"Was I being outright financially foolish ordering $100 bottles of Chardonnay at the club? Not at all. Was I being financially negligent ordering whatever small thing came my way that I wanted?"
Usually it is a death by a thousand cuts when it comes to racking up credit card debt. $20 for lunch, $50 for gas, $65 for some clothes, $100 for the electric bill. The problem is that pseudo-necessities like food, gas, entertainment don't have an end and reoccur indefinitely. It becomes really easy to fall into the trap of purchasing 2x $10 meals a day, and it easily becomes $600/mo, while the $200-300/month in groceries that were also purchased with the plan to stop eating out makes for a $800-900+/mo food bill.
They're both financially foolish, but I did not rack up credit card debt because of lavish purchases. It was just as ^ says.
Still, when I go through mental phases of not caring/not paying attention, even though I'm paying off my balance and setting aside some savings every month, occasionally I look at my statement and think "holy shit, how did I spend $1500 that month?!"
Usually those are like the months where I bought one semi-pricey thing (under $500 but still not just groceries and bills) plus a load of Amazon or Adafruit or any number of little tools, toys, hobby supplies, lattes, bar tabs, etc.
Still no problems paying my credit card off every month because I've been there and I'm not going back. Still, it's very easy to lose track if you get spoiled and complacent. Sure, it's nice being able to spend a few hundred bucks on supplies every time I want to take on a new project around the house but those things really add up and eat into money I should be saving, investing, or using to pay off that minor college loan earlier.
Why is that ipso facto financially foolish?
Personally, I have a great time going out with friends and having drinks with them. I like being able to pay for their drinks. I also pay off my bill every month and have a very healthy savings account.