The thing is, you don’t want to have more than 25%-30% of the approved credit in use.

On the other hand, if your credit card debt is at a high interest rate, it just might make sense to reduce it substantially before starting your savings.

The interest banks are paying on deposits is ridiculously low and, while savings are important, in fact critical for purchasing a home, it just does not make sense to pay high interest on credit card debt when you have the money in the bank that could pay it off. You’ll be losing money on a daily basis that way and it just doesn’t make good sense to do that.

If you feel you must start saving, I suggest that you try to save $1 for every $4 beyond the minimum you pay on your credit cards.

Hope this helps.

For example:
Say the credit cards are at 12% and the savings account is paying 3%, you're 'making' an extra 9% by paying down the credit cards in this example.

However, if you have a credit card with a 'teaser' rate of 0%, and a savings account that's paying 2% I would say put the money into the savings account.

I hope that helps.

The boycott is the ace-in-the-hole for any dept. store cardholder who has been victimized by predatory practices. I only wish other non-dept store cards had such an Achilles heel.

If your name is not on the loan or title, they cannot place a lien on it whether you are still within SOL or out of SOL.

If you are past the collecting SOL it would be in your best interest to head them off before they consider filing an "illegal" lawsuit by sending them a SOL letter

I read through your past Q&A's to see if I could find a state on you.
If you live in NC then the collecting SOL for both open and written is 3 years

Open Acct.: §1-52(1)
Written Contract Not Under Seal; §1-52(1)
§1-52. Three years.
Within three years an action –
(1) Upon a contract, obligation or liability arising out of a contract, express or implied, except those mentioned in the preceding sections or in G.S. 1- 53(1).

If it is a collection agency or a collection lawyer, you might find the following NC statute informing

Sections 58-70-90 et seq. of the General Statutes proscribe certain acts and conduct by collection agencies engaged in the collection of consumer debts. Acts and conduct prohibited include threats and coercion, harassment, unreasonable publication, deceptive representation, unconscionable means, unauthorized practice of law and court appearances, sharing of office space with a practicing attorney or any type of lending institution. Violators of any of these provisions may be liable for penalties in a sum not less than $100 nor greater than $2,000, per violation. (? 58-70-130.)

You might click on my profile and click on the last link I have listed to the "free" credit discussion board. Do some reading. You would also be able to find debt validation and SOL letter templates.

Your parents wont be liable unless they co-signed, however they may still try to sue your parents for the money; it would be a tough fight, but they might win.

The sad thing is today, a lot of teenagers are under stress and to us, its a simple and easy way to get our minds off of what is going on in our real life by doing exactly what you did; Between school, relationships, and family issues, and possibly having to get/hold a job to make payments on stuff; its hard, and unfortunately you will pay for what you did; It sucks i know.

Plus with credit cards you don't realize how much you are spending until you get that statement; because you don't actually see the money leaving your hands.

Good Luck with your issue, don't do anything stupid like running away lol, and i hope your mom and brother are doing better. You need to be with your family and friends right now, dont do any drugs or screw your life up in that sense; You've made one bad mistake, dont make others because of it

Good Luck!