HIGH POINT, N.C. — The cost of living continues to increase, and Americans are paying for it.
According to CBS News, the typical household is paying more than $5,000 dollars this year compared to last.
That includes paying for things like groceries or gas and it's causing some to look for a solution.
Many people have been turning to pawn shops in hopes to receive some extra cash. The past couple of months has been busy for James Greene, owner of Coins and Stuff, pawn shop in High Point.
"People have quit buying jewelry, coins, gold, and silver but they have started pawning and selling which means they need money rather than spending it,” said Greene.
He said people have been coming in and pawning all sorts of items to help them make ends meet.
"A woman came in today and took the necklace off her neck because she needed gas to go to work. Another person came in and took their bracelet off and said they needed to pay their house payment, so this is where the rubber meets the road,” Greene said.
Due to these hard times, he said when someone comes into his shop to pawn an item he asks them how much they need and tries his best to match that price.
The owner of M&T's pawn and gun shop in Lexington has also been seeing new people.
"We’ve had customers come in that have had to pawn gold guns and stuff like that and a lot of gold just for gas to get back-and-forth to work. I even drive a diesel truck and I used to pay 70 something dollars and now it’s almost $200 so it’s tough on everyone,” Mark Richardson said.
Richardson has been in the business for 15 years. He said the influx comes as no surprise.
"Unfortunately, when the economy goes south and gets worse, the pawnshop goes up in business and picks up and that’s just how it goes with the pawns,” Richardson said.