According to 2004 data, the average credit card debt per household was over $5000? Even worse, the average interest rate was over 17 percent. With this amount of debt, it is tough for anyone to get ahead financially. However, if you understand how credit card debt works, there are ways to get out of it.

Interest is the fee you pay for the ability to spend other people's money. This is the price you pay for convenience, and clearly many people take advantage of it, perhaps too much. Total consumer debt hit $2.5 trillion in 2008. Because of this, it is especially important to understand the effect of interest on your debt.

Increasing your payments can have a dramatic effect on your total debt. Paying just $10 on top of your minimum monthly payments with a $2,000 balance and 20 percent annual interest rate can decrease the total amount you pay on that debt by almost $1,000. The lesson here is that every little bit counts when paying down your credit card. It can drastically reduce the time it takes to pay it off.

However, it is even better to not carry a balance at all. By paying off your credit card every month, you are guaranteed to save yourself from losing up to 20 percent that you would have paid in interest.

However, many investors do not pay down their credit cards, choosing instead to put their money in savings accounts or other investments. While there are many factors that may influence this decision, the underlying reason is often that many people tend to have mental accounts. In other words, they place different meaning on different accounts and on the money in each account. However, you should remember that a dollar is a dollar, no matter which account it is in, and you should look at your accounts as a whole.

Holding a credit card balance negates any investment gains, because the interest rate charged is nearly always higher than the return on any investments you could make. Investing instead of paying off credit card debt is a sure way to lose money.

On the other hand, paying off your credit card guarantees that you will not be paying the interest payments you normally would. So if you have money in your savings or investment accounts, you should pay off your credit card. Once you have eliminated this high-interest debt, then you will have more money due to the lack of credit card payments, and your investments can truly grow.

Overall, carrying a balance on your credit card can be very costly. You should pay off the entire balance whenever possible. If you have to carry a long-term balance, pay if off as soon as you can, even if it means pulling money from your savings account. Paying the high interest rates of credit cards, even if you own a , does not make any sense if it is at all avoidable. Even if you can't pay it all off, increasing your payments over the minimum can reduce the repayment time and interest amount.