Consumers Are Spending Less on Credit This Year

The findings, based on the Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, suggest that consumers are making strides in the quest to reset the spend button and relearn the concept of living within their means.

According the September 2009 consumer survey by BIGresearch, 17 percent of consumers report that they are currently using their credit cards more to pay for gasoline than they were 12 months earlier, “that figure represents a sharp drop from the 25 percent who reported the same in September 2008,” he says. Additionally, when asked about the plastic they now keep in their wallets, “percentages were down for all major credit cards as well as store credit cards.”