Do you have a credit card? Roughly 70% of adults in the U.S. do. In fact, Americans average 3.5 credit cards per person – that’s a lot of plastic! Even with all that buying power in their wallets, most consumers have no idea the ways that they use (or misuse) their credit cards can affect their health, their relationships, and their credit scores. Many factors go into mounting credit card debt: impulse shopping, health emergencies, the loss of a job, marriage, divorce, a death in the family. With this debt comes stress, arguments, loss of sleep, inability to pay other bills, worry, health problems, crumbling relationships… Does any of this sound familiar? Increasing credit card debt and a lack of knowledge about how credit cards really work have created a new social phenomenon called “The Plastic Effect.” And if you have a credit card, The Plastic Effect can affect YOU.