More money being spent on the necessities of life is making it tougher to make ends meet today.

It means living on plastic is the new currency for more people. Credit card use is up for everyday living. And it means debt is also up. It's making it difficult for some to repay as the economy continues to stall.

Credit card debt is topping two and half trillion dollars in the united states. This as inflation in June saw the biggest jump in 26 years. Credit cards are being used more and more to pay for every day living from the grocery store check out to filling the tank.

"That's probably the biggest hit to your budget," said Kathy Keathy of Gresham. She's trying to avoid using her credit cards, but sometimes there is just no choice.

Local credit councilors are keeping busy these days. At Clearpoint Financial Solutions on SE Washington Street in Portland, specialist Mathew Raczko is trying to keep up with the need.

"The amount of debt that's owed is increasing. And has been consistently go up," he said.

"A potential lifestyle change or a job loss, a job change with a reduction of income, those can all be hard to live with," said Rackzo.

At twenty-five years old, Eric from Portland is now fifty thousand dollars in debt. Most of it is from school loans, but a good portion is from credit cards. He says he needed to use them to just survive. He's been paying just his monthly payment, but he feels he's taking one step forward and two back and not making any progress.

At Wells Fargo any credit card payments missed for two months is considered in default.

More: Hands on banking

"Price and fees are going to go up," said Tom Under, Vice President of Communications. Unger says as soon as you know you're in financial trouble paying even the minimum, notify the bank. He says the bank will work with customers with a repayment plan.

But, Trash Wager of Oregon City has her own plan.

"We did plastic surgery a few years ago." Wager says only buy what you can afford. "If we can debit, write a check or pay cash we don't buy it," said Wager.