Don't live beyond your means.

$20,000 at some stupid high interest rate is financial suicide waiting to happen.

Better to hold off on those wants and pay cash or do without.

I've had a rule of thumb that's always worked well for me. Never have more than one paycheck on the credit card and pay them down fast and often. Coming up with $1200 for a scope or $1700 for a rifle wasn't always easy but I did it putting money away for a few weeks or months.

When it comes time to buy a car I put 50% down and always get the lowest interest rate. On my mortage I put down 20% and got the best rates avaliable. That's big savings where a 1% diffrence can mean thousands and thousands of dollars in interest payments.

Glad to hear you're coming around. Pay those things off - the higher interest ones first and then the 0% ones. And learn your lesson. Those things have destroyed plenty of people. Glad to see you were made of stronger stuff.