I have four. I learned from my brother, who understands these things, that if you have any more, OR ANY LESS, it actually hurts your credit rating, just as it costs you points if you carry no debt at all. They figure they're not making enough money on you so they punish you for it. Aren't they wonderful?

I use the merchants of debt for my personal convenience, not for their overpriced credit. I pay when its due, immediately, and the only interest I've ever paid them is when my check got lost in the mail once, and they certainly got their revenge that month. But I'm lucky, I'm not so young or so old or so ignorant or so desperate for credit that I have to rely on them, and as long I'm not in hock to those sleazebags I don't have to worry about them screwing me over with their fine print, or their constantly changing rules, or their double cycle billing, or their Cosa Nostra interest rates. And I don't recall ever having been hurt by those who are victimized by these people.

On the other hand, they've still found a way to make a buck off me, by peddling my financial information and identity without my knowledge or permission (I keep track of their depradations by slightly misspelling my name on each application form so I can tell who is screwing me today).

Stop making excuses for these bottom feeders TB, I suspect you believe the young kids and pensioners and poor working types who can't decipher their gibberish or haven't the discipline to avoid their marketing scams deserve just what they're getting from these entrepreneurial heroes for being so slow and inexperienced, but as far as I'm concerned, these Shylocks are just lowlife scum who make their careers by preying on those who are helpless or slow.

At least the Mob tells you up front what you're getting into when they loan you money.