Credit Cards - a curse or a bane?

It seems to me that the majority of people own at least one credit card, and use it regularly. Is this a good thing or a bad habit? Well, it all depends on who you talk to. The older generation typically feel that credit cards are an evil invention that should not be used, ever.  If you should happen to succumb, then you should make a payment immediately to clear the balance. How many times have I heard "If we couldn't pay for something, then we just had to do without", and this included food.

Nowadays the scene has changed dramatically, and credit cards can be used in a few ways, none of them evil!

Credit Cards can be used:

• to pay for goods, saving you from having to carry large amounts of cash around with you, and thus saving you frequent trips to the bank
  
  
• to pay just one bill, albeit larger than individual ones, rather than lots of little ones
  
  
• to save you from banking fees when cheques and transactions are charged for
  
  
• to buy something you need, and then you pay for it later when your credit card statement arrives, and hopefully, you have just got some more income!
  
  
• to pay for emergencies, be it a car breakdown, or medication in the case of illness, or a flight to a sick relative, or... (fill in your own!)
  
  
• to treat yourself if you have a rewards card, provided you don't buy things on your credit card that you wouldn't normally buy!
  

Surely those are not all bad things?