Market Analysts say Consumer spending is up due to increasing Gasoline prices. Retail sales increased significantly by 0.4% last month making it the ninth consecutive gain in a row. On the other hand, however it is worth noting that Auto sales are on the decline due to climbing Oil prices and other factors like cost of living and so forth. Economists are predicting that a payroll tax cut and job growth will boost consumer sales for the rest of the year. Analysts are also concerned. However, that spike’s in energy prices may not leave shoppers with as much to spend as usual.

I guess a lot of consumers learned the hard lesson the past couple of years. Most consumers will be on a budget this year paying only by cash on what they can afford. Most credit card companies are giving out very lucrative offers when you use their credit cards to charge on holiday items. But retail customers are getting smarter and only using cash on things they can afford.