Credit card use at the pumps could cost you more

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - As gas prices rise heading into the holiday weekend, many continue to feel the sting in their wallets.

“It’s been tough keeping up,” said Adam West.

West owns a landscaping company serving the Nashville area. He usually stops by the gas station multiple times during a typical week.

“You know I use roughly $250 of gas a week, and that’s jumped up quite a bit,” West explained.

It’s a pricey jump we’ve all seen. But, as a Certified Financial Planner and Vice President of Beacon Capital Management, Daniel Benson notices the impact beyond the pump.

“It’s been interesting this year; there are some statistics out there. The average credit card debt in America today is 841 billion dollars nearing all-time highs,” stated Benson.

On top of that, he says that credit card interest rates are also nearing all-time highs. So, delaying your payments could cost you even more for those who prefer to use cards at the pump.

“If you are paying that credit card off every month, you don’t really see any of those increased interest rates. But if you’re not, you have inflation on food, high gas prices, and your credit card bill is going up all at the same time, which is not a good scenario for really anybody,” explained Benson.

But despite these soaring prices, there are always ways to save.

“The amount we were allocating to spend on food and gas and clothing, all of that is costing more. We need to make sure we’ve gone into our budget and adjusted those numbers to make sure there may be other areas in our lives that we have to forgo,” Benson said.

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