How are you penalized -- what does it cost you? Unless you are going for a loan immediately, what does it actually cost you?

The purpose of promoting the use of credit cards is profit motive -- every swipe you make costs that merchant. In turn, they raise prices to recoup that cost so you pay more. You now have debt -- so if the credit company gets lucky, you don't pay your whole bill every month. (kudos to you, OP, for not being that debt slave). Beyond this, your utilization doesn't cost you anything. If you want to do the experiment, stop using the card for two months running. No credit charges. THEN apply for the loan you need (don't, I'm not pushing debt -- this is just a lame example).

You are right -- this is not a thing to be worried about as a young adult. You need to be far more worried about all the debt our generation left you. We were pissed that our parents were leaving us a lot of debt, and we've left you 10x more. Sorry about that.