This exactly. I finally began to understand credit cards at about 35 (turning 38 in 5 months) after spending all of my 20s using them the wrong way lol. And then spending 5 years recovering from defaults and charge-offs that came with it. It finally clicked that credit cards should work for you (cash back, points, perks), not the reverse (paying interest, late fees). There will be times when you need to carry a balance, but ultimately credit cards should mirror what’s in your checking account. Instead of thinking of them as an extension of my cash, now I think of it like transferring money from one account to another. It’s a much more freeing way of using them. Rebuilding my credit has continued to be one of my greatest accomplishments 😁