Quote Originally Posted by Bad JuJu
Plenty of my students carry huge credit card debts, too. I don't know whether it's that nobody ever taught them about compounded interest or that they just never learned any fiscal responsibility at all. Probably both.

It's important to make good choices, but not everybody has been taught how to do that, and sometimes you just don't have a lot of choices.
Way back when, in 1985, I had graduated high school and got a job. I got my first credit card from a local bank. It had a $500 credit limit. I had that card for several years and it worked out fine for me. I did carry a balance on it from time to time, but mostly paid it off every month. If I wanted to spend more than $500, it made more sense to just pay with cash (after saving up.)

I never got in the habit of going wild with a cc.

I have 2 credit cards now, with enough of a credit line to buy a new car. I'm not even sure what the interest rates are on the cards. I never looked, I don't care.

I decide if I want to buy something and check to see if I already have the money. If it all looks ok, I go ahead and get the cc out of the lockbox where it lives (I seldom carry it around with me otherwise) and go buy the gizmo. Then I pay it off when the bill comes. I use the cards for my convenience.

I think cc companies call folks like me "deadbeats." They don't make much money off of us.