You will be charged an over-the-limit fee now too with Chase. You may want to try to pay an extra 50 on it so it will stand at 0 *if I read your post right, you paid all but 24 dollars on it.* Start paying all your credit cards as soon as you have the money. Pay off your higher interest cards first. STOP using them. Good luck! It will take time. I started off with 99% util when I first came to my fico- 6 months later I'm at 30%. It does take time to pay it off. Get a game plan 
Message Edited by AlishaR on 07-15-2008 06:00 PM
Message Edited by AlishaR on 07-15-2008 06:00 PM
schoolbuskid, look into the price of a small safety deposit box at a local bank. You should be able to get one for around $20/ year.
Put all but one card in it and lock them up. I don't think a sock drawer will do it; I think that you're going to need to get them out of the house. (No online charging --that's cheating!) Only use this card for stuff that you have money for right now. Think of it as a debit card, and pay off all your new charges every week. Swap it out every month or so, so that they all get some activity. You might need to go to WalMart every three months, buy 8 pairs of socks, and charge each with a different CC to keep them all alive. (I will look for the security tape of your checkout on YouTube!)
Get on a killer credit diet. First get everything under 85% to reduce the chances of having some of your creditors rate jack you. Then shoot for under 50% and so forth. Get a part-time job if you have to. I've noticed that the area teenagers who started working fast food at the beginning of the summer have all vanished.
You're finding out what happens if you get lots of new credit before you get your brain reprogrammed to a new way of thinking about money and credit. You need to do a 180 now, before you find yourself in worse shape than before. You can do this! Don't let all your hard work so far go for nothing.
Put all but one card in it and lock them up. I don't think a sock drawer will do it; I think that you're going to need to get them out of the house. (No online charging --that's cheating!) Only use this card for stuff that you have money for right now. Think of it as a debit card, and pay off all your new charges every week. Swap it out every month or so, so that they all get some activity. You might need to go to WalMart every three months, buy 8 pairs of socks, and charge each with a different CC to keep them all alive. (I will look for the security tape of your checkout on YouTube!)
Get on a killer credit diet. First get everything under 85% to reduce the chances of having some of your creditors rate jack you. Then shoot for under 50% and so forth. Get a part-time job if you have to. I've noticed that the area teenagers who started working fast food at the beginning of the summer have all vanished.
You're finding out what happens if you get lots of new credit before you get your brain reprogrammed to a new way of thinking about money and credit. You need to do a 180 now, before you find yourself in worse shape than before. You can do this! Don't let all your hard work so far go for nothing.