I have 3 credit cards and all maxed out?

Question

My question is now. If i cut 'em up. will that help me pay 'em off easier than constantly using it and if i don't want to use 'em anymore..Say i want to cancel it, is that such a good idea while there is still a balance owing? I always thought about just cutting them up so i don't end up using it. Cuz if i hide it, doesn't do any good for me. Please help me. I really need financial advice. Thank you!

Answer 1

Cut them up, the account still holds and as long as you keep up on payments it will be a good mark on your credit report. You can always get replacement cards once you get yourself under control. Also if you can't make the payments or they will be tough, call your creditors now to work something out. They might wave the interest and allow you to just pay down the amount due. Best of luck.

Answer 2

You can give them to me I will take care of them for you.

Just kidding, you should just cut them up, and try to pay on them whenever you can. Good Luck!

Answer 3

The first thing to do is figure out why you are over spending on your credit cards and deal with that problem.

While you are doing that cut up two of the cards.  The third card freeze in a large block of ice in the freezer.  This will make it not handy to use frivolously.

Pay off the highest interest rate card first (while making minimum payments on the others.  When that card is paid off, use that money to pay off the next highest interest rate card, and so on.

During this period, pay by cash or check only.  Teach yourself that when the money's gone, you have to stop spending.

Be prepared.  It could take a couple of years or more to pay off your outstanding balances.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

Either cut them up or lock them up and throw away the key!  Do you realize the amount of interest you will be paying when this is all said and done???  Don't buy anything unless you have the cash to buy it, but it sounds like all your extra cash will go to paying off the credit cards.  Most likely you didn't need most of what you bought.  Life is more than things, and it's not fair to the rest of us when people max out their cards and declare bankruptcy.   You can get out of this debt by working hard and changing your habits.  Good Luck.

Answer 5

If you try to negotiate with the credit card companies, and tell them you're looking to cancel, they may cut you a lower interest rate.

I know that sounds absurd, but that's what I just did with my three maxed out cards last week.

Do not worry about your credit score.

Good credit got you into trouble in the first place.

Here's my advice (and some of it is shamelessly borrowed from Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover")

Step 1 - cut up the cards.

Step 2 - write out a monthly budget, so that every dollar you make next month is spent on paper this month.

Step 3 - Start squeezing money out of the budget

You're going to have to "live like no one else" in order to pay down your debts.

$4 latte is now the free office coffee

$8 McDonalds is now a $1 baloney sandwich

etc.

Step 4 - Hold the mother of all garage sales.

Once you have money to start attacking your debts with, you can follow Dave's "Baby Steps".

Baby Step 1: Get $1,000 saved.

Pay ONLY the minimums on what you owe (stay current)

Once you have $1,000, withdraw ten $100 bills from the bank, put it in a $5 picture frame, along with a sign "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass"

Baby Step 2: The debt snowball.

List out each debt, smallest to largest.

Pay only the minimums on everything, and then attack that smallest debt with every dollar you can save.

When that one's dead, move on to the next-smallest, and attack that.

When they're all dead, call into the Dave Ramsey Show, and scream at the top of your lungs "I'M DEBT FREEEE!!!!"

Baby Step 3: Great Big emergency fund.

With no debts (except maybe the mortgage or rent), you can put a ton of money in the bank.

Get 6 months expenses saved up.

If you had $20,000 in the bank, would you ever need a credit card???

Baby Step 4: Only now, start investing.

And do it with a vengence.  15% of your pay.

Put it in a 401K, as long as you get the match.

Once you've maxed the match, put the rest in a Roth IRA.

Good growth stock mutual funds, that have made 11%+ average over the last 10 years.

Baby Step 5: Kids College Fund.

Baby Step 6: Pay off the house.

Baby Step 7: Live Like No One Else.

Answer 6

first if all if any one knew what they were talking about then they would know cutting the cards up dosen 't get rid of the problem.  If you got maxed cards from the wrong reasons then you need to get help to figure out what you could do to minimize the same thing from happening again.  I can help you with that.  Consolidate your debts and only pay one creditor instead of three.  Once you start telling creditors your thinking of quiting the use of them, they tend to push you more for the money ( makes sense now dosen't it )  Email me at [e-mail] I can direct you to better results.

Answer 7

Your question reveals your complete lack of focus on this issue. What is your plan to retire the debt? What resources can you garner to resolve this matter? It seems you are looking for the quick and easy fix; that's how you got into this mess in the first place.

Answer 8

I say cut the cards to shreds. You will still receive your monthly balance due and you will continue to pay whatever is left to pay, but with the amount diminishing every month you will be that much closer to financial relief. Then one day the monthly balance will come and the amount owed will be ZERO. That's when you feel great. Forget about credit scores and whatever. If and when you need to borrow money and you're in good standing with the bank, it's never a problem to borrow. It's always more difficult to repay....

Answer 9

do not cancel them that will hurt your score . you can put them away and not use them

Answer 10

Since you already know the only method that will keep you from using your credit cards is to cut them up, go ahead.  Then in order to control your spending write out a budget so you can compare your monthly income with monthly expenses.   Include the monthly cost of car insurance (yearly cost of the insurance divided by 12) and others expenses you don't pay each month like home insurance.  Use the minimum payment for the three cards in your monthly expenses.

Be sure to include some amount for clothing ($50 per month), car repair ($50 per car per month) and other emergency expenses.  Maintenance and emergencies come along and can mess up any budget if you don't have any savings.

Once you have a written budget you will know if you have extra income to apply to your credit cards.  There are two approaches you can take to paying off the cards.  One; pay off the card with the smallest balance first, this will free up cash the quickest then you can use it to pay off the other cards.  Two; pay off the card with the highest interest rate first, this will minimize the interest you pay.

When your credit cards are paid off begin saving for purchases rather than using credit.  People using a credit card for purchases typically spend up to 40% for an item then if they pay with cash or a check.  Use your budget to tell you how much you have for clothing and other items then stay within your spending limits.  Know what you need as opposed to what you want along with knowing what you have to spend will help you stay out of debt.

Good luck and God bless!