Credit can work both ways, good and bad.
If you buy on credit and owe more than you can pay, that's bad. if you use it wisely to build up your credit score, that's good.
Using credit just for "instant gratification" is never good, no matter how good it feels at the time. I have done it, so I qualify to cast that stone. I have also dug myself out of that hole before.I have some credit debt right now that was unavoidable at the time, and I am working on paying it down and off, too.
Paying cash can keep you out of debt, but it is detrimental to your credit score. It is not negative credit, but no credit. This hurts you when you need to get credit, say for a house, because you don't have enough credit history to be judged a good risk. You end up either turned down or with a higher interest rate. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt to prove it.