Credit cards are everywhere. You can even get prepaid credit cards for kids, and sites like Kwedit.com allow you to pay for things on the promise that a friend or family member will foot the bill later.

With so many ways to go into debt, both real and virtual, it seems like we should be piling it on--but that turns out not to be the case. While credit card holders in the U.S. are expected to increase to 181 million in 2010 (up from 173 million in 2006), revolving consumer debt (think: credit cards) actually fell by 5.6% in February (a reduction of $11.5 billion).

But there's more. Contrary to the belief that those with credit cards use them at every given moment, only 16% of credit card holders use their cards more than 7 times per week--that's once a day for the math-impaired. Complimenting this finding was the data that showed that 81% of respondents relied on credit cards to pay for travel expenses and 77% for large purchases, but only 38% used their magic plastic for groceries, and only 15% used them for everyday items. Cold hard cash, whose use declined first due to checkbooks (as chronicled in a 1921 New York Times article) then to credit and debit cards, was preferred for these small purchases by 64% of consumers.

So while the oldest way of paying for goods and services seemed to be knocked out cold, you can't count out cash. Who knows-- maybe cash will make a vinyl-like comeback and they'll bring back those $1,000 bills we'd love to have gotten our hands on.

--Brandon

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