Sadly, many people don't learn anything from their experience.

I'm 42. Back when I was a kid, I noticed certain trends. Old people would tell me "Don't take up smoking....." I'd notice they seemingly HATED smoking. Hated paying for cigarettes. Their lungs were seemingly nonfunctional with how hard they coughed at a moments notice for no reason. I saw no benefits, and everyone smoked when I was a kid. They all hated it, and they all said not to start.

I figured there must be some wisdom to those words, and now as an adult, I've never been addicted to smoking. I'm better off for it.

When I was a kid, all my dads friends told me not to start drinking. When I looked at their lives, I saw a bunch of sad pathetic losers, whose wives seemed to despise them. Their kids didn't respect them. They seemingly had no control over their own lives with how much they drank. One of them was so drunk that he pissed his pants, sitting on his couch, and he didn't even know he was doing it. Many of them said "Don't start drinking." And looking at these losers I figured there must be something to it, if being an alcoholic leads you to this.

And throughout all my life, extremely elderly people will have a random various health issue. And while suffering through whatever that health issue is, I'll be told by an elderly person "Don't get old."

I'm unclear what to do with this information. Are they suggesting suicide? Am I reading the situation correctly, or is there a fountain of youth I'm unaware of?

Pain solidifies memory.

"Hmm, maybe I should try... OH! NO! Wait, not that!"

I just use all my credit cards for the points/cashback rewards and to track spending (I have different cards for different things, like one for gas and groceries, one for revolving subscriptions, one for general spending online).

I pay them off in full weekly, and the rewards are essentially free money. Plus, this protects my bank account (actual money) and helps easily spot if there's any fraud.

credit cards mean you have access to money that is not yours. you may spend it, but if you don't pay it back immediately it will hurt.

I have a separate account linked to my card and manually move money from my savings account there, for cost control. Sometimes, after a huge bill, it goes negative. On such a occasion, the one time i would have registered an Amazon account, they locked me out because of this. Considering that it's in some places "normal" to have the main account negative, am i the weird one?

Credit cards mean you do not have money, and you’re about to have even less.

Maybe, if you're bad with money. Treat the card as you would your debit card, and only spend what you know you have, and you'll be perfectly fine.

I've used a credit card for the vast majority of my purchases over the last 10-15 years, and money isn't a problem in the way you're implying. But I might also be a unicorn and I pay my card off multiple times a month, and have paid MAYBE 3 months of interest in that time.

My credit card is why I have a stellar credit score and was able to pull myself out of the poverty hole that I was born into. And I know for a fact that I gotten more from rewards than I ever paid in interest, so I've made money putting purchases on it.

I find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that people do not understand this. Like, why would you ever think that you have more money than the amount deposited in your account?! I am guessing it is regional — restricted to places with poor financial hygiene/literacy due to whatever reasons.

(Despite the em-dash, I am not an AI. Two plus two is four Minus one, that's three.)

I love the concept of having negative money in a bank account. When I was younger, dumber, and poorer, I'd look at my bank account and think, "Man, all I need is another $220. Then I'll finally be flat-out broke."

OSHA regulations are written in blood (and military regs, for the same reason)

Edit to add: "And it starts when you begin to think of people as things." (Granny Weatherwax, Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett