-inflation-credit-cards-debt\/9954436002\/\"\/><meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USA TODAY\"\/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/03\/16\/USAT\/f60936cb-d6be-4922-a55a-be44acc302a0-DAA_Article1_2.jpg?crop=2120,1193,x0,y107&width=2120&height=1193&format=pjpg&auto=webp\"\/><meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2120\"\/><meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1193\"\/><meta name=\"ROBOTS\" content=\"NOODP, NOYDIR, max-image-preview:large\"\/><meta name=\"google\" content=\"notranslate\"\/><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/03\/16\/USAT\/f60936cb-d6be-4922-a55a-be44acc302a0-DAA_Article1_2.jpg?crop=2120,1193,x0,y107&width=1600&height=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@usatoday\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@usatoday\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"'I exhausted my savings': Inflation has Americans turning to loans, credit cards to cope. Does it pose big risks?\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A persistent rise in missed payments could lead banks to pull back on lending to people with poor credit histories, putting more stress on that group.\"\/><\/head><body id=\"wp_automatic_ReadabilityBody\"><svg style=\"display:none\"><symbol id=\"gnt_svg_external\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\"><path d=\"M12.43 5.5H10.5V4H15v4.5h-1.5V6.55l-4.56 4.56-1.06-1.06 4.55-4.55zm1.07 9v-3.75H15V16H3V4h5.25v1.5H4.5v9h9z\"\/><\/symbol><\/svg><\/p>\n<header class=\"gnt_n\" onmousedown=\"event.stopPropagation()\" onmouseup=\"event.stopPropagation()\">\n<nav class=\"gnt_n_mn\" aria-label=\"Global navigation\">News Sports Entertainment Life Money Tech Travel Opinion<\/nav>\n<\/header>\n<p><main class=\"gnt_cw\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"gnt_pr\">\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_shl\">Lower-income Americans are relying on credit cards to make ends meet.<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_img\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_ar_b\">\n<ul class=\"gnt_ar_sh\">\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_sh_li\">Consumer borrowing is surging as inflation hovers near 40-year highs and Americans resume pre-pandemic activities like traveling and dining out.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_sh_li\">A growing share of those cash-strapped households are behind on payments for car loans, credit cards and personal loans.<\/li>\n<li class=\"gnt_ar_sh_li\">Total household debt is still historically low.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Linda Hampton was already struggling to pay her credit card bills last year because of thousands of dollars in expenses from her notary business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Then inflation began skyrocketing in mid-2021, especially gas, utility and grocery prices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cI just started using my credit card for everything,\u201d Hampton says, even for a combined electric, natural gas and water bill that has more than doubled since 2020 and hit $ 864 last month. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_rb\"><gnt-rbc\/><\/aside>\n<footer class=\"gnt_ft\">Help Terms of Service Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights \/ Privacy Policy Our Ethical Principles Site Map<button class=\"gnt_ft_a gnt_ft_a__cs\" data-g-r=\"base_ottid\" data-t-l=\":f|v|c|cookie-settings\">Cookie Settings<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2022 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC.<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<link rel=\"preload\" as=\"fetch\" type=\"application\/json\" crossorigin=\"use-credentials\" href=\"\/global-q1a2z3CSBaT3i0Y4qoEGRr8EWHdIGDn7Y.min.json\"\/><noscript><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/collect?cd1=custom&cd28=USAT&cd49=tangent&cd171=1&cid=1&ea=pageview&ec=content&el=noscript&t=event&tid=UA-166840762-67&v=1\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" loading=\"eager\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin\" style=\"display:none;visibility:hidden\"><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/body><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inflation has low-income households taking risks with loans, credit News Sports Entertainment Life Money Tech Travel Opinion Lower-income Americans are relying on credit cards to make ends meet. Consumer borrowing is surging as inflation hovers near 40-year highs and Americans resume pre-pandemic activities like traveling and dining out. A growing share of those cash-strapped households …<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/inflation-has-low-income-households-taking-risks-with-loans-credit\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Inflation has low-income households taking risks with loans, credit<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/31\/USAT\/d51e26cb-3b53-4e6f-8000-a987a661ad77-Linda_Hampton_1.jpg?ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/05\/31\/USAT\/d51e26cb-3b53-4e6f-8000-a987a661ad77-Linda_Hampton_1.jpg?width=980&height=693&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}