In life we are very much influenced by the company we keep. If you have surrounded yourself with people who are healthy, eat well, exercise, and are well balanced, chances are good that you yourself live a vigorous and healthy life. If you surround yourself with people who drink, smoke, take drugs, and so on, I would venture to guess that your vitality level is not so high.
It works the same way with your money; the only way to keep it vital and make it grow is to keep it in a healthy environment. Credit card companies are never good company to keep, unless you’ve chosen one wisely, use it sparingly, for convenience, and pay it off in full every month, with only the rarest exceptions. Being respectful of your money also means being respectful of those to whom you owe money, and being respectful to yourself also means getting out of debt—as fast and efficiently as possible.