It's early in the year and you realise you may have got carried away using your credit card with Christmas and the post holiday sales. While your debts may seem like they can't be managed you don't have to live we've these debts hanging over you. By taking control of your finances and sticking to a few rules you can permanently eliminate your credit card debts. Below are some tips to help reduce your credit card debt fast.

1. Make a list

One of the first things you will need to do to ensure debt reduction is to list out all your existing credit cards descending order of interest rate. That means the card with the highest interest rate must be listed topmost followed by the other cards.

2. Assess the minimum payment percentage

Next you need to find out the minimum payment percentage from the fine print on the credit card documents. Make sure to add up all the minimum payments on each of the credit cards. This is one of the first steps towards debt consolidation efforts.

3. Check your affordability

Next you will need to ascertain how much you can shell out each month. Make a list of your current expenses versus the income you are receiving. If you want to permanently eliminate credit card debt you'll need to find mays to save money as part of your household budget in order to pay off the outstanding balances.

4. Payment methods

For all the other credit cards, excepting the one with the highest interest rate you should make an effort to pay off the minimum balances on each card. This is the way to acheive debt consolidation. On the card with the highest interest rate, in addition to the minimum amount pay off an additional amount to reduce debt.

5. Pay off the highest rate card

Even before you start paying off the outstanding towards other cards make sure to pay off for the one with the highest interest rate. By doing this you can avoid too many costs towards this high rate of interest. This is one way to go about debt reduction successfully.

6. Request for lower rate

The credit card market is so competitive that if you request for a lower rate from your creditor you might just get it! Lower rate means you can get rid of credit card debt that much faster!

7. Do a balance transfer

You'll be surprised at how much savings a balance transfer can actually make for you! Look for a card with a much lower interest rate. Then transfer all outstanding balances to the new card. Now you just have a single payment every month at lesser interest rates! That's a great way to ensure debt reduction.

8. Make a promise

You need to promise yourself that you won't use the card for anything else other than emergency situations. If you stick to this resolution you will be sure to save a lot and get rid of credit card debt much faster.

9. Use your savings

Make sure to use up the money in your savings account to pay off the outstanding balances as much as you can. This is the fastest method of debt consolidation.

10. Read the fine print

If you plan on going for a new card with a low interest rate, read the fine print as most of them are promotional offers. Know what the rate is after the promotional period.