Q.Can you be cut off from being able to use all credit cards if it becomes apparent that you will almost certainly never be able to pay off the debt? I have a friend who lives almost entirely off credit cards with no real prospects for the kind of income it would take to ever pay them off. I've warned her that if she's ever cut off, she'll be on the street, but are people ever cut off like this across the board with no recourse to find some other unsuspecting card issuer to give them yet another credit card?

A.We appreciate your concern for your friend. And yes, she certainly could be cut off from her credit cards.

As long as she continues to make the minimum payments on every card, they'll be happy to keep her as a customer.

But here's how her scheme will probably unravel.

At some point your friend will miss a payment. That credit card will impose a penalty rate of 28% or more on her account and report her delinquency to the credit reporting agencies.

Her other credit cards will see that, deem that she is now a higher risk for default on their cards, and throw her into "universal default," which will boost the interest rate on those cards to 28% or more. Find out more about how to avoid universal default.

If she's carrying balances on six cards, and the higher interest rates increase her minimum monthly payments by $50 each, then she'd owe an additional $300 a month just to keep keep up with current bills. A spending binge would cost her more.

As the cost for carrying her debt shoots up, she'll start missing payments on a regular basis and her credit card companies will shut off her line of credit. She'll still owe the balance on each card, but she will no longer be able to use them to buy anything.

By this time her credit reports will be so loaded with late payments and past-due debt that it will also be impossible to obtain new cards and lines of credit.

We don't know if she is open to suggestions, but it would be in her best interest to get credit counseling from professionals that will help her manage her debt. Here's how to find a good credit counselor and the information she needs to begin straightening out her financial life.

She may be getting away with overspending now, but at some point it will catch up with her.