We had about 60K on credit cards and it took us 4 years to pay them all off. We closed all the accounts and during the "payback" phase we made min payments on all but 1 and threw money at that one till it was paid. We would get calls all the time offering to reopen and drop the interest rate, made the mistake once of telling one bank our plan, and they offered to "consolidate" some of our other cards by upping our limit, we didn't. We did miss a payment or 2 here and there and got slammed with fees and more interest.
After that exercise, we decided to never open a credit line again, if we can't pay cash then we can't afford it. We've entertained the idea of getting one for hotel or car reservations, since most places will put a hold on debit cards, but we've been ok so far..
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