If you have $7500 in credit card debt with an interest rate of 18%, which is what most people have, you will end up taking about 630 months to pay it off paying the minimum and you will pay over $21,000 in interest charges. Kind of makes you want to be your own banker now doesn’t it?

There are several ways to eliminate your debt. You could pay it off on your own, which would probably take the longest to do, you could use debt settlement, debt consolidation, bankruptcy, a home equity loan, transfer to a low interest credit card.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these options.

Paying it off yourself requires the most discipline. But then if you had any discipline you would not be in so much credit card debt. If you choose this route, I would suggest using the debt snowball method and starting with the lowest balance first. I used this method and in 10 months, I was able to pay off over $12,000 in credit card debt.

Next would be debt consolidation. Debt consolidation works by taking all your credit card bills and putting them into one monthly payment and rolling them into a new debt consolidation loan. The loan term is extended and your monthly payment goes down. You will end up paying a monthly fee, yes, even to a non-profit debt counseling company, of about $25-$50. You will also pay more in interest charges over the length of the loan. Using this method does not look good on your credit report.

Next, you could work with a debt settlement company and negotiate with your credit card companies and reduce what you owe by up to 50%. This also does not look good on your credit report as you are missing credit card payments as you build up your settlement fund. You will pay at least 15% of your debt to the debt settlement company. For $7500 in debt, that fee comes to $1125. That’s a nice chunk of change when you can do it yourself. Debt settlement companies are not available in all states and most companies do not work with debt amounts under $10,000. The one company that I know of that works with $7500 is Credit Solutions. They are one of the largest debt settlement companies in America.

Next, you can take out a home equity loan and pay off all your credit card debt in one fell swoop. However, you take your debt and roll it into your house and are basically gambling with your house if you default on your loan payments. To me, that makes a home equity loan not worth the risks.

Transferring your credit card debt to a low interest credit card would be a good option if you can find one with a low APR offer and a low balance transfer fee. Most are now charging 3% of the balance transferred with no maximum. So on that $7500, that balance transfer fee would run you $225. Some great favor they are doing for you.

The last resort is bankruptcy and it should truly be your last resort. The cost of filing for bankruptcy varies from state to state and it can usually run from $500 to $2000. That seems like a high price to pay to eliminate $7500 of credit card debt. You will ruin your credit for a minimum of 7-10 years.

Making more money to pay more to your minimum payments is one option but make sure you do not increase your expenses with your increase in income. If you like to write, you could start a niche blog or write articles for Associatedcontent.com. For more money making ideas, check out WarriorForum.com.