Americans have a lot more personal debt than Europeans. 'In Free Market America, banks own YOU!' would be more appropriate.
But wrong. Or at least 'they own the unwary and dumb'.
I bank with a credit union, got rid of my credit cards in favor of debit, and working real hard to pay down my debt. Already I've bought two vehicles for cash.
Now, granted, they were not _great_ vehicles, but they run and they're paid for. Looking forward to paying _cash_ for a really _nice_ (but used) car in a decade.
Why did I?
Because it was too easy to use credit, not pay the balance in full. The debt built up. Things got out of hand.
And because I really did not like dealing with the credit card folk, even when I was in their good graces. Too much complexity.
The context I've heard of people getting in trouble with this is when they used the card for business purchases and then used the discounts for personal purchases.
You aren't doing as badly as you think.
[edit] I assumed you were based in america, but apparently you are in sydney, sorry for confusion and random assumptioness. However, this means that according to the first chart on the page I linked, you guys are doing worse than the americans on household debt. Not that I can point fingers from the uk, cos we are either screwed or up to something fiendishly smart. But if it is the latter, I have no idea what it is.
It would be interesting to see how that compares to Greece, Spain, Italy, and other more troubled EU countries. The EU situation suddenly seems a lot scarier to me financially.
I should add that Steve Keen's writings on debt are absolutely must-reads for anyone interested in macroeconomic outlooks especially because he discards Neoclassical models in favor of debt-based models.
Two of my favorite quotes by Keen from his presentations are:
"The one thing Neoclassical economists don't understand is Neoclassical economics."
And
"The Marxist economists hate me even more than the Neoclassicals, which is quite an achievement."