<prompt> Human: My dad found out I have a credit card, and then found out that I have a balance on said card. He did so by rummaging through my mail, but thats a whole other can of worms.He went through my wallet, found my card, and cut it up.My balance is from tuition, books, and gas. I owe probably 1700, always pay the minimum 50, often pay 3-4x 150-200, and spend as much as I can from my checking account, but sometimes those last days until payday get rough and I need gas.My balance never goes up ignoring interest. I know what my payment is beforehand, I have a percentage of my check going into a savings account, which I collect interest then pay what was deposited. I never spend more than what I pay. I even try to take interest into account, subtracting about 35 from what I can spend. Im down from 3000 in 5 months. The only reason I have a balance at all is I started community college and needed to pay tuition.My dad screamed at me that having a balance means Im delinquent. I thought delinquent was when you stopped paying altogether? Discover hasnt said anything to me beyond sending me my statements and one time froze my card because I forgot to tell them I was traveling.Im 19, Im not too knowledgable in this stuff yet. I know Discover says they will not reissue cards to delinquent accounts, but I really need that emergency ability to buy things. Am I outta luck?Assistant: Wow A lot of negativity already on this post. At 19 hes paying for college out of pocket yet hes being roasted for having a balance. 1. Youre not delinquent. As long as you pay on time your credit will positively reflect a good payment history. 2. Credit cards interest rate is considerably higher than a student or personal loan. With the amount of payments you have made I would consider looking into one because it will save you money in the long run. Discover does student and personal loans and since you already have a relationship with them it might be worthwhile to look into it.3. I would create a budget to try and curb you from needing the card at all. You do want to pay down the balance asap. Are you not eligible for FAFSA or any other grant programs? Your college will help you apply for Grants and loans. Human: I enrolled last minute. I didnt know Id be graduating high school when I did, I got grabbed by the counselor and essentially dragged to the seniors meeting to discuss graduation. I didnt have the time. Im looking into what I have to do to get financial aid for next semester, but Im ready and able to pay out of pocket from my savings if I have to. I dont want to, but the sooner I can get enrolled at a 4 year hours and hours away, the better.Thank you for being pleasant... im not entirely in a good home situation and the influx of negativity started to make me regret reaching out at all.  <response>: I understand. Life happens. Given your father cut up your personal property I could tell it wasnt the best environment. Despite it you sound like you are on a good path. If you apply for FAFSA now you should easily be able to have your Grants for next semester. If you have the money to pay out of your savings I would go ahead and pay off as much of your card now as you can or at the very least get your balance under 30 of your limit so about 900. Unless you have it in an account that is generating a return higher than the interest rate of your card which I highly doubt given the average cc interest rate is 20 then financially it makes more sense to pay your debt off now. While having a rainy day fund is important you need to make sure your credit utilization is low in case you need to apply for a personal or student loan. Consider your credit card as your rainy day fund until you can rebuild your savings. Again though, you need to set yourself a budget because the worst thing that will happen is you use your savings to pay off your debt and then rack it back up. I know at 19 its hard but man it will get you away from your situation quicker than anything else. You dont want to be saddled with 30k in loans when you graduate because you may end up back in this situation having to live at home. 