There is NO positive side to credit card use. You will spend more if you use credit cards. Even by paying the bills on time, you are not beating the system! But most families don’t pay on time. The average family today carries $8,000 in credit card debt according to the American Bankers’ Association
Until you have been mugged. Then you will be glad you carry plastic and no more than forty bucks in cash in your wallet.
I’m beating the system. I buy everything with a credit card that offers reward points. I never carry a balance, so I never pay interest. I get lots of “free stuff” with my reward points that I would otherwise have to pay for. On top of that, I make large purchases with zero percent for one year cards, and leave my money in stocks or CD’s to earn interest, and pay off the card by the end of the year, virtually using the bank’s money for a year, interest free.
My son ran into a situation that we'd all like to avoid, he used all his savings, sold everything he could and then charged all his credit cards to the hilt. He ended up with a large debt but since he had such good credit he was able to find a deal where he could transfer almost all the debt to a new card with 2.9% for the life of the debt.
It has all kinds of conditions, like if you charge anything else to the card the interest rate will change or if you are late,it changes, he just destroyed the credit card and pays the bill early.
I also know a lot of people who have used them wrong but that doesn't make the credit card bad.
Money itself is just a tool and so are credit cards if you use them correctly, they can be a very valuable tool.