Living without the plastic cushion

“The thing that hit me the hardest was that plastic has no emotion to it. Whip it out, use it, done,” he says. “Cash is harder to part with.”

The couple also has had to be creative. It’s a bit easier today to do things like rent a car or buy things online without a revolving credit card, say experts, because you can use a debit card instead.

But Pelletier still sometimes has to find alternative payment methods.

"My wife is going to see a dying friend in Texas, and we had a friend put it on her credit card and we gave her the cash,” he says.

Brough, of Cary, does use her debit card for some online purchases, but she’s more likely to use sites such as Craigslist that allow her to meet sellers in person and pay them cash.

Her daughter recently wanted a new, lime green Dell Inspiron laptop, and Brough went on Craigslist and found one for $1,000 slightly used. “I offered him $500 cash, and he took it,” she says.

Ironically, one drawback of living debt-free is that it can hurt your credit score, which could affect your interest rates if you ever want to borrow again, says Howard Dvorkin, founder of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services Inc. and author of “Credit Hell – How to Dig Out of Debt.”

“A lack of a credit history is sometimes as bad as having a bad credit history,” he says.

But even if you stop using credit right now it will take eight years before you have no credit history, he said. In any case, he added, the positive impact of being debt free on overall economic health generally outweighs any negatives.

“I don’t see a need to have a credit rating,” says Jay Craig, 44, of Seattle, who has been cash-only since 2003. “I used to have a house, a couple of car payments and some credit cards, but over time and through a series of events I got back to where I was before I got married and started a business — cash-based and stress-free.”

Craig, who is divorced and lives on a boat, didn’t even have a bank account until earlier this month and has been using a Western Union debit card for any shopping needs.

While he’s never been big on debt, he does miss having a credit card for emergencies.

“I still have a little bit of debt from my business and from a few hours in the hospital — I have no health insurance, which is stupid — but I should be free of all that by the end of the year,” he says. “And without debt or credit, I can live very well on under $40,000 a year.”

Craig admits it would be harder if he had a wife and kids.

Indeed, as life and responsibilities change, some debt-free zealots wonder if they’ll be able to keep it up.

Special Report Downturn brings big changes to card industry $60,000 in debt, and nothing to show for it Cash is king: Living without the plastic cushion How to get out from under credit card debt How to avoid debt woes before they start Quiz: 10 questions to test your credit IQ The Big Money: A visual history of the credit card

Brough’s post-owing lifestyle is going well right now, but she said paying for her kids’ college education may send her back to the debt till.

She’s hoping her kids can get scholarships and she’s launching a nutritional products business that may help handle some of the costs. There may also be a need for more family budget cuts and jobs for the kids to cover some of the tuition costs.

“But worse comes to worse, if they need a college loan, the debt will be in their name,” she says.

Also in msnbc.com business Answer Desk: The risks of investing extensively in gold Your Career: The repercussions of expressing your faith Interactive: 10 cars we’re looking forward to in 2010 ‘Reaching out’ and the other worst buzzwords of the year   Video: Existing home sales make an unexpected jump

MORE FROM DROWNING IN DEBT

Drowning in Debt Section Front

Living without the plastic cushion Answer Desk: How to shrink credit card debt Red Tape: Beware of debt settlement offers TheGrio: Fewer blacks are in the black Recession hurts card industry, customers $60,000 in debt, and nothing to show How to avoid debt problems before they start Interactive: Visual history of the credit card Quiz: 10 questions to test your credit IQ Opinion: Credit is the new crack Drowning in Debt Section Front   Add Drowning in Debt headlines to your news reader: