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During the first quarter of the year, consumers continued to cut the balances they carried overall, particularly slashing their credit card debt and mortgage balances, but still sought out new lines of student loan financing.

The total amount of money consumers owed on all their outstanding lines of credit slipped once again in the first quarter of 2012, falling by roughly $100 billion to a total of $11.44 trillion, down 0.9 percent from the final three months of last year, according to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The two most significant driving factors in pushing down outstanding balances were sizable declines both outstanding home loan balances, which fell $81 billion – or 1 percent overall – to a total of nearly $8.19 trillion.

Further, consumer credit card debt continued its continual slide, falling to $679 billion from the $704 billion observed at the end of last year, the report said. This was also another decline on an annual basis, from the $696 billion seen in the same quarter last year. Further, consumer credit card balances are also down 21.6 percent from the all-time high of $866 billion in the final quarter of 2008.

But even as consumers eschewed most other types of debt, student loans continued to surge, the report said. Outstanding balances on these accounts now stand at $904 billion, up $30 billion from the fourth quarter last year and an increase of $663 billion from the totals seen in 2003. Student loan debt has been the second-largest form of consumer credit, surpassing credit card balances, since the second quarter of last year, and Donghoon Lee, senior economist at the New York Fed, noted that is the only form of consumer credit that has increased significantly from the totals seen at the all-time peak for household credit seen in 2008.

Nonetheless, consumer appetite for new credit has grown significantly in the last two years, and now stands 15.5 percent higher than the levels seen in the first quarter of 2010, the report said.

Consumers have been trying to get out from under their outstanding balances since the recession hit, and many have been successful in finding at least some amount of debt relief during that time.

A number of economic factors may lead more consumers to curtail their spending and in doing so make continued efforts to reduce their outstanding credit card debt.

Recent statistics from the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence fell between April and May, and that might have a negative impact on borrowers' credit card use in the coming months, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. However, broadening lending standards granting some subprime borrowers access to new lines of credit might help to prevent a larger drop in spending.

The good news for lenders is that if consumers reduce spending, they will likely make greater efforts to keep their payments into their outstanding balances coming in on time, the report said. Already, delinquency and default on retailer-issued cards, which are traditionally riskier propositions for lenders than traditional cards, have seen late payments fall to lows not seen in years.

Since the end of the recession, consumers have been able to gain large amounts of debt relief through repeated on-time payments and more controlled spending.

These days, millions of Americans are seeking new types of accounts that will reward them more handsomely for taking on credit card debt, and some of the most popular cards now have increased rewards for airline miles and other travelarrangements.

The airline and hotel industries alone now issue more than $50 billion worth of credit card rewards points and miles to consumers as a larger number are now on the lookout for more valuable benefit programs, according to a report from the luxury travel company Alpha Flight Guru. In many cases, the accounts being issued nowadays grant consumers as much as 5 percent rewards – that is, they earn 5 cents worth of points or miles back for every dollar they spend on the account.

Many lenders are also adding non-rewards incentives as well, the report said. These include the ability to go through members-only security lines with shorter waits, or no baggage fees that other passengers might have to pay.

However, some card issuers are reducing their costs for these accounts by increasing the annual fees associated with them. For this reason, consumers who are not careful with their spending may end up having to seek the help of debt relief services.

Consumers have been very conscientious in making sure to reduce their outstanding credit card debt over the last few years and now stand in far better financial positions since the end of the recession.

Balances on consumer credit cards issued by financial institutions stood at $531 billion in April, according to the latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report from the credit monitoring bureau Equifax. That's down roughly 28 percent from the all-time high of more than $730 billon observed in January 2009.

Meanwhile, the amount owed on retail credit cards has largely remained the same, at least on a seasonally-adjusted basis, has remained more or less the same, but has done so despite there being more than 173 million such accounts nationwide, up 4.7 percent from December 2010, the report said. And as of April, the available credit limits on these accounts has jumped by roughly $5 billion in total after hitting an all-time low at the end of last year.

Consumers are getting their finances on track in a variety of ways over the last few years, leading to fewer seeking out debt relief services.

Millions of Americans are now happily taking on credit card debt because their accounts will grant them points, cash back or airline miles for doing so, and half of those making summer travel plans will redeem those perks to make their vacations more affordable.

About 50 percent of all consumers planning to take a trip this summer will use their credit card points to finance at least part of it, up from 42 percent at this time last year, according to the latest Rewards Barometer from Capital One Financial, which tracks how borrowers are feeling about their rewards cards. The majority of those who plan to use their rewards points in this way – 58 percent – will do so to buy airline tickets, while another 42 percent will redeem their accumulated rewards for hotel stays, and 18 percent will use theirs for gasoline purchases.

