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The economic effects of the recent downturn continue to fade, which is good news to most consumers. But at the same time, rising prices for necessities may be creating more concern for those looking to avoid credit card debt.

Unemployment rates have taken a considerable tumble and a number of other improving economic factors have enticed consumers to start spending more in recent months, according to a report from MSNBC. However, at the same time, some of that spending may be driven by rising prices for necessities like gas and food, and that can have an adverse effect on consumers.

As spending has risen, the rate at which consumers are contributing a portion of their disposable income to savings has fallen in recent months, and consumers are now taking on more credit card debt to help cover the increased prices, the report said.

However, experts also believe that the recent recession changed consumers' attitudes toward dealing with and making efforts to find debt relief, and that has prompted many to alter their credit card habits. Now, many may spend on those accounts, but then pay them off in full at the end of every month.

Americans are still being more cautious about carrying credit card debt from one month to the next, even as they continue to expand their credit card use.

Over the last two years, the purchase volume on consumer credit cards issued by the nation's seven largest lenders has expanded 7.6 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, but at the same time, the balances carried on those accounts has fallen, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. In 2010, consumers' credit card balances slipped 8 percent, and another 1.6 percent in 2011, as borrowers looked for more ways to find debt relief.

This change comes because consumers, eager to reduce debt and get their accounts under control, are now focused more on becoming what are known as "transactors," those who use credit cards in their everyday lives but pay off the balance every month, the report said. In the past, many had been known as "revolvers," those who use their cards but carry a balance from one month to the next.

Consumers' balances have been falling for much of the last two years, with only slight upticks seen around the holiday seasons, which experts say happen every year.

While many consumers are worried about their finances and focusing on paying down their credit card debt as a result, new data suggests they're still prioritizing another type of loan over their outstanding balances.

Consumers who were struggling financially in 2011 were more likely to make sure they were current on their auto loan payments than their credit card or mortgage bills, according to a recent report from the credit monitoring bureau TransUnion. In all, just 9.5 percent of borrowers were delinquent on their auto loan bills while keeping current on the other two lines of credit.

By comparison, 17.3 percent of borrowers let their credit card payments fall behind as they kept up with their auto and home loans, and 39.1 percent allowed their mortgage payments to slip into delinquency while focusing on their balances and car loans, the report said.

Experts have noted that consumers may be more likely to fall behind on their mortgage payments because they see having the spending flexibility afforded by credit cards as being more important in their day-to-day lives. They may view having their cars, which are often necessary to go from one place to another with ease, similarly. Those struggling under these constraints may want to seek debt consolidation to get their problems under control.

Even as credit card lenders are now increasing marketing efforts for rewards accounts that come with very generous introductory offers, many consumers may still be too cautious about dealing with credit card debt to take full advantage.

Some new rewards card offers are now worth more than $1,000 in points, but in many cases, consumers just aren't biting, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The recent recession may have played a major role in reshaping consumer borrowing behavior, making many more cautious of opening accounts that will lead to larger amounts of debt. And while some consumers are indeed spending more on their accounts, many still don't carry a balance from one month to the next.

"As we come out of this recession, most of the increase in spending we've seen has come from mass-affluent customers," Mark Ford, a senior vice president at PNC Financial Services Group, told the newspaper.

Consumers have been conscientious in their efforts to find debt relief in the wake of the recession, leading to falling balances nationwide, as well as fewer instances of both delinquency and default.

In the last several months, many consumers, including those who have tried to reduce debt due to past financial problems, may have found themselves receiving a larger number of credit card offers.

The nation's top credit card issuers are now aggressively broadening their lending standards in an effort to expand their customer base, according to a report from TIME Moneyland. And one of the primary ways they're doing so is not by targeting those with troubled credit histories, but rather sending extremely valuable introductory offers to consumers with the best credit scores. And in the last few months, as lender competition for these superprime borrowers has heated up considerably, the value of those initial offers has grown significantly.

Just last summer, top-notch borrowers could expect to get hundreds of dollars worth of bonus points, miles or cash back, just for signing up, and spending a certain amount in the first few months the account is open, the report said. But now, the most aggressive of these offers are worth more than $1,000 to borrowers who meet certain spending thresholds.

For example, the ThankYou Premier card from Citi will grant new cardholders a maximum of 80,000 points for signing up and then spending $3,000 on the card within the first three months the account is open, the report said. Those points are worth $1,060, meaning consumers are essentially earning more than 33 percent cash back on the initial offer.

However, that deal is beaten out by the offer for new customers who get an American Express Platinum card, the report said. The maximum value of that introductory offer is 100,000 points, which can be worth as much as $1,200. This card, too, has the $3,000 spending threshold in the first three months the account is open, but the total value of the cash back offer is 40 percent of that spending.

However, consumers should keep in mind that these offers also come with sizable annual fees that can take a lot of spending on a card to cover with rewards points. They also typically carry higher interest rates than no frills cards, meaning that credit card debt can pile up far more quickly on such an account if the balance isn't being paid off in full at the end of every month.

