This is one thing I will never understand is CC debt. I've had a CC since I was 15. On the other hand, I NEVER spend money I don't have. I always know what is in my checking/savings accounts and do my best to stick to my budget. I try to keep a couple of months of emergency money, but I also have been unemployed/underemployed 90% of the time since 9/11 so it has been really hard.

We only made new additions to the family when we both are working and always pay off all the CCs at the end of the month. I admit we use our credit cards a lot, but that's so I only have to make one savings withdrawal a month and we use the cashback rewards money as fun money. I see American debt problem as more of a self control issue - we know we can't add a new snake right now, but we both agree that is the next thing we get when we have extra spending money.

FYI Both of my cards have email/txt options where you can set it up to yell at you if you reach an amount that you've set - no matter what your limit is. Back in college, I had mine set to $750, even though my limit was, to quote my best friend, "Enough to buy a new car." I kinda of forgot I still had that turned all all these years later as the last two months they been killing me because we put most of our wedding on my cards (yes, more cashback bonus) - nothing like a daily recounting of how much you're spending on a "new life!"