 TITLE: How to Pay Off $25K in Debt Fast CONTENT: How to Reduce Credit Card Debt Fast\n-----------------------------------\nIf you're particularly struggling with high credit card balances, you'll want to bring them down as quickly as possible because credit cards tend to charge much higher interest rates than personal loans, student loans and other types of debt.\nIn addition to measures such as adding income and trimming your budget (see below for more), the following steps can help you get your credit card debt under control.\n*   **Stop using your credit cards.** Putting yourself on a cash- or debit-only spending plan will reduce the risk of overspending since you're constrained by what's in your wallet or checking account. Then chip away at the current balances with whatever extra money you can find in the budget.\n*   **Pay more than the minimum amount due each month.** It's important to pay at least the minimum payment each month to avoid a late payment, but just paying the minimum on all your credit cards will prolong your repayment period and increase the interest you'll ultimately pay. Come up with a plan for paying more on your cards every month (more on this below).\n*   **Consider a balance transfer credit card.** Assuming you have good credit, you can look for a card that offers low-cost balance transfers and which has a 0% interest introductory rate. You can transfer high-interest balances onto the new card, and know that all the payments you make during the intro period are going toward your balance rather than interest. But keep in mind you'll likely have to pay a balance transfer fee, which typically adds 3% or 5% of the transferred amount to the total. END