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I have probably read a hundred articles about tips for paying off credit card debt and I have never found anything really profound in any of them. Most of them were common sense. The hard part is putting these tips to practical use and sticking with the plan.

Here is what I consider the most important rules of paying off credit card debt.

Stop using your credit cards-If you can’t pay for it in full each month, don’t charge it. There was a day when credit cards did not exist and people still managed to get everything that needed.

Make more than the minimum payment-If you have $10,000 in credit card debt with a 20% interest rate (low by today’s standards) and you are making just minimum payments, you will be making payments for 9 years. You will also be paying back in excess of $21,000. This is a very compelling reason to get those accounts paid off as quickly as possible.

Lower your interest rate-There are several ways this can be done and there is only one that I recommend. That is calling the lender and asking them to lower your interest rate. Home equity loans and low or 0 % balance transfers will also get you a lower interest rate, but they take discipline. Especially, when it comes to not using the newly available credit on your credit cards.

The difficult part of getting out of debt is putting the plan into action. Steps 1 and 2 are the most difficult. The best tip that I can give you is to set yourself a goal for having your accounts paid off and be creative about coming up with the extra money.

The quickest way to come up with extra money is to cut your expenses. Look at what part of your income goes towards entertainment and eating out. Look at your memberships, cable bill and cell phone bill. I am not saying you need to eliminate these things, but these are great areas to reduce your expenses.

Now look at what you have laying around your house, in your attic or garage that you are not using or do not need. Sell these things either on eBay or at a garage sale. This will give you a start. When you start seeing your credit card balances decrease, you will be motivated to find other ways to make money that can be used to eliminate your credit card balances.

Are you saddled with credit card debt? There are things you can do that do not cost any money that will help you eliminate credit card debt. Find out more about credit card debt elimination and how you can be debt free.