HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The huge economic bailout plan approved by Congress is the focal point of our national financial struggles. The root of it all is really how much money Americans owe.

"It's an addiction," Rick Mattison says.

Rick Mattison says he got the credit card disease. He overcharged to the point it nearly buried him in debt. He owed more on credit cards than he made in a year as a teacher at Dawson Bryant School.

Angela Roach has cut up so many credit cards that she can't even remember how many. Angela works for Consumer Credit Counseling. It's her job to teach people to live without any credit at all.

Living without credit can make some of the simple things in life difficult. Just try filling up your gas tank at a station which requires you to pay first. Rental car companies have real problems renting to people without a credit card. Hotels are pretty picky about getting a credit card for the deposit as well. And can you imagine how much cash you would have to carry around to go to the grocery store for your family?

"We want everything now. It's an instant gratification society. We don't want to save the money to get what we want," Angela Roach said.

Rick is a college educated man, yet he still fell into the credit trap. It can happen to anyone. He has gone through a five year plan to clear all his debt. He now fondly looks through all the old bills that used to haunt him.

"Credit cards aren't the devil. They are a necessary evil," Mattison said.

Rick cut up his credit cards and he got his life back. He's been so successful that he actually was able to retire from teaching and buy a new house. Now he's teaching by example to live more simply and control the credit monster.

Rick says that one of the most frustrating parts of his credit crisis came directly from the credit card companies. He found that the more he used his credit cards, the more they would increase his limit, enticing him to get further in debt.