According to Freddie Mac, 30-year mortgage rates are 6.53% and 15-year rates are 5.87% as of May 28, 2026. The following chart shows the 30-year mortgage rate trend over the last year.

Mortgage Refi Calculator

Inflation is heating up again, with the conflict in Iran pushing gas prices higher.

At the same time, summer spending is ramping up. Vacations, cookouts, beach trips and everyday expenses are putting extra pressure on household budgets.

More Americans are relying on credit cards to cover those costs — sometimes out of necessity, sometimes from overspending. The Wall Street Journal recently described the trend as “survival debt.”

The numbers are concerning. In Q1, the percentage of credit card balances at least 90 days delinquent climbed to 13.12%, the highest level since the Great Recession 15 years ago.

Credit card rates are also surging. The average APR hit 21% in February, up nearly 6.5 percentage points from four years ago.

Meanwhile, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling reported a 24% increase in clients this January compared with a year earlier.

Now is a good time to tighten your budget, cut recurring expenses where you can and stay disciplined with spending.

Carrying credit card balances month to month is one of the quickest ways to damage your financial health. Missing minimum payments can hurt your credit for years.

The best strategy is prevention. But if you’re already dealing with credit card debt, Clark has advice on how to start digging out.

And if the temptation to keep swiping is too strong? You can literally put them in the freezer in water and block yourself from using them until you pay down the balances.

It’s time for "Clark Stinks!" Lane (Clark’s wife!) reads the latest "Clark Stinks!" submissions and Clark responds. Also, a shocking 81% of consumers admit to routinely making impulse buys. But while small impulse buys hurt your weekly budget, there is one major lifestyle purchase that is absolutely sabotaging your long-term wealth: your vehicle. The data shows that the average cost of a vehicle has climbed to a whopping $50,000, yet we still get tired of our rides and cycle through them too quickly. By making a single change to how you buy, what you buy, and how often you buy a vehicle over your working lifetime—and investing those savings into the stock market instead—you could easily put an extra $250,000 directly into your pocket by the time you retire. Use our Wealth Impact Calculator to turbocharge your retirement savings today.

The Team Clark Consumer Action Center is a free helpline that can help you navigate your money questions. Call 636-492-5275. Visit clark.com/cac for more information.