[BabyPeanut]

From the "out of the frying pan and into the fire" file:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]US drivers use credit cards to manage gasoline pain
Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:36 PM ET

By Janet McGurty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. drivers are relying more on credit cards to cushion the pain of high gasoline prices than they have in the past, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Convenience stores, which sell about three-quarters of all gasoline sold in the nation, have seen the use of credit card purchases for motor fuel rise to 70 percent from about 54 percent last year, according to the industry group.

And drivers are seen reaching into their pockets for plastic more often as they try to stretch their budgets.

"Consumers are trying to displace the pain for a few weeks," said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the group which includes stores owned by oil companies.

[MonteQuest]

More in my blog:

Demand Destruction? Not Yet....

[SurvivalAcres]

And how long can this last? Until the credit card is maxed out? What, about three months?

[MonteQuest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SurvivalAcres', 'A')nd how long can this last? Until the credit card is maxed out? What, about three months?

[markam]

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I figured we weren't seeing demand destruction because of credit card usage at the pump (something that wasn't done 30 years ago). Guess I was right.

[marko]

A word of caution on reading these statistics: I typically use my credit card to pay for gas and have done so for years. But I pay off my credit card balance every month. There are many others like me.

That said, I suspect that much of the increment since last year is not paying off every month.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('marko', 'A') word of caution on reading these statistics: I typically use my credit card to pay for gas and have done so for years. But I pay off my credit card balance every month. There are many others like me.

That said, I suspect that much of the increment since last year is not paying off every month.

[MonteQuest]

Yes, I read somewhere that there was a 27% increase in people not paying g off their credit cards each month for gas and groceries!

And the minmum payments double starting in October.

[jmacdaddio]

I started a thread on this!! I'm impressed with my visionary skills.

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic9694.html

[lawnchair]

There is an alternate reason. For several years I had made a serious effort to pay for things in cash. I'm a stingy bastard anyway, but more so with "real" money. (And, even more so with real specie money). Which worked.

But, I've gone to putting gas on the credit card. A $35 fillup is a big chunk of the $50-$100 in cash I'm likely to carry. Wasn't such a big deal at $10 fills. Also, since the stations have moved to prepay, it's much more convenient to pay-at-the-pump than to trot to the cashier twice.

Overall, though, I do suppose we are further in credit card debt than ever. Sigh.

[BitterSweetCrude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BabyPeanut', 'F')rom the "out of the frying pan and into the fire" file:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]US drivers use credit cards to manage gasoline pain
Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:36 PM ET

By Janet McGurty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. drivers are relying more on credit cards to cushion the pain of high gasoline prices than they have in the past, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Convenience stores, which sell about three-quarters of all gasoline sold in the nation, have seen the use of credit card purchases for motor fuel rise to 70 percent from about 54 percent last year, according to the industry group.

And drivers are seen reaching into their pockets for plastic more often as they try to stretch their budgets.

"Consumers are trying to displace the pain for a few weeks," said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the group which includes stores owned by oil companies.

[frankthetank]

I also commented on this within the last 2 weeks. Credit is so easy to come by these days. I'm thinking once that bankruptcy law goes into effect and minimum payments are upped, we'll see more chaos. I still think mass layoffs are needed before the poopy really hits the spinning fan blades.

[Specop_007]

This just makes no sense.How can GAS account for so much of their budget??
Lets say you use 30 gallons a week (You have a nice big SUV/Pickup)
If you were paying $2.00, and now your paying $3.00 then you net change on your budget is 30 bucks a week.
I just cant believe people are already stretched so thin that they cant absorb a 30 dollar a week change in the budget?! Thats 60 bucks between paychecks. Shit, I spend more then that just to smoke and have a beer on occasion!!

Are most Americans *really* stretched that thin? I doubt it.........At least, I HOPE not!

[newdamage]

I don't think it's so much that people are stretched thin, I think it's that in order to compensate for the extra cost of gas they have to reallocate money from other places: i.e. not going out to eat as much, not going to the movies as much, etc, etc. This means that instead of the money getting pumped back into the economy it's just being sent to the oil companies coffers.

As gas gets more expensive people will cut the fat off their spending and focus on the essentials. People need to drive to work every day, it's a necessity. People can live without going to the movies or taking the kids to Applebee's on friday night.

Just makes me glad I only live 3 miles from work and own a good commuter bicycle with panniers.

[Ranglepung]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'B')ingo! I've been using my credit card to buy gas for the past 5 years++ but I pay my credit card bill in full every month. Why do I use plastic? B/C it's much more convienent. I don't have to walk into the store to meet the cashier to exchange cash and with credit you always have exact change.

I'm surprised there are still people out there who buy gas with cash.

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'ve been using my Discover card to pay for gas because they've been giving 5% cash back on gas purchases this summer.

[Specop_007]

I need to quit smoking, I know.

Maybe you guys can ride my ass till I quit.

Filling up 2-3 times a week?! Are they driving pickups/SUV's or are they driving economy cars? We fill up an average of once a week I figure. Having the Jetta TDI is really nice.

[Leanan]

A lot of them are driving vans, pickups, and SUVs. Some because they need the SUV for the family. (To be fair, these days you can't throw the kids in the back of the station wagon or pickup. You need child safety seats, by law, which means if you have a lot of kids, you need a minivan or SUV.) Some because they transport equipment that won't easily fit in a car. And some just because they like being higher than the other cars on the road.

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BitterSweetCrude', 'I')'ve been using my Discover card to pay for gas because they've been giving 5% cash back on gas purchases this summer. The rest of the year I only get 1% back. I've never paid a cent of credit card interest because I pay the card off every month.

[Leanan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut you are still living a month "behind" if you do this, unless you pay the credit card bill from a savings account which gets a refill with the same amount every month.