Picture dumping ice water on a hobo shivering in the snow, or dumping gasoline on a man’s burning face.

Gas, airfare, food, everything is going up besides your pay. If you rely on credit cards to pay for groceries, gas and medical bills, you’re faced with another cold front. Next thing you know, your credit card company will tell you it’s cutting your credit limit by half, or just leave you cold at the cash register when you go over your limit.

A New York Times article wrote that banks that issue cards such as MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) cards are cutting customer credit lines, especially the banks in areas that have been hit hard by the housing crisis. Sometimes they cut credit lines of clients before notifying them. Not only those who constantly fall back on payments, but also the good eggs who rarely miss one.

Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) cut its total credit line available to cardholders by 10 percent; HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) each cut 3 percent, according to the Times.

An analyst told the Times that credit card lenders may see a loss up to 10 percent, worse than that after the 2001 technology bust.

Once again, we are reminded of the imbalance in the economy. Please return to your seat and fasten your seat belts. The turbulence is not over yet.

Disclosure: I don’t own any bank stocks, and I have not been personally affected by the credit limit cuts. Phew.

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