The 4 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Paying Off Credit Card Debt

It's easy to get into credit card debt. The fact that U.S. credit card debt recently reached $1.129 trillion is evidence of that. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as easy to get out of credit card debt. Some people spend years or even decades paying it off.

That's not ideal. The longer you're in debt, the more it costs you in credit card interest. So it's important to avoid any mistakes that keep you in debt longer, and there are several common ones that people make.

1. Continuing to use your credit cards

When you're in credit card debt, you're fighting a battle on two fronts. You need to pay down your card's balance, and you need to pay the interest charges coming in every month. These can be expensive -- credit cards have an average interest rate of 21.59%, according to the Federal Reserve.

It's already challenging enough. It will be even more difficult if you're still using your credit cards and adding to the amount you owe. And when you're paying an interest rate of 20% or higher, it doesn't make sense to take on even more debt at that rate.

When you have credit card debt, stop using your credit cards. Stick to your debit card and cash. You'll only be able to spend what you can afford, and you won't be taking on more debt that adds to your interest charges.

2. Making minimum payments

The minimum payments on a credit card are a tiny fraction of the total balance. With some card issuers, the minimum payment amount is just 1% of the balance plus interest charges.

Because minimum payments are so small, if that's all you pay, you'll barely make a dent in your debt. Let's say you have $5,000 in debt at a 20% APR. If you make minimum payments, it will take you over 23 years to pay off your balance. During that time, you'll pay $7,723 in interest.

Make sure you're paying more than the minimum. Adding $100 or $200 to your payment amount could cut years off how long it takes to become debt-free.

3. Telling yourself you'll "pay what you can"

People often take this approach when paying off debt, and it rarely works out well. They'll see what's left over at the end of the month, and then use that to pay down their debt. Except what usually happens is that there isn't much, if any, money left over.

Instead of doing this, commit to an amount you can afford to pay on your credit cards every month. Go over your income and expenses to see what works for you. Then make that payment as soon as you get paid. Don't give yourself time to spend that money on nonessentials.

Keep in mind that you can pay more if you have the money. If you committed to paying $500 per month, but you have an extra $200, you can certainly add that. Contributing more to your debt payoff is never a bad idea.

4. Relying on balance transfer offers

Balance transfer credit cards can be a useful tool for paying off debt. These cards have a 0% intro APR on balance transfers. You can bring over balances from credit cards with high interest rates and get some time to pay them down interest-free. Depending on the balance transfer card you get, the 0% APR period could last 15 months or longer.

The problem is when people focus more on playing the balance transfer game than actually paying off their debt. They stop paying as much as they can because their debt isn't costing them interest anymore. When it's getting close to the end of the intro period, they start looking for another balance transfer card to do it all over again.

Remember that the goal is to get out of credit card debt. A balance transfer card can help you do that because you can use it to avoid interest charges. But it's still important to aggressively pay down your balance so you're not stuck with the same amount of debt two years later.

Having credit card debt is a tough situation, but you can get rid of it if you follow a good plan. Start by switching to your debit card and cash for the time being -- no more credit card purchases. Calculate an amount you can afford to pay, and make sure to pay it every month. If you want to use a balance transfer card to save on interest, you can, but don't use that as an excuse to pay less.