Consumer credit has been around since the early 19th century. Companies such as Sears, Roebuck and Company were some of the first to lend money to the working man. These early credit cards were called merchant or retail cards, and were issued by the same companies that sold the goods.

During the mid-1960s MasterCard and Visa were established and banks started issuing these all-purpose cards. By the 1990s the all-purpose credit card reigned dominant over traditional store cards, and made it possible for consumers to charge anything from vacations to children's braces.

Credit cards have become so pervasive in our lifestyles it has become extremely difficult in some instances to use cash as a result. Try reserving a room, rent a car, or even order a pair of shoes without one.

Credit cards have become all too easy to obtain. Consumers are inundated with offers through the mail, newspaper flyers, and even in places previously unheard of. Visit some doctor and dentist offices and you'll likely see credit card applications conveniently placed within arms reach. Simply put society has become saturated with credit card offers.

For middle-class America credit cards are a way of life. Increasingly they no longer pay ? they finance. Americans have taken to buying groceries and everyday consumables with debt ? and financing those items over months or even years. This disturbing trend is only growing and adds to the already fragile economic situation.

Today more and more households find their monthly credit card balance is out of control. Even those credit card holders holding steady jobs and showing good payment history are in serious trouble as they use credit cards to take on more and more debt. A new practice by consumers is borrowing from one card to pay another until the whole situation has spiraled out of control often leaving the homeowner facing possible bankruptcy. As this slide towards financial oblivion occurs people are also discovering they may have no way of stopping foreclosure on their homes.

Credit cards, like life, come with their own slings and arrows. Their seductive influence has changed our mindset about spending. Runaway spending has become an all too common way of life and all too often leads to financial disaster.

Our predecessors understood that hard times often called for hard decisions. The time is at hand for the consumer to make the hard decision of salvaging their finances by reducing or altogether eliminating credit card use. Consumers making the right spending decisions will likely ride out the looming crisis. Those refusing change stand a very real chance of losing it all and ending up with little more than the clothes on their backs.

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