30 years without a credit card, part 2

Last week I wrote a blog item that set off a surprisingly spirited discussion here and on Web sites such as The Consumerist.

In it I mentioned that I've gone three decades without a credit card—at least the kind that extends revolving credit. As I noted in the blog, I do have an American Express card, which has to be paid off in full each month.

Some of the readers who posted comments had favorable things to say; others thought I was splitting plastic hairs in saying the card I do carry isn't technically a credit card. The words "smug" and "self-satisfied" even came up a time or two.

Quite a few commenters protested that anyone with the proper discipline could use a credit card without incurring onerous fees or paying outrageous interest.

I don't disagree. I would point out, however, that lots of people do get in trouble with their credit cards, and there's reason for concern that the situation is becoming worse. Here's one recent study to that effect.

What may be most remarkable in all of this is how central credit cards have become to our lives. How did so many of us become so comfortable taking out a loan, in effect, every time we buy a burrito or a bottle of shampoo?

And whether or not we pay any interest on that loan, businesses are presumably adding something to the cost of their wares to cover the fees the card companies impose on them.

The genius of the credit-card companies is that they have managed to insert themselves into not just the big transactions where people might not have enough cash in their wallets but into the smallest, most everyday ones. This part is equally true for the card I carry, of course.

You've got to hand it to them, I suppose. But you don't have to hand it to them with interest.

Comments, anyone?

—Greg Daugherty

Greg writes the "Retirement Guy" column in the Consumer Reports Money Adviser newsletter.