I don't mean to come off abrasive at all with this post as I'd genuinely like to understand this. I'm not talking about people carrying a CC balance because they got in on a sweet 0% offer or because they had a huge expense pop up that they had to throw on a card or any similar reason. That's one of the beauties of CCs and one of the reasons why we have them.
I'm asking this question more toward those that just carry balances for the sake of carrying balances. Basically those that pay unnecessary interest. You see, I used to be one of these people. 10 years ago even up to 5 years ago I always had a few thousand dollars in CC debt just riding along from month to month. So what's the reason why I did it? Simply put, because I didn't know any better. I didn't really understand interest much other that it costs you a bit and I guess I was willing to pay that bit in order to not have to pay off the debt. I had plenty of money in savings and the income to pay it off just fine; I guess I was just misinformed. I'm wondering how many others out there now are like I was then? Perhaps this thread will be eye opening to those few that could fall into this category.
I have not carried a balance in a long time. I owe a lot to this forum and all of you kind people that have "shown me the light" when it comes to this subject. Like many on this forum, I don't pay any interest. I don't even know what the APRs are on my cards; the banks could raise them all to 99.99% tomorrow and not only wouldn't it impact me, but I wouldn't care. Show me a 99.99% interest rate card that gives 3% rewards on all purchases and I'm all in 
For those that do carry balances, especially significant balances, I'm interested to hear the reasons why.
I think smart words that are often stated in threads on this forum is that living by the rule of "if I can't pay for it today, don't buy it [on a CC]." Maybe it will take someone 6 months to save up $1000 for a new TV, but the alternative in getting the TV right away is that you end up paying say $1300 for a $1000 TV when you pay it back in 8 or 9 months. By carring balances, you essentially raise the cost of everything you buy, indirectly. People on these forums may chase rewards on their cards and all of the CB rewards received in a year may not even total the $300 extra due to the interest from this single purchase. Just an example. I think in the past I didn't see the big picture. Maybe some others don't either. Maybe they do, but it doesn't really matter to them. I find this type of info fascinating and enjoy hearing the different perspectives.
In mho in my own experience, I find that carrying modest balances at exceptionally-low, single-digit APRs is acceptable, because the amount of interest that I will be paying is negligible and/or insignificant. One thing that people may sometimes forget about the "If you can't afford it, don't buy it now" paradigm is, sometimes, there are occasions where if you don't buy something sooner than later, it might not be available to purchase later on -- one example is hard-to-find, new-old-stock items on ebay that are no longer mass-produced, or are officially discontinued by the manufacturer. If I had not done bought them at the time I did so, I would have missed out on being able to acquire some prized and cherished collectibles that I currently have. ETA: another example is time-limited sales or promotions that are significantly discounted, where paying for them later may raise the costs much higher.
If I pay say around $100 or less in interest charges for a calendar year, that is no issue for me personally; pennies on the dollar really. Again, the idea is accessibility, availability, and timeliness, over delaying a purchase that may not be available later on, imo.
@redpat wrote:Because someone needs too or wants to overspend for a lifestyle that can't afford to have.
That was easy........
To be fair though, it's not always about overspending or living above one's means. I have the means to pay off virtually all of my carried balances using my accumulated savings, I just prefer to use the benefit credit cards offer of being allowed to revolve a balance at super-low interest rates and pay it off over time or in phases, should I choose to do so.
