Lee..., the mortgage problem isn't just the fault of the buyers. There were some VERY dirty lenders out there preying on low income families too. What blew my mind is how all the finger pointing always leads to some of the dumbest crap you'll ever hear. At one point there were reports saying that the mortgage crisis is the fault of low income MINORITY families! How F'ed up is that! If you really looked at it..., MANY of the families that were failing in the mortgage battle were MIDDLE CLASS families. People were buying $300-$400,000 homes (who could afford it at the time-living in these nice gated communities), but again many of them made a very poor decision and signed on the dotted line accepting their loan with an adjustable int. rate!

The main problem I've seen is that too many buyers signed on with an adjustable int. rate. That IMO is just plain dumb..., I for the life of me could never understand why a person would accept an adjustable int. rate when the country is at war. They didn't have problems when the payments were reasonable.., but when a $650 monthly payment went from that to over $800 within two months and continued to climb people started to really feel the sqeeze.

My wife and I puchased our home without having 20% down. We however were smart buyers. We live within our budget We have credit cards, but use them wisely. We have a nice house, pay our bills, DID NOT sign for an adjustable rate either. I was raised and taught to spend the money you DO have and not money you DON'T have.

There was also a problem with some families that bought these homes who thought they were suddenly RICH. So many living outside of their income brackets. Basically trying to live the life of a classy wine drinker on a beer man's salary. Families really got into trouble doing this.

I don't think the answer is cutting up your credit cards. If you got them..., and have a decent int. rate... QUIT FREAKIN USING THEM.., and pay off the current debt you got and stop racking it up. If you own a home YOU NEED to have at least ONE credit card (as you never know when you may need it for an emergency)

This whole mess has blame on both sides.. It's the buyers and the lenders. Too many were duped by lenders who had dirty lending practices. Too many home buyers were purchasing without using their brains and common sense. It created a huge mess.., and now we find ourselves in the state we're in today.