After a few severely life-crushing cycles of credit card debt between the early 90s and early '00s, I paid that shit off in full in 2008 and will never look back. Honestly, the amount of credit card debt my wife and I cycled through from our mid-20s to early 30s was simply sickening (both of us will turn 45 in a few weeks). I'm talking about a suburban house-advanced degree-new sports car debt. At one point in time, we had the better portion of ~50 cards between us with potentially three or four maxed out. Upon the aforementioned payoff, I cut up each and every single card via scissors and placed the "shards" in a large sandwich bag that I would glance at occasionally as a reminder of horrible coping skills - in my case, the feeling of "wasting my life away" in psychologically insulting, menial, unfullfilling jobs that I had no business being in. Looking back with brutal honesty, I can admit that I was using plastic to self-medicate feelings of depression, anxiety, and at times hopelessness. A lot of the behavior simply fell away when I realized that my worth had nothing to do with material status, that a house full of "stuff" cannot possibly make one happy, and that I'd prefer consistent peace of mind over cycles of temporary, never-ending novelty that wore off days or weeks after a purchase. The vast majority of the items ended up obsolete, simply tossed in the trash, or donated to the local Salvation Army so as to free up space in our house. My wife of 21 years has the remainder of the credit card debt she accumulated in the form of consolidated loans which are rapidly being paid off and, like myself, she's stated "never again."
In no way, shape, or form did I attempt to hijack the thread with a "sob story," but I thought I'd share a not-so-frequently discussed reason as to why a good portion of the individuals who accumulate and carry credit card debt, such as those mentioned by AK memeber Quadman2, myself at one time included, act in the manner in which they do. Between relentless societal/cultural pressure to be more, do more, and have more and the oft unspoken fact that life in the lower tiers of our labor market/socioeconomic strata simply don't provide the opportunity to do so leave untold numbers of people perpetually disatisfied and feeling as if "something is missing," that of which many proceed to find via obtaining things/experiences they really don't need, won't truly make them feel any better via credit, and tend to create unwarranted misery. So, in conclusion, how do I feel about using plastic instead of cash? I don't. Period. I will never use another credit card again for the remainder of my existence, continue the decades-long habit of paying my bills on time, and keep my FICO well north of 800 without loosing another wink of sleep due to the crippling anxiety that comes with outlandish debt hanging over one's head. Nothing from Best Buy, Circuit City (R.I.P.), Tiger Direct (R.I.P.), or any other retailer I used to obtain temporary "escape" is worth the misery I've lived through. I wouldn't wish it on my worse enemy and would advise any and all who could avoid using credit cards to simply not use them. Unless one has the income to easily pay off the ensuing debt in full the following month, I'd say let the issuing banks find another sucker/slave to prop up quarterly revenues, above and beyond the outrageous "fees" already levied against saving/checking accounts and other miscellaneous services. Being able to breathe easy, relax, and move about without the noose of long-term credit card debt around one's neck is simply priceless.