However, many consumers who use rewards cards may not be aware that doing so can be costly, as these accounts typically have higher annual fees and interest rates than no-frills cards. This means users might be more likely to end up needing debt relief as a result.

These days, more consumers are making business related purchases as part of their jobs, but fewer are doing so using their personal accounts, as many may be trying to avoid increased credit card debt.

Today, 21 percent of credit card users say they make business purchases as part of their job – up from 17 percent in October 2008 – and of that number, only 45 percent do so using personal credit cards, according to the latest Cardbeat study from the Auriemma Consulting Group. That's down from 62 percent a few years ago.

The majority of people who use their credit cards to make business purchases do so when traveling for work, the report said. In all, 60 percent of respondents put meals or hotel accommodations on those accounts. Lenders may do more to encourage this type of spending, such as by partnering with hotel chains, because the amount is more likely to be repaid thanks to employer reimbursement.

Consumers have generally been trying to avoid putting large amounts of money on their credit cards in recent months because many are wary of carrying large balances, which can lead to the necessity for debt relief.

Since the end of the recession, many Americans have been shy about taking on credit card debt, but in many cases, those who do are now doing so through the use of rewards accounts.

Though attitudes toward credit card borrowing have changed considerably in the last few years, rewards accounts remain extremely popular with both banks and consumers, according to the latest monthly Cardbeat report from Auriemma Consulting Group. Credit card issuers are now extending more offers for these accounts than they were a year ago, and many consumers who have them enjoy using them on a regular basis.

About 80 percent of those polled who had rewards cards used them more often than their other accounts, the report said. Further, 82 percent said they had actually redeemed the points or miles they racked up on the accounts, and 93 percent said they had positive experiences in doing so.

However, consumers should also be aware that carrying a balance on a rewards card tends to be more costly than doing so on more traditional accounts because these cards tend to come higher interest rates, meaning overspending on these cards might eventually require the user to seek some debt relief options.

The way in which consumers handled their credit card debt issued by one of the nation's top lenders was a bit of a mixed bag in April.

The latest regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Capital One Financial shows that while the company once again saw instances of credit card payments that were 30 days or more behind on payments slipped once again last month, it also saw more significantly late accounts that had to be written off as uncollectable, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires. Capital One said its 30-day delinquency rate fell to just 3.18 percent of all accounts, down from 3.25 percent in March.

On the other hand, it also saw charged off accounts rise to 4.07 percent of balances, up significantly from the 3.85 percent seen the month before, the report said. In recent months, the company had largely been seeing improved credit quality from its lending portfolio.

In general, fluctuations in the delinquency rate are usually observed in those for defaulted accounts several months down the road, but both are signs that consumers might need a little bit of debt relief.

The federal agency tasked with helping protect consumers from troublesome loan agreements and credit card debt is still focused on making contracts for cards easier to understand.

Even as the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has tackled a number of other credit-related issues facing Americans, it has not forgotten its task of simplifying credit card fee and rate disclosure documents, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswire. A number of prototypes for such agreements were introduced soon after the CFPB gained full regulatory power, but the agency has also turned its attentions to other matters.

"My view continues to be that the consumer ought to be able to read the contract and we can … create a document that is [binding]," Marla Blow, assistant director of card markets for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said during a recent presentation, according to the news agency.

Clearer understanding of the terms of the accounts they are signing on to may be a boon for consumers, and could lead to fewer needing to seek significant debt relief measures as a result of extremely strained finances.

On a year-over-year basis, the amount of credit card debt carried by consumers increased significantly, reversing months of downward trends.

The amount of credit card debt held nationwide surged in March, rising 7.8 percent on an annual basis, to a total of $803.6 billion, according to the latest monthly statistics from the Federal Reserve Board. That's the largest total seen this year, and, despite declines in both January and February, more or less returned consumers to the levels seen at the end of last year, when they owed $803.8 billion. However, that total is still well below the all-time high of nearly $989.1 billion observed in December 2008.

Borrowing on other non-mortgage installment loans, like education and auto financing, also increased in March, the report said. It rose 11.3 percent year-over-year to nearly $1.74 trillion, and has continued to rise significantly in every month so far this year.

Consumers who take on more in outstanding balances they can afford to pay back may end up having to seek out a number of debt relief options to keep themselves from running into significant financial problems.