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  With mounting credit card debt reaching crisis levels for many American families, people still continue to use credit for a wide range of purchases and payments. People use credit cards for different reasons at different times. Initially, they may be lured in by the promise of easy credit or attractive offers, or the convenience of paying by card. If they get into debt, however, consumers may begin using credit cards just to stay afloat.
  
  

Convenience

• Credit cards allow you to easily purchase nearly anything. Credit and debit cards can be used to purchase items at stores and restaurants, buy products on the Internet, make hotel reservations and sign up for insurance. By contrast, cash, checks and other methods of spending money only work in some situations and not in others. You may not be able to reserve a hotel or purchase a product from an online vendor without a credit or debit card.
  
  

Psychology

• When you pay with cash, there is an actual emotional impact. You have a certain amount of cash in your pocket; then it's gone. Credit card transactions, however, are more abstract. You hand a cashier the card, she swipes it and you get the card back, along with whatever you just bought. Because of this disassociation, people tend to spend more money with credit cards. According to personal finance author Dave Ramsey, people spend 47 percent more money at McDonald's when they use credit than when they pay with cash. It's easier not to think of the consequences of spending when you are not physically handing over the cash.
  
  

Benefits

• Credit cards do have many benefits, which often draw people in. Using a credit card is a good way to build up a positive credit history, provided you always pay on time. In addition, credit cards often come with special offers, such as cash rebates, frequent flyer miles and "points" systems that give you free products after you spend a certain amount. In addition, credit cards offer consumer protections that cash doesn't. If cash is stolen from your pocket, you will lose it; but if a credit card is stolen, you will only have limited liability, depending on your card issurer's policy. If you buy a product on a credit card and that product turns out to be defective, you also have the ability to stop payment on the item and contest the charge.
  
  

Staying Above Water

• Often, when people fall into debt or lose their jobs, they are forced to use their credit cards more and more, with greater and greater negative consequences. According to USA Today, people in financially dire straits will even fall behind on their mortgage payments in order to keep current on their credit cards. Credit cards allow consumers to continue to pay for essentials, such as food and gas, when they don't have the money to do so. Unfortunately, credit card debt can eventually grow too high, and consumers are no longer able to keep with their payments.