Yep-minimum payments if you only pay the minimum payment on your monthly balance, what once was a small credit card bill will turn into a very costly one youll end up paying back thousands, and will take years to clear.

How can I help myself sort out this problem!

Well if you have more than one credit card and you pay the minimum payment on them all, then this is what to do get the credit card with the highest APR and pay the most to this card, keep paying the minimum payment to the rest of your cards once the credit card with the highest APR is cleared go on to the next highest APR and so on until all the credit cards are paid off.

Another way to help is balance transfer deals try switching your card with one that has this on offer, they also offer 0% interest free period for 6-9 months great way to save some money.

People with only one credit card try not to use your card if thats not possible monitor what you spend youll be amazed at the silly things you put on your credit card, including groceries, petrol, and nights-out youll be amazed at how much interest is added on. People tend to forget about money I agree that credit cards are handy but they dont have to be used all the time, I guarantee if you monitor what you spend for a few months you will see the difference.

I know these things sound easy but its amazing how many people just use their plastic friend to pay for everything, and really when you sit down and think it really is just common sense, hopefully following these simple steps will get you back on track.

The best thing to do to see how you stand with your credit card and how much you are paying back to them each month, is to calculate your monthly earnings and then calculate what you can afford to put back into your credit card account. You will then you have to divide your earnings by what you make in payments to your credit card and if you arrive at a figure of 15% or more going towards your card debt, then you are facing the chance that you are falling through a debt trap door that you cannot get out of.

If you find that you are in this position, the best thing that you can do is to stop using your credit cards and look at other areas in which you can cut back in your expenditure. The thing that I am going to suggest may not be what you would think, but it can go a long way to saving you a lot of money. The area in which you can save cash is your grocery bills, but I have to eat I here you say that is true as it is a fabric of our being, but it is the manner in which we spend our cash on groceries, that costs us a large slice of our monthly bills being higher than it should be.

Lets start with how many times that you have been looking through the newspapers, and you have came across money off vouchers on products that you do usually buy and ignored it and then threw the paper in the bin? Loads of times I bet and when in the supermarket do you go for the big named brands that are a lot more expensive but are told that they are of higher quality? Of course you do, but the fact of the matter is that the big name brands are not that much better, than the stores own branded labels and in many instances the product is made in the same place and are very similar.

Even if you see the big named brand with a promotion of 50% free or buy one get one free, you will find in many instances that it will still be cheaper to buy supermarket own brand products. And what you must also remember is that these firms are not going to sell their products at a loss. So just think at the high mark up price that they are usually at when not on a promotional price.

So by cutting down on your grocery expenditure, you will soon see the difference in your credit card debt, as you put what you are saving back in to clear your credit card balance.

At the same time as cutting your debt, remember to pay your credit card bills on time. Credit card late repayment penalties can work out to be very expensive and could actually undo all your good work. Credit card late payment penalties are currently being brought down to 12. This reduction was brought about by pressure from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)

It’s difficult to eliminate long-term loans; it’s certainly possible to eliminate short-term loans. Stop buying and spending on credit in short term. This will lead to short term debt elimination. For example don’t buy groceries on the credit card. This will automatically lead problems, this advice will be useful for you. Use cash to buy and use coupons for getting a few dollars off on various products. Thus there will be less credit card bill at the end of the month. Use a credit card only when you must.

It’s a great policy to save and then spend. If it makes you a miser, so be it, at least you won’t go bankrupt paying your debts. This is also one of the ways of debt elimination. By not having debt in the first place, you are doing yourself a favor. Therefore make it a point to do debt elimination whether you are home or office, only in this way can you rid yourself of debt. “Only when I have cash will I spend” should be your motto for all the transactions in your personal as well as professional life to the maximum extent possible.

When you are in over your head with credit card debt, relief can seem miles away. Sometimes it seems like you are working as hard as you can to make the minimum payments or even to just barely cover the interest on your balances.If you want to get out of the cycle of credit card debt follow these 3 easy steps and you will be on your way to financial freedom.

1. Switch to a lower rate card.

If you can switch your balance from a higher rate card to a lower rate card, you can save quite a bit of money. Even a card with a 5% lower interest rate will make a difference on the amount you owe on your monthly credit card statement. Take the money you save and apply it to the balance to reduce your debt even faster.

2. Pay on the principle.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of just paying the minimum payment on your credit card statement, but if you make a practice of this, you will never get out of debt. The only way to eliminate credit card debt is to plunge in and pay it off. The more you pay on the principle the less you will be paying in interest, and you will start to see a difference in the amount of money you are being billed each month.

3. Dont add to your debt.

Make it a rule that the credit cards are only used for special or emergency purchases. Stop buying things like groceries or clothes using your credit card. Chances are if you are going to put an item on the card, you will often end up buying things you hadnt planned to buy. These impulse buys may be convenient, but they add up, and you will be paying for them long after their usefulness is gone.