3 ways to tackle your credit card balance

You can try the debt avalanche or debt snowball method, consolidate your debt, and negotiate with your creditors

Illustration of a person juggling coins while balancing on another coin
Consider consolidating your debt with a personal loan or balance-transfer credit card
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

In the second quarter of 2023, credit card debt among Americans topped $1 trillion. Further, ​​​​​​card balances "were more than 16% higher in the second three months of this year compared with a year earlier," according to The New York Times, suggesting this is a mounting problem in the U.S.

Between inflation driving up prices and steep average credit card annual percentage rates (APR) compounding existing balances, credit card debt can quickly begin to feel like an overwhelming problem that's spiraling out of your control. Before your head starts to spin, know that there are ways you can start chipping away at your credit card balance and, hopefully someday soon, wave goodbye to this debt burden.

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.