Why Shopping With Credit Cards Can Actually Be a Great Thing

Many Americans have a love-hate relationship with credit cards. On the one hand, credit cards are at the center of people's everyday lives and personal finances. Everywhere you go, people are using credit cards to pay for restaurant meals, buy gas and groceries, or buy stuff at the mall.

But on the other hand, credit cards are often attached to a sense of guilty pleasure or social stigma. Credit cards are widely seen as a must-have for most people's financial lives, but credit card debt is shameful. A recent survey from Wells Fargo and The Female Quotient found that people are more likely to talk about their weight and their prescription drugs than they are to talk about their credit score or their "non-essential spending."

I don't want people to feel ashamed for using credit cards or having credit card debt. It's not helpful or constructive to treat a financial product like an inherently bad, dangerous, dirty secret. People can't improve their personal finances or take meaningful steps forward in life if they are living in fear, shame, and dread.

Let's look at a few reasons why credit cards are actually a good thing -- and why you should feel better about yourself and your money, even if you're carrying a credit card balance.

1. Debt is a financial tool, not a moral issue

It's true that too much credit card debt can be bad for you. Sometimes people get in too deep with credit cards; they can never pay off the debt, and their best choice ends up being to declare bankruptcy. But that doesn't mean those with credit card debt are bad people.

Some personal finance gurus who annoy me have a quasi-religious, moralistic view of credit card debt. I don't agree with their beliefs, and you don't have to either. Debt is not automatically bad! It's just a tool to buy yourself some time and give yourself some options.

Yes, it can be bad for your finances to get buried in debt that you can't afford to repay. High-interest debt is worse than low-interest debt. But sometimes even "bad" debt is the right tool to serve as emergency savings, to solve problems and make your life better when you need money the most.

2. People deserve to have freedom of choice about their money

One of the things that's supposed to be so great about the free market economy is that people have freedom of choice. As an American adult, you get to choose what to do with your own money. You don't have to ask the government or your spouse or your boss for permission.

It wasn't very long ago (1974) that women weren't allowed to open credit cards unless their husband gave permission. I don't like that paternalistic attitude. People deserve to control their own financial choices. People even deserve to make "bad" choices with their money. Everyone needs to splurge with "fun money" now and then, or take a vacation that they maybe can't perfectly afford. Your money, your choice.

3. People need to spend money

Americans often get criticized for overspending. But...according to whom? What does "overspending" even mean, and by whose authority do we judge? Why do critics so often say "Americans overspend" and not "Americans are underpaid"?

Have you seen everyday life in America? It's expensive! This country is perfectly engineered to keep people reaching for their credit cards. Life in America is like living inside a slot machine -- flashing lights, loud noises, tempting offers constantly popping up!

We all have things we want to buy, bills we need to pay, and experiences we want to have. And we need to have some fun along the way. Sometimes you have cash on hand, sometimes you need to borrow, and sometimes you get a little overextended. There's no need to feel shame about using credit cards; it's just a different method of payment.

4. People can't always be "prudent" and "responsible"

What if you have a family emergency and you need to buy a plane ticket tomorrow to fly across the country for a funeral? What if you don't have a pristine emergency fund with three to six months of cash in the bank? (Most Americans don't; the typical American savings account has $1,200 in it.)

Sometimes in life, you need to borrow. Fix your car so you can keep driving to work and picking up your kids at school. Take that trip and make memories with your loved ones, and pay off the debt later. There are seasons of life where you need to spend more, and there are seasons of life where you'll spend less and save more. None of us are getting out of here alive, and it truly is possible to save too much money. Live. Love. Spend.

(But also: Use a budgeting app to keep track of where your money is going, and make a plan to pay off your debt. Not because it makes you a better person, but for your own long-term financial wellness.)

Bottom line

I suppose in an ideal world of Personal Finance Guru Heaven on Earth, no one would spend any money on their credit cards until they had three to six months of emergency savings in the bank and a maxed-out 401(k) and were making only optimal, frugal choices like a well-programmed savings-bot.

But real life is messy and complicated! Lots of people are struggling with high prices and low incomes. And even higher-income people don't always make rational, logical choices with their money. Using credit cards is not a character flaw. Don't shame yourself (or others) for the simple act of "paying for things."