This article was originally published on Crafting Your Home. A human contributor also wrote and edited the post.
For millions of American families, buying food is no longer a simple weekly expense. A growing number are carrying credit card balances, using installment loans, dipping into emergency savings, or even turning to payday loans just to keep groceries in the kitchen.
New Urban Institute research shows that the pressure is especially severe for low- and moderate-income households. The nationally representative study surveyed more than 10,000 adults in December 2025, including over 7,500 working-age adults between 18 and 64.
Its findings point to something deeper than shoppers complaining about expensive eggs or coffee. Many households are borrowing money for food and then struggling to repay it, turning an unavoidable purchase into a longer-lasting financial burden.
Grocery shopping is becoming a debt decision.
About 35 percent of working-age adults bought groceries with a credit card and paid the bill in full. Another 19.6 percent carried at least part of the balance, even though they consistently made the required minimum payment.
The most troubling group was the 8.7 percent who used credit cards for groceries and did not always make the minimum payment. Taken together, more than one in four working-age adults bought food with credit cards and experienced some form of repayment difficulty.
That figure increased compared with the Urban Institute’s previous study. The share of adults who used credit cards for groceries and sometimes failed to make the minimum payment rose from 7.1 percent in 2023 to 8.7 percent in 2025.
Missing a minimum payment can make an already expensive grocery bill even harder to escape. Interest, possible late charges, and a growing unpaid balance can leave families paying for food weeks or months after it has been consumed.
Credit cards were not the only borrowing option families used. Nearly one in 10 working-age adults reported using Buy Now, Pay Later services for groceries, and 34.8 percent of those users missed at least one payment.
About 5.2 percent used money obtained through a recent payday loan to purchase food. Such borrowing can provide immediate relief, but it also means part of a future paycheck may already be committed before it arrives.
Families are also draining their financial safety nets.
Borrowing was only one sign of distress. Nearly 20 percent of working-age adults said they had used savings that were not intended for ordinary daily spending to pay for groceries.
That money may have come from an emergency account, a long-term savings fund, or cash set aside for another important goal. Using it can solve today’s grocery problem, but it leaves the household more exposed to the next car repair, medical bill, rent increase, or job disruption.
Federal Reserve findings reinforce that concern. In 2025, only 63 percent of adults said they could handle a $400 emergency with cash, savings, or a credit card they would fully repay at the next statement, down from 68 percent in 2021.
The Federal Reserve also reported that 16 percent of adults had failed to pay all their bills during the previous month. Eight percent said people in their household sometimes or often lacked enough food, rising to 21 percent among adults earning less than $25,000.
The burden is not evenly shared. More than half of low- and moderate-income adults who bought groceries with credit cards consistently failed to pay the full balance, compared with just over one-third of higher-income card users.
Households reporting the largest increases in grocery costs were also more likely to miss minimum payments. Among adults who said their grocery expenses had risen substantially, 12.4 percent failed to make every minimum payment, more than twice the rate among those reporting smaller increases.
Food inflation keeps squeezing household budgets.
Grocery inflation has slowed compared with the sharp increases seen earlier in the decade, but food prices remain much higher than they were several years ago. The Urban Institute estimates that grocery prices increased by about 32 percent over five years, helping explain why many families still feel squeezed even when monthly inflation readings appear modest.
In May 2026, the government’s food at home index rose 2.7 percent compared with the previous year. Fruit and vegetable prices increased 6.1 percent, and nonalcoholic beverages rose 5.8 percent over the same period.
These increases arrive alongside pressure from other essential bills. Overall consumer prices were 4.2 percent higher in May than one year earlier, with energy costs rising particularly quickly.
Credit card balances across the country stood at approximately $1.25 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Although balances declined seasonally by $25 billion during the quarter, they remained part of a broader household debt load totaling $18.8 trillion.
The Federal Reserve found that average credit card balances had increased by more than 35 percent among people who described themselves as finding it difficult to get by since 2023. That suggests the households facing the greatest financial hardship are also accumulating balances at the fastest rate.
For families already using debt to buy food, cutting optional spending may offer little relief because groceries are not optional. People can postpone a vacation or a new television, but they cannot indefinitely postpone feeding their children.
Government and community assistance may offer help before expensive borrowing becomes the only option. SNAP applicants must apply through the state where they live and meet income and resource requirements. The 211 network connects households with local food programs, benefits, and emergency support.
The larger warning in the new research is clear. When ordinary grocery trips begin to drain emergency accounts and lead to unpaid credit card balances, food affordability has become more than an inflation statistic.
It becomes a threat to a family’s future financial stability. Today’s dinner may be paid for tonight, but the interest, missed savings, and debt can remain on the household budget long after the plates have been cleared.
If you like what you just read, then subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
