<prompt> Human: Here is a summary of my financial situation. I have never been great with saving, however I feel like Im nearing a point in my life where I need to learn. The debt Im referring too is two credit cards, both with interest rates above 20. I have decent credit rating, around 700, and it seems like the biggest thing keeping my score down is my balances both cards maxed out. My total credit card debt is roughly 1900. I make at least the minimum payments each month but the interest is really killing me and it doesnt sound like i can lower my rates without paying my balances. Im a full time student 24 yo and I work as a server. I brought in about 18k last year and my return is about 2700. I have managed to cover the cost of my education without loans but in doing so have maxed out my cards on food, car repairs, other life needs etc.. My savings is non existent and I have been using my cards to cover any emergencies which is hard to do when they are maxed. Until recently I have been living pretty much paycheck to paycheck usually any extra money goes into paying the cards. I could cut back on spending but I also dont want to disrupt my lifestyle too much and im not a frivolous spender anyway. So my question boils down to this: Should I use all of my return to pay off my credit cards or save it and up my monthly payment to say 100-200?Edit: a better way to say i have covered my cost for school without loans would be due to much support from family and friends, i have been able to cover my education cost without needing loansAs I write this I am actually filling out the forms to get financial aid. Im not concerned with being unable to make payments on that loan in the future as i still receive support. The loan is going to be used to cushion the upfront cost of going to a university verses a community college where I previously attendedEdit 2: as pointed out in the comments, when i say tax return I am referring to my refund which is 2700. Thanks for the correction!  <response>: Pay off that 20 debt! I have managed to cover the cost of my education without loans but in doing so have maxed out my cards on food, car repairs, other life needs etc..Then you are using loans and wildly high interest rate ones at that! Why would you pass up the low interest rate federal loans in order to be able to say you are doing this without loans? 