Families have £10 less each week than three years ago Households have £10 a week less to spare than they did during a peak in February 2010, Asda's income tracker found. Weak income growth was the "primary driver" behind the fall in budgets, with wage growth at its slowest since the start of the economic crisis, the report said. Average pay rose 0.8pc in the year to April. The cost of electricity and gas was also a strong factor, with gas prices up 8.3pc year-on-year. There was good news for motorists, however, as fuel costs fell by 3.7pc year-on-year. Rob Habron, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which compiled the report, said: "The squeeze on household incomes has returned in 2013 despite the gradually improving economy." The report calculates spending power as the money left after bills for groceries, fuel, mortgage interest payments and rent. Rival supermarket bank M&S has reported that a third of consumers use their credit card for everyday spending such as the weekly shop and convenience buys - while almost half of users put petrol on their credit card. It is not just families who are racking up debt - a debt charity revealed earlier this month that pensioners asking for help had an average of £15,000 on credit cards compared to £10,000 for all age groups. StepChange blamed a lack of employment opportunities and inflation for consumers' diminished spending power.