[pcwalton]

> Credit cards --- bona fide, revolving-credit credit cards --- are so completely avoidable in modern life that I'm a little mystified as to why people get them at all.

Cash back and other rewards. They can add up if planned for properly—they aren't a life-changing amount of money or anything, but they're nice. Effectively, if you aren't using a high-fee card like American Express, you're subsidizing those of us who do use them (much to the chagrin of merchants). It's better to be on the receiving end of that subsidy, not the giving end.

> I find myself wondering a lot how much credit scores actually matter

Here's a well-sourced WaPo article on how credit scores affect mortgage rates: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2016/11/17/...