Overheard someone say credit cards are 'free money' and I had to bite my tongue
I was at a coffee shop in Phoenix last week and heard two guys talking about how they just max out their cards and pay the minimums because 'credit is just fake money anyway' (like it's some kind of hack). That attitude is exactly why I still use a secured card after two years, even though my score hit 720 last month. I had a buddy in 2019 who racked up $8,000 on a rewards card chasing points, then lost his job and spent three years paying off that debt with interest that almost doubled the bill. The thing is, if you treat credit like free money, it will eventually bite you in the form of high utilization and missed payments that tank your score way harder than you think. I'd rather keep my limit low and my payments on time than play games with limits I can't actually cover. Has anyone else run into people who seem to think paying 22% APR is just a normal cost of living? I'm trying to figure out if I'm being too cautious or if this is common sense.