Everyone wants to set you up with credit, but what's considered too much credit?

A Bankrate.com article found that the typical consumer carries 11 different forms of credit, with 7 of those being credit cards and the other 4 being installment loans for cars and furniture, student loans and mortgages. That adds up to a lot of bills to pay at the end of the month, and a heavy financial burden.

Comparing Your Numbers
How does your credit load compare to this total? Do you carry more cards? Less? The same? If you’ve never stopped to count, now is a good time. Make a list of all of your forms of credit on a piece of paper, to see just how much credit you are using.

Are you surprised by the number? Most people probably will be. When you take out a store card here and a second mortgage there, it can be difficult to keep up with how much debt liability you truly have.

So How Much Is Too Much?
There’s no single way to answer this question, but here are a few points to consider. You may have too much credit if:

• You have more debt than you can afford to pay off now.
• Your total credit line (not unused credit) is more than you could afford to pay off in a short period of time.
• You struggle to make payments, even minimum payments, on all of your credit accounts.
• You have several cards that you never use but still keep.
• You keep maxing out cards and needing additional credit.