While many consumers made efforts to reduce debt during and after the recent recession, some have been tempted to start borrowing on credit cards again, and experts believe this may be leading to significant financial difficulties for some.

The final quarter of 2011 saw an increase in the amount of credit risk consumers faced, and much of that was the result of borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments, according to a report from Your Money Matters. Some experts believe this is a consequence of subprime borrowers once again having access to credit cards that they had been locked out of in the past, as lenders have made an effort to extend credit to riskier consumers once again.

As a result, many may see credit cards as something they cannot afford to miss out on again, and are therefore prioritizing their card payments ahead of their mortgages, the report said.

Consumers have generally been very good about making efforts to cut their credit card debt since the recession, and all of the nation's top lenders have seen delinquencies and defaults plunge as a result.

The nation's sixth-largest credit card lender by spending saw consumers use their cards more often in the first fiscal quarter of the year, as well as get a better handle on paying down their credit card debt.

Consumers used cards issued by Discover Financial Services more often in the first three months of the new fiscal year, and also continued to make efforts to reduce debt, which led to a huge increase in profits on a year-over-year basis, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. In all, Discover saw profits jump 36 percent on an annual basis to $631 million, up from just $465 million in the same period last year.

"Continued improvements in credit performance, solid organic growth in each of our lending products and strong volume growth across our networks were key drivers of this quarter's earnings," said David Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover, according to the newspaper.

In all, Discover cardholders used their accounts more often in the three-month period, and purchase volume – the amount of money spent on the cards – climbed 7 percent to $25.6 billion, the report said. And at the same time, those borrowers also significantly reduced the number of outstanding balances they carried.

Discover's delinquency rate fell to just 2.22 percent in the first quarter, down from 2.39 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and a significant decline from the 3.59 percent observed on an annual basis. Further, its charge off rate – the total percentage of balances that had to be stricken from lender records as being uncollectable – dropped to 3.09 percent. In the previous quarter, it stood at 3.24 percent, and was at 5.96 percent during the first fiscal quarter of 2011.

As a result of sliding delinquencies and defaults, Discover had just $226 million set aside to cover loan losses, down from $271 million in the same quarter last year, the report said.

In general, consumers have been more conscientious in paying down their outstanding credit card debt and avoiding late payments for more than a year now, leading to all of the nation's top lenders reporting sinking delinquency and default rates. However, some experts also caution that these rates may soon bottom out and could begin climbing again to figures that are more in line with historical averages.

Recent laws have made it more difficult for young adults to take on credit card debt by limiting the ways in which they can actually obtain an account, but now many lenders are trying to skirt federal regulations.

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 made it so that lenders couldn't market on campuses, as a means of preventing college students and other consumers under the age of 21 from falling into troublesome debt, according to a report from the Charleston Business Journal. Now, many have stepped up marketing of new accounts through social networks like Facebook, where most college kids spend a lot of their online lives.

And though the protections may not be helping college students to actually reduce debt, the rate at which they're taking on credit has slowed considerably, and the number of young adults who have these accounts is also declining, the report said. In all, the number of college students who have their own card has fallen 27 percent since 2009.

One provision of the law is that those under 21 must either provide proof of adequate income when opening an account or otherwise have an adult co-signer.

Many consumers have made significant efforts to reduce debt in the past few years, but at the same time, a large number of younger Americans have been racking up significant balances on several different kinds of accounts.

The average person in the 20s now carries some $45,000 in outstanding debts in student loans, credit card debt, auto loans and mortgages, though they tend to understandably pick up more as they age, according to a new survey from the PNC Financial Services Group. Those who were 20 or 21 had just $12,000 in outstanding balances, and while one-fifth had credit card debt, most of that was comprised of education loans. Only 9 percent and 3 percent had auto loans or mortgage debt, respectively.

But by the time consumers were 28 or 29, they had an average of $78,000 in debt, the report said. More than half still had education debt, while 48 percent had credit cards, 38 percent had car loans, and 29 percent had mortgages.

Experts believe that student loan debt will only become a larger problem for young adults in the near future as tuitions rise nationwide and the importance of having a college degree when applying for jobs increases.

After a slight uptick in problems in the month of January, consumers returned to being conscientious in their efforts to reduce debt in February, leading to fewer late payments and a slightly lower charge off rate for the nation's top six lenders.

Delinquent credit card debt decreased in the month of February for five of the nation's top six lenders as consumers returned to their post-recession borrowing habits after eschewing them slightly as a result of the holiday shopping season, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires. Only American Express did not see fewer delinquencies, but it said that its late payment rate held steady.

However, when it came to balances that were so far behind on payments they had to be written off as uncollectable, half of those lenders – American Express, Discover and Citi – saw increases, the report said.

Instances of both delinquencies and defaults are still hovering near all-time lows as a result of consumers making greater efforts to cut their outstanding balances and use their credit cards more responsibly during and immediately following the recession.