I do use them! I just wasn’t using them in a healthy way. I took a picture and am paying them off then plan on using them to pay bills then pay the balance ever

I do use them! I just wasn’t using them in a healthy way. I took a picture and am paying them off then plan on using them to pay bills then pay the balance every month. Before I would just swipe the card and make minimum payments and watch as the balance slowly crept up to the max. I starting paying them all off earlier in the year and some of the credit cards immediately did a 10x my credit line, then I thought “why not get a MacBook Pro?” Like I said, on me but credit cards are just a cognitive hazard for me and short circuit my brain (which is what creditors love!) At least with Affirm or BNPL I know the exact terms and know it’ll be paid off in exactly a year. It’s much easier to reason about for my impulsive brain vs “loan that lasts forever from the credit card company and you pay absurd amounts of interest because you’re dumb”. My mom declared bankruptcy twice so I’m still doing better than her but it’s hard to get an innate sense of “we don’t have the money for that” growing up in a household where if there was money in the bank it was spent ASAP. On the bright side there’s more money in my 401(k) than I owe in debt, which is nice. I know the optimal strategy would be “contribute to the match then use the rest to pay off debts then increase” but I just don’t trust myself. It’s like I’m in an eternal struggle with a rational me and an impulsive shopping spree dopamine seeking me, that just wants immediate gratification. Luckily it seems like with age the rational one is getting stronger.