<prompt> Human: If the general rule of thumb is to NEVER use a credit card unless you have the cash available in your account, why would anyone ever need a credit card then? just use the cash in your account? Or are people assuming that if they charged 800 bucks then they would be paying it with the next incoming pay check? In which case presumably you would then not be able to pay off the balance as well as pay all the regular bills for that month?!  <response>: Reasons to use a credit card: better card member benefits, like purchase protection, dispute processes, and so on. No liability if your card is stolen. 1 Cash back on all purchases. Really, the biggest one is the fraud protection. When your credit card gets stolen, the bank is out the cash for a month. When your debit card or checking account info gets stolen, you are out the cash until it gets returned. 