"Love means never having to say you&39;re sorry," was the most memorable line from Erich Segal&39;s book and motion picture, Love Story.  I don’t know if I quite agree with him as I still bumble along and find myself saying, “I’m sorry,” from time to time. Luckily, I do it less frequently than when I was younger. 

I grew up in an era before credit cards where, if you wanted something, you had to save your money and buy it. This was in a world before mandated Minimum Wage Laws and the going rate for teen-age employees was $.25 per hour. The main exception was the Christmas Rush jobs at the Post Office which paid almost $1 per hour. They were highly sought after.

In 1961 I got one of the first general purpose credit cards, called BankAmericard. You can read about how it morphed into Visa at http://usa.visa.com/about_visa/about_visa_usa/history.html   Of course, back then, their main job was to sell retailers on their use, which was probably made tougher by the fact that the retailer had to, and still has to, pay the credit card company a fee when a customer uses it.

That all changed when the retail industry realized that there were millions of people who didn&39;t have enough cash money to buy what the store was selling, but would buy using a credit card if give them opportunity. That made them eagerly buy into the credit card concept. Of course, some customers would even buy irresponsibly but that wasn&39;t the stores’ problem.

Now here we are in 2007 and the outstanding credit card debt in our country is now about $850 billion dollars.  That figure is for revolving debt and does not include non-revolving debt like auto loans, which is even greater. Total non-mortgage consumer debt is getting close to $2.5 trillion.

There is no doubt that credit cards are convenient, sometimes necessary. Don&39;t try to rent a car without one.  But all too often the weak-willed can "spend themselves to glory" if they have a credit card. Some people haven&39;t figured out that just because the credit card company would LET you borrow $5,000 as the maximum limit on a card, it doesn&39;t mean you have to go out and SPEND $5,000.

I have seen instances of addiction to buying that is exacerbated by the availability of easy credit. At interest rates in the 18% range, of course, the company wants you to have as much outstanding debt as possible because that maximizes their earnings.

There is also no question that buying "neat stuff" releases endorphins that make you feel good.  Psychologists have demonstrated that some people almost completely disassociate the buying, which feels GOOD, from having to pay for it, which feels BAD. That BAD can be made to feel awfully remote. Bottom line, America’s love affair with credit cards is never going to end.

I would just implore readers to try to understand themselves and their behavior and then take steps toward long-term financial responsibility.  Those credit cards talk to you and they ALWAYS tell you, "Yes, it&39;s OK!  You have me to help you feel good." But I will guarantee that you that over the long haul, you will feel a lot better when you listen to the responsible part of yourself that says, "No."