2. I think the struggle here is to first get that cash together and then use it to repay the debt. The free cashflow is hard to get because monthly expenses, taxes, insurance, electricity, phones and food all add up and its a death by a million cuts on the monthly salary. Perhaps a dedicated sum of that needs to be taken out first to repay the credit cards each month before some of the miscellaneous spending is accidently made.

3. I think credit cards can be great if you can handle them. On the other hand if you do have financial difficulties they can be a great way of short term managing personal finances. E.g. if you lose your job you can negotiate better when you have spare cash on your card and therefore get a better package.