Get rid of credit cards?

Okay, so I am in debt about $5000. I am 22 years old. I read a lot of people saying keep the cards, or no cancel them all. I am engaged and getting married in a couple years once I am done with school. So in about 3-5 years we will be buying our first home. Anyways, I am wondering, should I try very hard to pay them off and cancel them? Or just pay them off and not use them or use them and pay them off as soon as I use them? How will that affect us when we try to get a home? He has a couple cards, but I have like 11 cards, but some have no balance.

Also, any ideas on how to get extra money? I have cut out all my expenses. Cable is going bye-bye this week. But all my other expenses are fixed: rent, car payment, etc... I don't hardly eat out and haven't gotten a starbucks in months. I try to look around my home for things to sell, but everything is worth less than $5 if I don't need it. I am also a student and work so it would be hard to do an extra job. I need the good grades for a better job =) Any ideas on people who are in a similar situation.

Ashley - I'm not sure what will work for you as it depends on how you react to credit cards - however you surely don't need 11 cards? In the spirit of simplicity - which this forum is about really I would look to rationalise what you have. There is some advice on the general board about the best way to pay down your cards. Here are some links - you can rummage around and find more help I think:

http://zenhabits.net/2008/07/golden-money-list/
http://zenhabits.net/2009/03/8-ways-to-make-huge-savings-in-your-budget/

Let us know how you get on.

I would say cut up 9 of those cards and then let the account die (most companies will cancel your account after awhile). Keep 2, maybe. I use one card for food, it's hooked to my main bank account and another is hooked to an account that my grandparent's put money into, for anything.

For expenses, which I'm in with too, whatever isn't food, utilities or rent pretty much goes to the wayside. We don't have cable, internet would be the first thing to go and I've pretty much stopped buying anything else. The tip here is to be as reasonable as possible, you DO have to buy toilet paper at some point, unless you're really that green.

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When you say that you're $5,000 in debt, does that include your car? It's important to lay everything out on the table.

I don't know what you drive, but a good rule of thumb is to not have a vehicle worth more than half of your annual income. And you should always buy used and pay cash if at all possible. If you have too much car you may want to look at selling it and downsizing. If you sell your $10,000 car and buy a perfectly good one for $5,000, that takes care of a big chunk of debt right there. It will also save you the monthly car payment and insurance will be cheaper.

If you're worried about your credit score then don't outright cancel the cards. Part of the score is based on how much debt you have vs. how much is available to you. Cancelling them will give you less available credit and your score will take a dive.

As far as extra income, paying down all of your debt sounds like the best thing you can do. Not having a credit card bill or car payments will free up that much income. I've always liked the "debt snowball." Make minimum payments on everything except your smallest bill. Attack that smallest bill with a vengence. When that bill is paid off go on to the next smallest, and so forth until you are done.

But, as long as there are no fees attached to them, just cutting up the cards, paying them off, and letting the accounts lay dormant is probably the best idea. If the card has an an annual fee, by all means, cancel it.

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Hi.
Yes got read of credit cards. Specially when there are so many. I have some 4 to 5. Facing difficulties many times. Also there is a fear of their missing.

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