But you were in debt, and the example given of a home mortgage is pretty definitively a debt worth taking on, as rent and increasing housing costs will easily outpace accrued interest.

You should pay that debt down quickly, unless you're mortgage rate is crazy good and investment returns are crazy high, but that's not usual. But taking on a mortgage is about the only way you can get into owning a house except for being a trust fund baby.

Some people may have to suck it up and tolerate a car payment, of they can't afford a 6 to 9 thousands dollar car, because they need transportation to get to work, and any car cheaper than that will be very expensive to repair.

Carrying over any balance on a credit card? Yeah, that's always a terrible idea.