Does it make sense to you to give a credit card to someone who already has several loans and their combined minimum payments is over 50% of their income? Would any sane person give credit to someone under this situation?

This is exactly who credit card companies go after though. Who’s fault is it?

advertisers make it seem so easy to get what you want and pay it off later, until an emergency comes up then you can’t and they’ve got you.

When I got my first card, I did exactly what you suggested. I rarely, if ever, carried a balance from month to month. I charged very few things—just enough to show activity on the card to build my credit history.

Then my employer went bankrupt and we were all laid off. I cut all the expenses I could and went on a strict budget. (not even a cell phone!) I found another job and that employer went out of business as well a year later. I stayed within my tiny budget (retail doesn’t pay very much) for all normal living expenses—rent, ramen noodles, etc. I didn’t eat out and didn’t spend money on cds and dvds. I stopped shopping for clothes at the trendy shops. This worked for the day to day expenses. The problems were when something unexpected like a big doctor’s bill or a car repair bill would come up. Then I would usually be forced to turn to the credit card. Several big unexpected and unavoidable things like that can easily tip you into credit card debt.

To pull myself out of this trap, I went back to school to finish my degree which meant incurring even more debt for student loans. (I made too much for the Pell grant but not enough to live on, go figure!) Now that I have my degree, I have a much better paying job and career.

I know all about responsible credit usage but life isn’t perfect. I never took a credit card to Best Buy and purchased an entire media room. But when you take your sick dog to the emergency vet and they tell you that it will be $1200, there isn’t much you can do except reach for the Visa