If you maxed out your cards and made the minimum payment each month, they would probably have increased your credit limit to $25,000!
I know, right?!?
I have a friend who was around $9,000 in debt on his credit cards alone, and he made all the minimum payments...but he would brag about his $30,000 credit line (on a single card), which he called "good credit." I told him that the credit card companies may classify that as "good credit," but that's only b/c they're making a very sweet yield off of him!
I tried to explain to him that "good credit" should mean that (barring any extenuating cirmcumstances) you are not paying interest to anyone, or at least paying a lower interest than an investment of that cash could yield; for example, buying a car and, instead of paying in cash, investing the $20K and making the minimum payments, financed at a rate lower than a high-yield CD, or other investment., and so on and so on.
He disagreed.