Love 'em or hate 'em...

Credit cards. Some have them, some don't. Some love them, some hate them. Some use them wisely, others foolishly. There are those that preach the evils of credit cards and the credit card industry. Personally, I've never been in that camp. Even when, many years ago, I got into my own little area of Hades concerning credit cards.

I had several, I charged them up, then it took me years and years to pay them down. I was under the thumb of the creditors. But all that time, even with the sky-high (for the time) interest rates of 21% (I think they go much higher than that now) I knew it was not the credit card companies fault that I was in the position I was in.

See, I am a big believer in personal responsibility. Credit cards are a tool that must be used responsibly. Mis-use of any tool can and often does lead to disaster.

Now, I use my credit cards wisely. I have two. One for medical expenses. The medical expenses are reimbursed through my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work. So I usually won't carry a balance for more than a couple of weeks on that card.

The other card is a mileage credit card. Last year the 5/8s and I went to Cancun while the boys were at scout camp. We enjoyed it so much we wanted to return with the kids. We decided to take this years tax returns and put it in a 12 month CD. Add nex years tax return to it, and we'd be able to afford to take the whole family to Cancun on vacation. With that, we also decided to obtain a mileage credit card so we can get air miles on the things we buy. We charge everything on that card, and I pay it off every two weeks on payday.

There are so many different options for obtaining credit cards these days. They have reward or cash back credit cards, there are cards that let one transfer the balance from other cards at 0% interest. And there are plenty of places where one can get credit card comparisons so they are fully armed with knowledge about which card is best for them.

Credit cards are not the enemy to the American consumer that uses them, carrying personal debt is the enemy to us all.

This post is sponsored by the CreditCardStore.co.uk