Do you faithfully pay your minimum monthly credit card balances when they are due only to see that the balances never really come down, but that your interest charges keep going up? If so, the problem is not your own. You are simply a victim of high-interest charges and low minimum monthly payments set out by credit card companies.

Most credit card companies charge between 21 and 30 percent in interest annually. This interest is calculated and applied to your credit balance monthly and can be quite high. For example: A credit card balance of $2,000 would cost you $50 per month in interest if the interest rate were 29 percent.

And most companies only charge as little as 1 percent of your principle balance to your monthly bill. That means that you could make your payments every month and hardly ever see the amount owed decrease. So, if you’re only paying your minimum balances, you could end up wasting thousands of dollars in interest charges on minimal consumer purchases. You wouldn’t spend $300 on a $25 sweater at the department store, so why should you end up paying that much after you calculate your finance charges?

The key to stop paying ridiculous interest charges is to simply pay off your credit card debt. But if you’re like most, this is easier said than done. Many do not have the extra money to pay off their credit card balances and some have racked up quite a balance.

So, what is the solution to becoming debt free quickly? Debt consolidation . Once you consolidate your debts you put an end to high-interest credit card charges for good and start to see more of your hard-earned dollars put to good use paying down your debt. In fact, you can be debt free quicker than you ever thought possible by combining those debts into one loan with a much lower interest rate.

A debt consolidation loan works by paying off all of your high-interest debt. You then only make one lower payment to your lender and save hundreds if not thousands in interest charges. How much do you think you could save if you lowered your interest rates by a dozen points or more?

With a consolidation loan you could have a few extra hundred dollars in your pocket each month. What could you do with that money? I’m sure it won’t take you long to figure it out.