Americans are putting groceries and gas on credit, and the debt is piling up

For millions of Americans, putting food on the table increasingly means putting it on a credit card. Groceries, gasoline and utility bills are becoming sources of debt for households that struggle to cover everyday expenses with their paychecks.

Using credit cards to pay for necessities is nothing new. But when households cannot pay their balances in full each month, routine purchases can turn into debt that takes months or years to repay. A 2026 survey commissioned by Accredited Debt Relief found that 66% of respondents had used a credit card to purchase groceries in the previous year. The survey also found that 29% relied on credit or borrowing every month to make ends meet.

When you are buying food and gas on credit and only making minimum monthly payments, it’s a sign that your budget doesn’t have enough incoming cash flow. As the principal on your debt grows, the money you owe in interest can grow larger than your grocery bill.

When everyday expenses become long-term debt

Credit cards were designed to make purchases convenient and provide access to short-term credit. For consumers who pay their statement balances in full every month, they can offer rewards, purchase protections and an interest-free grace period.

The problem begins when credit cards become a substitute for income rather than a payment method. A household that charges $800 in groceries each month and pays the balance in full generally avoids purchase interest. But if that household can afford to repay only $600, the remaining $200 becomes revolving debt, and the unpaid balance carries over to the next billing cycle.

If that pattern continues, the family accumulates $2,400 in additional debt over a year, even before interest charges. And if the cardholder loses the grace period usually offered by credit cards for in-full payments by carrying a balance, new purchases may begin accruing interest immediately.

For households already struggling to cover expenses, this creates a problem. Food and gasoline are consumed long before the debt used to purchase them is repaid. Unlike borrowing for a home or another asset that may retain value, financing groceries does not leave the borrower with something that can be sold to recover the expense.

The Accredited Debt Relief survey suggests that this problem extends beyond occasional purchases. Only 28% of respondents said they could comfortably cover their expenses while continuing to save money. Just 14% expected to become debt-free within a year at their current repayment pace. 

Credit card balances reach $1.26 trillion as borrowers fall behind

The financial consequences of borrowing for everyday expenses are becoming apparent in national debt figures.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans owed $1.26 trillion in credit card debt at the end of the second quarter of 2026. That represented an increase of $21 billion from the previous quarter and $54 billion from a year earlier. Total household debt stood at approximately $18.8 trillion, including mortgages, auto loans, student loans and other borrowing. Although overall household debt declined slightly during the quarter, credit card balances continued to increase.

Over the same period, 6.97% of credit card balances transitioned into serious delinquency during the second quarter of 2026. Serious delinquency means payments are at least 90 days overdue, and the figures represent annualized rates of balances newly entering that category. In the August report, New York Fed researchers found that the share of credit card balances at least 90 days delinquent had increased from 7.6% in the third quarter of 2022 to 12.8% in the first quarter of 2026.

The directional data lends numerical credibility to the anecdotal evidence that people are borrowing more with less income available to pay the bills. Part of the problem is the many ways debt has become available over the last ten years.

Buy now, pay later adds another layer of household debt

Buy now, pay later services (aka BNPL) let consumers divide purchases into installments rather than paying the full amount upfront.

A typical arrangement divides a purchase into four payments over six weeks, often without interest if the borrower pays on schedule. For consumers with predictable income and enough money to cover the installments, these services can provide a way to manage the timing of payments. But the same arrangement can create problems when borrowers use it to purchase necessities they cannot otherwise afford.

If you are spending $200 on groceries a week, but you’re only paying $50 the first week, you may think you’re buying time. But after a month, you’re paying $200 for groceries you’ve already eaten — plus $200 in new groceries. This practice, sometimes called payment stacking, becomes more difficult to manage when borrowers use several BNPL providers simultaneously.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau examined this problem in a January 2025 study that linked BNPL loan records from six major providers to consumers’ credit records. The agency found that approximately 63% of BNPL borrowers had simultaneous loans at some point during 2021 and 2022. About 32% had active loans from at least two different providers. The CFPB also found that BNPL borrowers tended to carry higher balances on other forms of unsecured debt, including credit cards and personal loans.

Younger consumers were particularly exposed. Among borrowers ages 18 to 24, BNPL purchases represented 28% of their total unsecured consumer debt during months when they used the service. The comparable figure for borrowers across all age groups was 17%. What’s more, most BNPL users in the study had subprime or deep-subprime credit scores.

Although many BNPL plans do not charge interest, missed payments can trigger fees, and automatic withdrawals can create overdraft problems if the borrower lacks sufficient funds when an installment comes due.

How to keep everyday borrowing from becoming a debt crisis

The first step for households relying on credit for necessities is to determine whether borrowing reflects a temporary cash flow problem or a persistent gap between income and expenses. That requires adding up monthly take-home pay, essential expenses, existing debt payments and recurring installment obligations.

For borrowers who can cover their living expenses without taking on additional debt, paying more than the credit card minimum can reduce interest costs and shorten repayment periods.

If you are one of the consumers who feels like you can’t afford your minimum payments, it may be time to take bigger steps toward resolving your debt before falling further behind. You have options, including nonprofit credit counseling and debt management plans that combine payments to participating creditors and may reduce interest rates or fees.

Debt consolidation may provide another option, but replacing several balances with a single loan does not solve a continuing budget shortfall. Services that negotiate with your creditors to reduce your owed principal, also known as debt settlement, can also be a lifeline if your debts have outpaced your income.  

The bottom line

The distinction between using credit for convenience and depending on it for survival comes down to whether a household can repay what it borrows without taking on more debt.

A credit card purchase or interest-free installment plan is not inherently a financial problem. But when the next paycheck is already committed to paying for last month’s groceries, borrowing has stopped functioning as a short-term payment tool.