tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26277603.post-78972754115481802392007-06-15T09:43:00.000-05:002007-06-15T09:43:00.000-05:00"Gary, too often have I seen people say that someone is "stupid" for using credit cards. That's what I was referring to when I talked about bashing."<BR/>This is what set me off as well. I saw this message in another thread. Also I found the reference to those of us who've paid in full for many many years was pretty insulting.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I agree that the experience of people who had been in debt, got out of it successfully and are doing well could be of a tremendous benefit to those who are straggling with debt. It may also be of help to kids in college as a warning not to get into debt. But how useful could it be to those of us who have always paid our bills in full? I'd imagine the reason we did so was exactly the fear of paying interest. I'd also imagine that the majority of people who read this blog are not among 58% who carry balances (except for taking advantage of 0% offers).<BR/><BR/>One advantage of credit cards that has not been mentioned is fraud protection. Sure, there is a little bit of it with debit cards, but the protection is not nearly as strong. Also, if you notice a fraudalent charge on you credit card and complain, you are not responsible for the money while the matter is being investigated. With debit cards, you don't have access to your money during investigation. (I had a somewhat similar problem when an ATM malfunctioned, didn't give me cash but deducted it from my account. Took me 3 weeks to get it back). Given large enough amount and bad timing, and this could be a major inconvenience.Dioranoreply@blogger.com