Suze Orman is known as a financial guru within the credit industry. I don’t know much about her except that she owns, or sponsors, MyFico.com, a great place to order an in-depth credit report. I love their little charts and graphs. However, yesterday I read an article on MSN.com that says she recently told her viewers to stop using their credit cards. What’s this advice I hear? Doesn’t this contradict her original view of credit usage? The answer is yes.

Within the past year, she has completely changed her outlook on credit card use. First, she told people to only pay the minimum on their cards if their jobs were in jeopardy. I can understand this view point. However I think there are too many people out there who may have listened to this advice whether their jobs were in jeopardy or not. The better strategy is to pay down as much debt as possible, and also make sure you save some money towards an emergency fund. Even if you loose your job, at least you won’t have as much debt to deal with.

Now, she is advising people to stop using their credit cards. The reason she has changed her tune is that credit card companies are doing some really nasty things, like raising APR’s on card holders with excellent credit, slapping on annual fees and additional charges, and changing terms before the July 2010 deadline in which the new credit card laws take effect. Her tactic is an effort to make credit card companies realize we are unhappy with them with the hopes that they will shape up and begin to care about their customers. In essence, her advice is like a boycott. Again, I can see where rallying the masses to send a message to credit card companies may help them change their sneaky ways.

However, this advice doesn’t apply to everyone. In my opinion, there are some good reasons to continue using your credit cards, even if you really dislike the credit card companies and their shady money-making tactics:

• You are repairing your credit. My husband and I are just coming out of many years of crappy credit. We need to continue to build up our credit score, and maintaining a good credit history is one way to do this. This means we still have to use our cards, very lightly, then pay them off to show we are diligent and responsible card users.
• You are just beginning to build credit. As a young adult, no one tells you much about how to build a good credit score, or the effects of completely messing one up. More importantly, no one explains why you need a good credit score. If you are just starting out, being a responsible card holder helps to build a good credit score, and this will benefit you by qualifying you for the best rate auto or house loan. (Finance charges really add up exponentially!)
• You use those rewards points for necessities, like gas. My Wells Fargo debit and credit card earn reward points that I use towards purchasing gas cards. These points add up to real savings over time.
• You find it easier to keep track of expenses and only pay one bill a month. Since credit card statements breakdown each charge, for some people this may make more sense and take less work when it comes to balancing your checkbook.

I don’t completely disagree with Suze Orman’s current stance on boycotting the credit card industry.  I just think each individual needs to weigh the pros and cons to their own individual needs.