More Bad News About Credit Cards

According to an AP article, the percentage of credit cards that are 30 or more days past due climbed to an all-time high of 4.81 percent in the April-to-June period. Analysts mostly blamed high prices for gasoline and other energy products, but said savings and higher borrowing costs also played a role.

More great news from the article:

"The personal savings rate dipped to a record low of negative 0.6 percent in July. The negative percentage means that people did not have enough left over after paying their taxes to cover all of their spending in July. As a result, they dipped into savings to cover the shortfall. When people have less money available to pay for energy costs or emergencies such as a big car repair, many resort to credit."

Besides education, how can we make better spenders so that these numbers start going in opposite directions?