1st post...Paid off cc in full, but...

[Anonymous]

Hi there!  New to the forums here.  I must say there is a LOT of information to read and go through!

Anyhoo...We had about 14000 in cc debt.  Have paid on time for the past 4 years or so.  Before that , we did get into some trouble and ended up using consumer credit counseling service and debt consolidation.  We managed to get $20000 paid off in 2 years (it was UGLY!).

The bad, the good and the ???...yes, we managed to rack up $14000 in the past 4 years again, but paying our bills on time every month for the past 4 years.  The good?  My grandmother left me $20000.  We just paid off ALL of the cards in January.  All $14000 worth (I think there were 9 credit cards- we cut all but 2 of them up).

I am reading through the posts here, and now see that may not have been such a great idea. (But it sure feels good not to be under that cloud again!!)

Advice?  Were we stupid? 

[Anonymous]

If you just cut up the cards but did not call the ccc and cancel the cards the accounts are still open and you can call and request new cards saying that the previous card was damaged to the point it was unusable. If you cancelled any of the cards, you could call and ask to reopen the account.

Whatever you do YOU MUST get control of your spending or you will find yourself deep in debt again in the near future. Make it a habit to pay in full whatever you charge on your cards every month. Until you can change your spending habits you can not trust yourself to carry abalance for even a few months. Until you can save up your money so you can PIF for any big purchases that you do want to make. This is a good idea anyway.

[Anonymous]

If you haven't talked to the CCC and told them to cancel........call & get new cards  just say that they are damaged!!!  when you cancel good TL  you lose hx and UTIL........sockdrawer them   thats what I do.  Keeping the cards under10%  is good UTIL