If you spent $100 on shoes last month, it'll cost you $102 this month due to interest. If you don't pay if off, it'll be $104 the next month. (or whatever numbers)
paying off credit cards is always better. Paying interest on $ you borrowed costs more, even if only a few bucks per month. Of course, it's very useful, if the pleasure or profitability of having the $ early is worth it. If you can use your credit card to buy a bucket of paint, and make $150 painting a house, then yes, the 50 cents you'll pay in interest on that paint can this month is worth it.
I've always been of the ilk that if you can't pay cash for it, then don't buy it. Only on bigger purchases (new guitar, supplements bought online etc...) do I use a credit card. I've also been doing this to build credit history- I have an excellent credit score, just not that long of a history.
This past summer I had some unexpected car problems that ended up costing me about $8k over the course of it all, and now I've gotten all the cards this money was put on, down to about $400 each. With my tax return and the checks being issued today, I'll pretty much have all the cards paid off.
Like what you explained above, I've always thought it was better to buy something and pay it off faster because if you pay even the small 2% on a $100, that's $2 more, and over the course of years that two bucks can really add up.
On a side note, it's scary to think that the average American has the credit card debt of 20k.
Most people rack up a ton of charges and then it takes around 20+ years to pay the balance off because interest, they continually charge the cards and a whole host of other factors.
