Many U.S. consumers are leaving the plastic in their wallets in favor of cash and debit cards, MSNBC/The Associated Press reports. A big factor is less credit available as major card issuers cut spending limits and raise fees even for customers who pay their bills on time.

The shift ends Americans' long love affair with credit cards and is one of the changes in consumer behavior that has emerged since the financial meltdown that could depress consumer spending this holiday season and affect shoppers' habits long afterward.

Particularly during holiday seasons past, shoppers could count on a pile of plastic to give them the extra financing needed to splurge on presents before they had to face the bills in January or later.

But even when the economy recovers and credit loosens up, analysts say Americans -- shaped by what could be a deep and long-lasting recession -- are likely to stick with buying only what they can afford just as their parents or grandparents did after the Great Depression, the article reports.

One sign of how strapped consumers are for credit -- and buying only what they have the cash for -- is that for the first time in 17 years, Penney's has seen swings in spending around payday cycles over the past three months.

That's common for discounters like Wal-Mart, but a rarity for a mall-based department store -- suggesting that Penney's middle-income customers are feeling the pinch as well. Ken Hicks, Penney's president and chief merchandising officer, noted that the chain hasn't seen swings in spending around payday since about 1991, when the United States was entering a recession.

At Wal-Mart, the volatility in spending around payday -- a drop in spending in the days before, followed by spending bursts right afterward -- has become even more pronounced since September. Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe told The Associated Press that shoppers are now unable to buy even necessities in the few days before payday.

Such swings became more dramatic last fall, but subsided when shoppers received their government rebate checks this past spring.