There are always assumptions going on. Here in this thread, there are two.
The first assumption isn't specific to this board, but to CC debt. It is always assumed that CC debt is directly related to consumer spending.
The second assumption is, this is a Disney message board, thus everyone on this board is either planning a Disney vacation or loves Disney.
As for the 2nd assumption, no I am not planning a Disney vacation, nor do I or my family love Disney. We had planned and gone on our Disney vacation already. We found it to be just a VERY expensive glorified amusement park. Are we glad we went? Yes, if possible I think all kids (and adults too) should see Disney once. Did we have fun, absolutely (except for the dying in the heat on a daily basis, LOL.) But it was a lot of work, very expensive for what it was, very hot, and not something we fell in love with. I don't visit this board for Disney info. I visit for the budget board and browse through the community board. After our Disney trip I visited Disney related sections for the last time to comment on our trip, comment on the travel in that section, and more or less confirm a lot of the tips and tricks I learned here. Haven't been to a section relating to Disney since.
Now the first assumption. Yes, I have credit card debt (and went to Disney while having CC debt, thanks for judging.) No, the CC debt is not consumer based. We have 2 children and a house. My wife gave up her job to raise those children. As the years wore on, the economy got worse and worse. Everyone talked about the economy tanking a few years ago, but it has been steadily happening far earlier than that. I had to provide food and continue to provide shelter and heat all the while incomes of the not-so-loaded folks steadily slowed down for many years. If you run out of food in the house and because of the ever increasing heating costs through the winter you find you don't have any money to feed your children, you have to jump to credit cards. Working as much as I worked, a second job was not an option, certainly not an option at 1/4 of the pay that I made on overtime. Wife going back to work was not an option, we had 2 kids at home. Her working certainly was not an option when a coworker showed his infant's face looking like it was attacked by a great white shark from another child in daycare. Daycare thus was not an option.
Then the economy really tanked with the oil prices. When it jumped to $800/month to heat the house, it killed us. Now much more is going on the credit cards. Meanwhile, everyone else is also in CC debt, but they are sporting $200+/month cell phones, $800 flat screen TV's, fancy ipods, fancy computers and laptops every couple years, expensive brand new full size 15 mpg pickup trucks, etc, etc. My family, still watching the 27 inch CRT television I bought with gift certificates in 1996. Still standing in the kitchen talking on the phone because the cord won't reach the living room couch. Still listening to FM radio, and me constantly under the hood of our 150,000+ mile vehicle to get me to work.
Eventually both kids made it to school age. After kindergarten for the youngest, my wife went back to work part time. Overtime has slunked off in huge amounts the past few years and though I could make her week's paycheck with an hour/day overtime, the overtime isn't there any more.
Things were looking good. Bills were caught up, CC's were now being paid down instead of staying stagnant or rising. We figured we would be able to save up at the same time and finally go on our first family vacation. Researched and figured out how much it would be to go to the beach. Just for S&G's I looked up Disney. With the value resorts, it really wasn't all that expensive, about the same as we would spend going to the beach. So, yes, we did go to Disney while in CC debt. We also took an impromptu long weekend trip to the beach on the cheap the same year.
At the same time, I learned of Dave Ramsey. I read a lot and figured a lot out, but I don't agree with the whole put your entire life and your kid's life on complete hold to pay debt. What I learned was something never taught to me before, how to budget and manage money. A controlling parent taking every penny of yours to "save" and not letting you have any of it until you leave the childhood home doesn't teach you money management, but teaches you resentment in that you are finally broken away and can do whatever you want with your money, which leads to a bit of money management rebellion.
So, I do budget, I am paying down debt, and I did go on vacation (two infact last year.) Oh, and get this, yes I still have CC debt and we also went to Myrtle Beach this year. An unexpected bonus helped out a ton at the end of last year, then the small tax return we get was used for the MB trip. All the while, my financial goal for the year was to keep steady on paying the bills on time (actually I pay them very early) and continue to pay the CC debt down some. Next year the debt payments will be more aggressive. My wife spent 9 years at home raising kids. I spent 9 years taking "working" vacations to work on needed projects on the house or keeping those high mileage vehicles running. You can either completely burn out and go insane or balance your life with a little R&R and take much needed vacations. You bust your tail 51 weeks a year working, I certainly will not judge someone who is in CC debt taking that 52nd week of the year and getting away from all the stress.
I actually think that spending the money and taking those vacations has helped the financial situation. It definitely reduces the stress of work work work non-stop. It helps to clear the mind and better plan. I have a budget not for this week, not for this month, but my budget is planned out for the next 5 years and can very easily be extended beyond that. I can tell you exactly which paycheck will pay the electric bill in August of 2015 as well as exactly when my Capital One credit card will have $83 left on the balance. I can tell when I will have 6 months worth of emergency fund saved up and when 6 months after that I will have enough money in the car fund to replace my car with a 5 year old used car. My mind is clear, my life is balanced, and I am able to look at our future much clearer without as much stress because I was able to get some stress-relief of getting away with my family for some relaxation and enjoyment for 5 days out of the 365 days of non-stop working.
Good grief. I think when you're on a Disney message board it's a perfectly reasonable assumption to think that is why most people are here. 
