10,000 in credit card debt, and I'm 24! Best ways to get it down?

I just graduated college and financed my own education with my own money, grants, and student loans. I have 20k in student loans and 10k in credit card debt. If I get this job I'm hoping for, it doesn't pay much. I can only cut out so many things of my budget. How can I get them down? I'm trying to get a 0% balance transfer credit card and see if it has a big enough limit to transfer my three cards to. Any other ideas?

most importantly, pay your student loan on time every time. Paying this long term loan on time is going to do wonders for your credit. Don't pay it off early, the longevity looks good on your report.

If you have 3 cards totalling $10k and can't consolidate onto one, look at the one with the highest APR first. On the 2 lower interest cards, pay minimum rounded up. (if minimum is $87, pay $100). On the highest card, pay minimum PLUS finance charge... any extra is always great, but if you do this you are paying down the balance that is rising the fastest.

Try and pay cash for things, but if you can't, use only the card with the lowest APR

Shred the card(s) and pay them off. Oh, and don't be late on payments.

Don't worry, we all have school & credit card bills. All you can do is make the monthly payments. Don't stress out on how to pay them fast because the reality of it, it will take a few years. If you can, pay as much as you can each month. And if you shred them, you won't be able to use them. =)

Call your current credit card representative, ask them what's the best interest rate they can give you so you can pay down your credit debt quicker. Inform them that you are giving them a chance to help you out before you decide to transfer to another credit company and close your account with them.

If you transfer your balance....CLOSE YOUR CURRENT ACCOUNT......THIS IS A MUST OR ELSE YOU PUT YOURSELF IN JEOPARDY OF CHARGING OTHER THINGS AGAIN!

don't panic this is very common
first DO NOT CLOSE CARDS- this will lower your score
Second- call the banks and ask for lower rates.
Third get the statements together and start focusing on the one with the highest rate. Let's say you have $500 a month to pay on all your cards and the minimums are $300, pay the minimums on all except the highest interest rate one- pay the most you can to that one, for example the remaining $200. Do this till that highest APR% card is paid off. Then start putting the money you paid toward that card plus the minimum payment onto the next highest APR and keep going from there. This is the most cost effective way to do it.
Beware and do not start the game of opening many cards with low Apr's that only last a short time- this will hurt you. Unless you can get a card at a fixed rate that is low- say less than 9% then don't take the card.
Lastly- don't charge anymore. My close friend took hers and put them in a bowl of water and froze them. This way they were not easy access. What I would suggest is cut them up except the one with the lowest rate- use it only if there is an emergency. Don't close theothers just get them paid off. It looks better to have zero balances with open accounts than with closed.
Good luck- it may take a while but it is worth it!

pay the min or make a payment plan

Absolutely CUT UP THE CARDS. You don't have to be in debt for the rest of your life. I had a truckload of debt...credit cards, two cars, etc., I used a method that worked like gold. It won't cost you anything to use the method either. Go to daveramsey.com. You can borrow his book from your local library and listen to his show for free on his website. He's pretty funny, very motivational, and most of all HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT!!!! We paid off EVERYTHING but the house in 17 months. I can sleep at night now. Whatever you do, DON'T get a debt consolidation loan or sign up for one of those credit repair scams. Please just listen to this show for a few times before you do anything else. It's not a scam that will cost you a fortune. It's common sense, very do-able, won't cost you anything to do the program, and kind of fun when your goal is to be debt-free. It can be done. Go for it! Good luck!!!

ladder your credit card payments by paying the minimun on all except 1 & paying the most on that 1 card. example you're paying $100 per card for 5 cards ($500) but the minimum is $30 on all cards. then pay $30, $30, $30, $30, & $360. when $360 is done then $30, $30, $30, & $390. you're still paying $500, but your allocating it to the most effective method to pay down your debt. if your credit is bad, then settle with them.

Doing the 0% or low APR balance tranfer is a pretty good way to go. I found a site that has a list of "balance tranfer" cards http://preferred.ecreditdirectory.com/ca... , in particular, there is one that offer 0% for 15 months.

If you applied when the terms were 0% for 6 months fees-free, thats what you should get. Which doesn't mean its what you will get! Keep us informed if you have any problems and we'll look into it. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-forums.com/search...

If you are caught in the credit card debt trap, approach a debt consolidation company for help, instead of paying high rate of interest to your card issuer. Most of the debt consolidation companies provide loans to help you tide over the credit card debts. These loans are known as credit card debt consolidation loan. The advantage of this loan is that you are charged a low rate of interest. The difference between the interest charged on the credit card and the interest on the credit card debt consolidation loan is substantial, saving you quite a big sum of money.