How You Can Survive The Credit Card Crunch

If you thought the mortgage market was the only area of borrowing being hit by the credit crunch, then think again. Credit cards and loans are also harder to come by, and this is bad news for those struggling to make ends meet each month.

The next big financial issue for America is credit card debt. Coming on top of the sub-prime mortgage mess, credit-card defaults will be the next blow to both consumers and our financial institutions.

Americans now have nearly $1 trillion outstanding on credit cards. That's the amount "riding" as balances carried forward every month, on which interest is charged. Nearly half of those accounts are paying only the minimum monthly payment.

Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.

An Associated Press analysis of financial data from the country's largest card issuers also found that the greatest rise was among accounts more than 90 days in arrears.

Experts say these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.