most people are in an apparently literally unbelievable amount of debt, because once you have that first month you have to borrow to pay for groceries or ultilities or rent or a medical copay… the debt spiral begins, you basically don’t get out, and the hole gets worse and worse.
This is why I don't have a credit card. I'm terrified of getting stuck in this loop. I know, I'm supposed to get a card and use it for things I already have the money for, so I can pay it off... but my ADHD brain just thinks, "That's yet another bill to stay on top of. Another deadline to remember. Another threat if I forget to pay, or get sick one month and have a smaller paycheck in the end and can't repay it after rent and utilities." (Because remember - sick pay isn't a guarantee in the US. My "sick time" at work is combined with "vacation" as "Paid Time Off" and accrues slowly.)
It's absurd how paying for things with the money you already earned can be seen as a negative. I'd think if one doesn't have credit for long enough, that should be a good sign that they've managed their money properly without needing credit. But no, it doesn't work that way here. I'm in my upper 30s and have never had a credit card. My "credit score" is entirely based off of past student loans (that I only managed to pay off with help from my father.) Yet if I hadn't had school debt, I'd have no "credit score" to speak of and might not have been accepted when I applied for my apartment. It's all so ass-backwards. I mean, I get the logic of "credit" as a sign of responsibility, I just don't agree with it.