I Just cut up *FIVE* credit cards.

[UdoKier]

I saved one, and sadly, I'm still trying to pay them down, but at least I won't be able to use them.

If I haven't made much progress on them by the end of this year, I'll have to put myself in a DMP...


But I know that paying them off is the best possible investment...

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Bravo! n/t

[slackmaster]

2. Good for you!

That was the first step I took about 20 years ago when I woke up one morning and realized I was in serious high-interest debt.

Here's egging you on:

:toast:

[MissB]

3. As long as you don't owe

the total amount shown in your siggy, you'll probably be fine. :hi:

You're right about paying them off. It'll feel good when you get to that point.

[ronnykmarshall]

4. Good for you

Now CLOSE them.

[4_Legs_Good]

5. Good work!

Credit cards almost killed us - financially speaking, of course.

We got married making about $75,000 a year together with over $90,000 in debt most of which was 20% credit card debt. We managed to dig ourselves out on our own, but it was long and hard, and we still have some lingering effects.

Get out of CC debt any way you can.

My advice to all college students - DON'T GET INTO CREDIT CARD DEBT!!!

david

[LynneSin]

11. That is fabulous advise knowing that Credit Card companies

are all over college campuses pushing cards on newly independant students. I didn't get mine until I was just out of college but heck $2900 is a little too much to start out a kid just out of college

[realisticphish]

6. i did too

my roommate is probably going to be mad though :shrug:

[LynneSin]

7. I was inspired by another person here at DU

who managed to get out of CC debt. I started at $5k about a year ago and I'm down to $3k a year later. My debt is small compared to others but it's about time I start to pay for what I've spent. I've actually cut up both credit cards and the only card I use is my Debit Card.

[HereSince1628]

17. I only use my check/debit card, too.

I've been without a credit card for over 2 years.

Be a friend throw a party and only admit people that can show you one-half of a credit card.

[Jessica]

8. Good for you ...

And good luck. I'm about to pay my credit card debt down by half - then I'm going through my credit union for the remaining. I'd like to keep one as well - but not the one I have. And I'm going to stress to the company that I want a very low limit! Any suggestions for a low-interest one?

[beyurslf]

9. I know that felt good.

[AlCzervik]

10. good for you, try and pay a little more than the minimum

if you can, even another $25 a month will help.

[GiovanniC]

19. I Read That If You Can Make Payments of Double the Minimum

You will be paid off in three years regardless of what you owe. I'm not a math major though so I'm not positive that's true.

[mojavekid]

12. Good for you!

and good luck!

[HereSince1628]

13. That's five decisions you'll not regret.

[lazarus]

14. Just make sure they're yours

:P

[n2mark]

15. Can you close a credit card without paying it off?

I would like to discontinue a credit card, but will I need to pay it off before doing this? If not, what are the penalties?

[MissB]

20. You can close it.

Call the company up and ask them if there is any penalty.

I haven't heard of any penalty for closing an account. Usually you just close it and pay off the balance. It just prevents you from making more charges on the account.

[intrepid_wanderer]

16. Don't worry...

.. they'll gladly send you replacement cards that will arrive within a few days (a week at most).

Now... if you close them... you usually retain the same repayment terms - something you can ask about.

Finally... IF you close them, you're actually going to lower your FICO score... (it's based on a ratio of your total debt as compared to your total available credit. aka - If you reduce the total credit available to you, then you ratio will change in a manner as to lower your FICO score & therefore make future credit (hopefully for a home? or other useful things) more expensive and/or difficult to obtain. ==> Therefore, just decide to stick to your plan... pay all you are able while still 'living' somewhere near what you can both enjoy & afford... it works.

[GiovanniC]

18. It Really Is The Best Investment You Can Make

I went credit card free four years ago. I was paying about 22% interest on almost $10,000. If I had only made the minimum payments each month and charged nothing extra, I would have spent over $35,000 over the course of more than 40 years.

It's great to be debt-free. My car is almost paid off and so are my student loans. I use a Mastercard debit card that will take only money I actually have, so I have the convenience of a credit card without the burden of consumer debt.