I know that some people fall back on their credit cards in an emergency, and I feel bad for the ones that get caught up in a web of trying to keep up with payments after a lost job or other calamity.

Then there are the Moellerings. See this story originally from The New York Times (I think).

It's essentially a story of a couple making a modest amount of money and having trouble keeping up with their credit card bills, and robbing Peter to pay Paul in keeping all their credit balls in the air. The story comes across as fairly sympathetic to them, although to be fair it does say they've made some bad decisions.

Yes, they have.

A few passages from the article:

This spring they allowed a reporter to see how they struggled with these choices. Christine Moellering's laundry basket recently included more unwelcome news: $2,693 due on a Visa card through her credit union, including finance charges of $25, and $13,680 on a CashBuilder Elite Visa, including a monthly finance charge of $200.

Their credit card debt came to $22,228, including $380 in monthly finance charges. Interest varied from 12.1 percent to 32.24 percent.

The Moellerings also have a mortgage of $93,000 and a home equity loan balance of $68,574, at 8 percent interest.

"We have friends in the same position," said Christine Moellering, who earns $30,000 a year as an administrative assistant.

"One was off his insurance for a couple weeks and he broke his arm, and they're out $25,000 or $30,000. We've talked to them about it. It doesn't matter what you do, you always have that credit card debt."

I can sympathize with their friends' position, but theirs is harder to justify:

For the Moellerings, juggling balances and interest rates has enabled them to pay for things they could not otherwise afford, like their 2004 wedding and house renovation, or to eat out occasionally, when "we've both had a bad day at work," Mark Moellering said. He earns $36,000 a year as a software applications designer.

More:

On March 27, Mark Moellering used a debit card rather than a credit card to make nine purchases, ranging from $5.38 to $48, hoping to avoid finance charges. But he miscalculated their checking account balance. Each purchase incurred an overdraft charge of $32, or a total of $288 in penalties, more than the $221.82 cost of the purchases. After some pleading, the bank, National City, forgave four of the charges, leaving the Moellerings with $160 in penalties, plus interest on both the fees and the principal.

Every two or three months they send in a payment late, running up a late fee of $30 or more.

More:

Their debt escalated when they decided to get married. They paid for rings, a reception, a honeymoon and a new bathroom - about $50,000 in a seven-month stretch. He paid for some of the expenses through a home equity loan, and paid contractors with promotional checks that came with low interest for the first year.

And then the finalé, where she looks for sympathy:

"It's been almost two weeks since we've had time to sit down and go over the bills," Christine Moellering said. "You can't do it every day, because we both work full time. I've got two kids; they want all our attention; they haven't seen us all day. We're trying to cook dinner. We have to do the dishes, fold the laundry. We're exhausted. And on the weekends the kids want our attention, and we want to spend time with them; we don't want to spend time going through the bills."

Well, maybe you should have thought about the bills when you ran up $50,000 in wedding costs and a new bathroom in less than a year. Look for understanding because you're too tired to deal with the consequences of your actions & you're not going to get it.

Sure, credit card companies and other lenders have been too lax in giving so much credit to people like this that can't or won't deal with it. But it's a two-way street.