I don't understand the current obsession with not having a single credit card. They are really good to have in an emergency! It's also really easy to just use a cash back card as if it were a debit card, pay it off each month, and get a bunch of money back. All it takes is self-control. Don't carry a balance. I'm worried a whole generation is going to end up with no credit score because they are cutting up all their cards.

Let's just give the country to Apple. Microsoft gets the San Juan Islands, though.

@2 agreed. Unless you have some kind of verifiable impulse control problem, having (and responsibly using) a card is just part of being a functioning adult.

Personal debt and sovereign debt are so different as to be nearly incomparable. A person uses debt to smooth consumption (regular payments over time rather than one lump payment at the time of purchase), force saving (buying a house is more expensive than renting) or improve productive capacity (college). The government takes on debt to engage in countercyclical fiscal policy (deficit-financed stimulus) and improve productive capacity (transportation/information infrastructure). And, I guess, kill muslims and give h/js to rich people.

"The government hasn't been setting a good example" because the two don't have anything to do with each other.

Re: #1: are you kidding? A whole generation with no credit score - and no use for the credit card industry - would be awesome!

A quick glance at wage growth (or lack thereof) and un/underemployment figures would give you an idea of why living without a credit card is not realistic for many people.

A generation with no credit score would be a generation unable to buy a house, buy a car, or open a business. That might not be such a good thing.

Maybe Apple can bail out the US government?

Well, given that the US assets include the largest stockpile of military toys on the planet and Apple's only assets are a few warehouses filled with toys designed to be worthless in six months or less....

....

...I'm probably thinking too hard about this. Carry on.

@zefwagner and @CC - I resent having to buy into the industry at all. I think the system of deciding credit scores based on someone having a credit card is just plain dumb. But, honestly, I didn't quit until they asked me to make to pay a $50 annual fee. I'll play the credit card game, but not if it's a $50 ticket.

You think it's worth it, though? Or are there good, free credit cards out there?

@ zefwagner: where do you get this crazy idea that having a credit history is a requirement for even basic functions in society? It isn't, it isn't even close. You can do any of those things without a credit score, people have managed to do so - even including borrowing money for said things! - for as long as they have existed. Plenty of people refuse to have credit cards now and can find the money to buy cars, houses, and start businesses, etc, and if more people did the same more people would crop up who are willing to accommodate them.

I find no reason to resent the CC industry. I make it work for me and it is undeniably beneficial. I have multiple credit cards that carry no annual fees but offer cash back options, mileage bonuses and discounts on products I would already be buying. I typically charge as much as I can through these cards each month then pay them off. I then pay nothing in interest and receive cash back on purchases that I previously paid for with no reward.

That said, there are plenty of ways for people to find themselves sucked up in CC debt and there are predatory lending companies that are more than happy to screw you with annual fees, high interest and crippling penalties.

But to step entirely out of the system because you resent a $50 fee that you likely could avoid seems shortsighted and denying yourself potential savings and rewards. Make it work for you!

I don't have a credit card. And while I can't vouch for whether or not that makes me a more responsible citizen or not. I can say that I'm not (currently) buried under a debt prison I can't work my way out of. So there's that. I guess.

Sarah, while I can understand not wanting to be part of the rather messed-up financial credit system, you strike me as a person who would be pretty good at managing your money. (I could, of course, be wrong!)

I'm quite sure you could get a credit card free of annual fees, and if not, $50 a year is less than 14 cents a day...and you may need that good credit score for, I don't know, *something.*

Here's a little article on bankrate.com that has links to some info about various cards...

http://www.bankrate.com/financing/credit-c…

So...how do you folks with no credit cards manage to check into hotels or rent cars? I tried doing both of those without a credit last summer and it was a ridiculous amount of hassle.