Debt can quickly snowball into a serious problem if it is not managed properly. While some debt is a good thing, like for a mortgage or for college, most Americans have an overwhelming amount of debt.
A mortgage and college are basically long term investments and even though you are incurring debt you will gain something worthwhile in the long run. On the other hand, running up credit cards on insignificant purchases like food and gas only serve to increase your debt and cost you interest.
With the price of gas today it hardly seems to make sense to charge it to a credit card and end up paying interest in addition to the actual gas. By putting all these little purchases on your credit cards, you will soon find yourself thousands of dollars in debt with interest adding to it monthly. By avoiding this trap and only using credit cards for emergencies you can take control of your debt and manage it rather than it managing you.