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Today's economy has put a major squeeze on the wallets of the middle class. Stagnant wages and rising prices have placed millions of Americans in the position of having very little disposable income. Monthly bills gobble up earnings and very little is left for non-essentials, like dining and entertainment. Unforeseeable expenditures, such as the breakdown of an automobile or a household appliance leave consumers with no choice but to add to their seemingly unending debt, by using their credit cards to cover the cost. As a result, credit card debt adds up quickly, saddling the consumer with finance charges that further cement their unfortunate burdens.

Once a person builds high debt, there is no easy way to reduce or even eliminate the liability, but there are things a person can do to manage credit card debt and put themselves on a path towards eliminating it altogether.

Make Minimum Payments on Time

- Paying minimum monthly payments on time is critical to maintaining a good credit score. Sustaining a superior rating is vital to managing credit card debt. High-quality credit ratings allow the consumer a wider choice of options, which translates to lower APR's and quicker elimination of overall debt. With the deregulation of the financial industry in recent years, credit card companies have been afforded the option of assessing high fees and exorbitantly high interest rates, with little recourse for the consumer. Maintaining a good credit rating only gives consumers some valuable clout in any negotiation with banks, as they are the customers most coveted by banks.

Consolidate Credit Card Debt to Lower Interest Accounts

- Lower interest rates mean smaller finance charges. The goal is to consolidate credit card balances to the lowest possible APR available in order to pay them down faster.

- Credit consolidation offers generally come in two forms:

o A balance transfer offer from an existing credit card company, with which the consumer already does business, or

o Offers/invites to apply for a new account

- In reviewing balance transfer offers, it is critical to read the fine print in the disclosures carefully. Balance transfer offers usually come with a fee of 3-5% of the amount transferred. In addition, most offers stipulate that future payments are applied primarily to these transferred balances, further cementing the debt that's already carried at the previous, higher APR. Taking these two factors into consideration, only you should be able to determine whether or

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