Outstanding credit card balances can get the better of you if you don’t keep them under control.  Here are five essential tips for reducing the amount you owe:

1 – Take advantage of 0% balance transfer deals.  You’ll need to work out how much you’ll be charged to transfer a balance, but you will usually save money over the life of the deal.

2 – Pay more than the minimum each month if you can.  Even paying just a little more than is required every time will reduce your outstanding balance (and any interest charged) quicker than you would otherwise.

3 – Work out a monthly budget and stick to it.  This will not only enable you to pay off your credit card balance each month, it will also ensure you don’t habitually pay for more purchases with your cards – sending your balances higher still.

4 – Be determined – cut up your credit cards.  If you really don’t feel comfortable doing so, either ask a trusted friend or family member to hold onto them for you, or keep the one with the lowest interest rate for emergencies.

5 – Look out for cut price interest deals.  If you can’t transfer your whole balance onto an interest free deal, transfer as much as you can and look for a low promotional rate to transfer the rest onto.

Find out how much the interest rate is on each of your cards – if you have more than one – and transfer the highest rated one first.  You can save a significant amount of money just by doing this.

One final tip – if you’re currently paying $100 a month off your credit card balance, and shifting to a lower rate means you only pay $60, try and maintain the $100 payment if you possibly can.  You will reduce your balance a lot faster and pay far less interest.