In defence of credit cards

But... They give you free money.

I hope you're joking.

I'm not. My credit cards give me free money at the end of each month, between 2% and 10% of what I buy with them depending on which one I am using and what I am buying.

Why say no to free money?

Because you still have to spend money in order to get some back.

What do you use your debit card on?

For example I spend about $2500 on groceries per year. One of my cards gives me 3% back on groceries, so about $75 back in rewards just for my grocery bill.

So, did I spend $2500 to get $75? No. Not at all. I spent $2500 to get $2500 worth of food. The $75 my bank gave me was just free money for carrying around their piece of credit plastic rather than their piece of debit plastic.

That particular card also gave me a one-time $150 sign-on bonus. Most credit cards will offer at least $100 as a sign-on. I have gotten about $700 in the past two years just from sign-on bonuses because I have decent credit for my age (not great but decent, 760 at 24) so banks just don't say no to me.

This seems to me like the only upside to using a credit card.

You mean besides the free money right?

I don't get how so many people are glossing over the free money.

"Free money"

Illuminati are laughing their heads off at that interpretation of credit cards. It's free money for them in the long run.

Are credit cards good from an economic point of view? Doesn't matter. We don't get to choose whether credit cards exist. We only get to choose whether we use them, they will exist no matter what we do.

That makes it a completely different question - a personal finance question - and from that point of view the answer is objectively that having a credit card is a net benefit to the holder.

+ the occasional no interest for x months cards

Store cards are useless unless you are really devoted (before you get the card)