'Quest for Credit' is a not so fairy tale story of credit card use

Credit cards are a big part of life for many of us, but unfortunately, too many of us don't learn the proper way to use credit cards until we have already burdened ourselves with purchases and minimum payments.

While the process of getting out of debt takes time, commitment and smarts; at its heart it is a simple process. Mint.com, a personal management website, has created a short video, Quest for Credit, to illustrate in a humorous manner the effect of reckless credit card use and how to go about taming your debt monster.

The fairy tale-like video follows our hero, who we'll call Joe College, from his first card into the valley of debtors and with a plan and payments up Credit Mountain. If only he had listened to the Wise Wizard's warning, "With great spending power comes great fiscal responsibility," it would have been a shorter trip.