Many new surveys say that families are dining out less, postponing vacations and clipping coupons as ways to rein in their spending and ultimately their credit card bills.
In fact, with tax season just passed, a number of Americans who had credit card debt earmarked part of their refunds to be used to pay off those bills.
But a new report suggests that consumers may be saying they are curbing their purchases on plastic, but many are not doing so.
ABC News reports that credit card debt is still prevalent among American consumers and the problem is magnified in some areas of the country.
The news provider cites Miami – a metro area that was first part of the real estate boom and then hard hit by the aftermath of the crash – as the city in the U.S. where, on average, more residents have racked up credit card debt than any other spot in the country.
Using data from Equifax and Moody’s Economy.com, ABC News estimated that debtors in Miami would need to fork over 22.61 percent of their incomes to pay off outstanding credit card bills.
However, credit card debt isn’t the only financial burden that continues to plague American families.
The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that 1 million foreclosure starts have already been recorded thus far during 2009 and the group expects that number to reach 2.4 million by year-end.
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