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Bad news travels fast. And far.

Even in North Carolina, which has been spared some of the worst ravages of the mortgage crisis, we are not untouched.

Thus far in 2008, Guilford County has seen 3,061 foreclosure starts, a 23 percent increase over last year.

But the credit crunch spawned by the subprime mortgage implosion may be only the beginning.

Another road to easy money, the one paved with plastic, is beginning to close as well.

American Express announced last week that it would cut 7,000 jobs and freeze management salaries. That amounts worldwide to 10 percent of its work force. The cuts will affect the company's sizable call center in Greensboro, although it was not immediately clear how much.

Amex saw a 24 percent drop in third-quarter profits.

It is not alone.

The New York Times reported last week that the credit card industry wrote off $21 billion in bad debt during the first half of this year. Those losses could mount to $55 billion over the next year. Or worse.

All told, total credit card debt in the United States approaches $950 billion.

And the industry's problem is our problem.

Tightening the screws

As lenders' cash flow ebbs, they've begun to change the terms and limits of credit cards.

Fewer credit cards are being issued.

Fewer zero-interest offers are available as lures to new customers.

Fewer opportunities to transfer existing balances to lower-interest cards exist as relatively easy outs for overextended borrowers.

This means you're unlikely to see as many offers for new cards in your mailbox, as many as 13 fewer per household, one direct mail company told the Times.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

But this also means that if you're deemed a bad enough credit risk, you could lose your existing card, even if your account is current.

Finally, this means as well that it will be harder to qualify for cards in the first place. You'll need more than an address and a pulse.

A new reality

Credit card issuers should have been using such policies from the start. Instead, they've seduced consumers with sexy promotional interest rates that balloon over time and can saddle consumers with hidden fees.

The problem is, times are tough all over, for lenders and borrowers.

As job losses mount, more people have been forced to use credit cards as less of a choice and more of a necessity.

A card that yesterday might have bought a new stereo or a flat screen TV might pay today for groceries or utilities.

The tougher terms couldn't come at a worse time.

Even consumers with solid credit are being squeezed. Those whose accounts aren't active enough are finding them closed. Some even are charged higher interest rates or assigned lower borrowing limits, which could lower their credit ratings.

Whose fault is all this? Everyone.

The credit card companies are culpable for flooding consumers with offers and keeping them hooked with minimum payments and fees in fine print that keep balances high and maximize interest revenue. The consumers are culpable for spending too much and saving too little.

As one credit card commercial says, using the lyrics of an old Queen song: "I want it all ... and I want it now."

Credit cards can be useful tools to stretch budgets and ease cash flow. But they also feed our desire to buy now and pay later, often recklessly and impulsively.

Kicking the habit

Those of us who needed to impose more discipline on our buying habits now have an additional incentive: We have to.

At least the crisis has forced healthy change, as painful as it might be.

North Carolina rightly has placed laws on the books to protect consumers from predatory lending practices, including a ban on payday loans and unsavory mortgage lending practices.

It is, in fact, one of the most progressive states in such regulation.

That does not excuse consumers from acting more responsibly.

This includes paying more than the minimum, paying off total balances as soon as possible, curbing reckless spending habits and saving more.

According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the personal savings rate hovers below 3 percent of disposable income. That's a recipe for trouble.

As a common rule of thumb, we should aim to put away 10 percent of each paycheck for a rainy day.

It's beginning to pour right now.