what happens if I cut up my credit cards?
I want to stop using credit cards and everyone says to just cut them up so I can’t use them then pay them off. But then don’t I need the info on the cards if I plan to cancel them?
to Morgan Lefaye
I know what you mean, but I am a college student and I come from a poor family. I do not earn enough money with my full time job plus college loans to pay off even half of my college bill. So credit cards were my only way to pay rent, bills and buy basic things like food, gas and toiletries. I would never use them on random crap I don’t need like many other people. I do not need them now b/c my grandma is letting me live with her so that will be a huge relief!!! Hopefully I never have to have credit cards again.
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i wouldnt cut them up until they are canceled! you do need the card number on it in order to do that!
cut the numbers off by themselves first
well u waste a perfetly good credit card
No, the info will be on your bill which you would still be paying.
While I think that limiting its use is a great idea until you can afford it, cutting them up is a little extreme. One funny commercial that I saw was where the person froze it in a block of ice and kept it in the freezer. So you can use it only if you REALLY mean it and not impulsively.
what happens? you have twice as many credit cards! woo!
Yes, you do need to call the companies and cancel them. They won’t actually be cancelled until you completely pay them off though.
If you have quite a few cards though, don’t cancel them all at once. If you do, it screws up your credit rating. You should only cancel one card every 1-2 months.
I don’t think you should cut them up quite yet. Maybe you should set them somewhere aside in a safe place, so no one knows where they are but you.
You need to cancel the account if you no longer want the cards. To just discard them does nothing to the official status of the cards, which remain active.
you save yourself alot of money in the charges they add to your bill for useing it,what you still have is the ballance of the card,you also have pease of mind
I cut mine up and paid online. It has absolutely worked to keep me from using them.
I wouldn’t cancel them if I were you. That actually does more damage to your credit than just leaving them open. The credit agencies are looking to see if you can use your credit wisely. All or nothing works against your credit.
You do need the info on the cards if you want to cancel them, but if you absolutely need the physical card or number for anything, you can always request a new card. That’s why I pay my bills online. I paid one off and when I felt ready to use it responsibly, all I had to do was go online, log in to my account, and request a new one. (My cards were still in tact when I set up my online payments.)
I’ve since requested a new card, and I have in fact used it wisely!
EDIT: Regarding animal lover’s suggestion about freezing them . . . it doesn’t work. I froze mine. Took less than five minutes to thaw them out.
if you cut your credit card you will end up using it, the only info in the card is your card number but it usually appear on your monthly bill so you dont have to worry about losing info. do it so that you can get off from your debt. i also cut my credit card.
Yes, you will need the info if you plan to cancel them. Make copies of them before cutting them up – don’t forget to copy or write down the 3 digit safety number on the back. Once you have canceled them, store the paper copies in a safe place in case you should ever need that info again.
Cut them up and when you get the bills you will have the account number on each of them and their phone number too, so you can call them and cancel the accounts.
Cancel them first, then cut them up. (I prefer to cut them into tiny pieces & flush them down the toilet.) You can continue to pay the bill until it’s paid off, but you won’t be tempted to use it. If you don’t cancel them, they will still show as open accounts on your credit report, which could count against you.
Well, one of the best ideas I ever heard is to put them in some water and freeze them in the freezer. That way, they don’t fit in your wallet, so you can’t take them shopping. If there is a TRUE emergency (like your car breaks down and you have to fix it so you can get to work – for example) you can melt the ice and use your card. It just makes it so it isn’t so handy for all those impulse purchases and I have known several people who have managed to pay off their credit cards this way.
As far as needing the information to cancel them, when you call in, they pretty much just need to be able to ask you identifying questions in order to make sure they are cancelling for the right person.
If you are really serious about it and you don’t want these cards anymore, but just need to pay them off, then you should call up the companies and ask them if you can just cancel your account so that it is disabled and you can’t use it anymore — you just want to make the payments and pay it off. You might be able to make some kind of arrangements that way.
Also, if you have more than one and they are at different interest rates, the best way to pay them off is to make the minimum payment on all of the ones except the highest interest rate one. Then choose a certain amount that you will pay on that one each month that is more than the minimum. Then when it is paid off, use that same amount of money PLUS the amount you have been paying on the second one to continue to pay off the second one and so on and so on until they are all paid off.
Good luck. It is a good thing to rid yourself of credit card debt. It can really get you into a mess that is hard to get out of. You will feel so great when you get it all paid off — just don’t go out and celebrate by charging something again! lol
stop using them and dare i say it oh
PAY CASH ,
I never understood why someone would pay someone else
money so that they can then turn around and send them more at the end of the month to cover the money they spent with interest, and didn’t pay on time to the hour ,they charged you more money, for the uses of their right to say ” your a good boy/girl”
confused me too.
credit card bad, saving money good, get better deal UGGH!
if you ain’t got it ! you ain’t got the right job!
Congratulations you have made the first step toward true freedom. You should have the numbers on your bill or even better you should have your account available to you on line. Once you make sure that you have all your information by all means cut those things up.
Cutting them up and then paying them off only works if you stop charging on a card. If you don’t stop charging then you will gradually work your way back to where you are now.
Try this approach in paying the cards off. First go interest rate shopping. Call the companies and ask for a lower rate. If being polite doesn’t work threaten to transfer your balance to another company or your local bank.
Here is the weird part. Instead of paying the cards off based on the interest rate, pay the card off with the lowest balance. If your truly going to get out of debt then you should be out in a year or two anyway and the little bit of interest shouldn’t be a big deal. What paying smallest to largest will do for you is give you encouragement to continue. You will feel like you have some traction when you pay that first bill off. Pay the minimum on the other cards and roll your payments up the credit hill. By the time you get to the top you will have all those little payments added in so you can take a good wallop on that biggie. Good luck.