Every little bit helps. Some months you may only be able to add $10 to your payment; some months you may be able to add $200. And this applies to interest on credit card payments or any other kind of debt repayment. Paying down as much of principal (or amount you owe) each month will help reduce interest you are charged and length of time it takes to pay off debt.

So why don't credit card companies charge you more of principal each month?

How would you like to be making 18% on an investment? Wouldn't you want this investment to last as long as possible? Of course! So do credit card companies. They are happy for you to pay off your balance, but even more excited for you to keep paying them that 18% interest.

There are some other interest tips and tricks.

- One trick your mortgage company may have played on you is to include a prepayment penalty in your mortgage. If you try to pay off your mortgage early they may actually charge you for doing so. Or they may only apply part of your payment to principal and take rest as a "service charge."

- Make sure when you make an additional payment that you send a check separate from your monthly mortgage payment with instructions that amount is to be applied toward principal of your loan. Otherwise they may just apply it towards next month's payment and still charge you interest.

- Generally you will not have this problem with credit card companies. But watch out for late payments or going over your credit limit. They may then use these "rule infractions" as cause to raise your rate to over 25%!

- If you are looking to refinance your mortgage, look for a mortgage that lets you pay on a bi-weekly basis. Since many people receive a bi-weekly paycheck this also makes it easier to budget your money. If you are paying every two weeks you will make an additional monthly payment each year (26 bi-weekly payments vs. 12 monthly payments). Also, because you are paying principal down every two weeks rather than every month your interest charges will be reduced.

You CAN take control of your interest charges. Make those extra monthly payments. The feeling of being debt-free will far outweigh temporary pleasure of that burger, movie or new DVD-player.

Then apply $225 payment to $5000 card for a monthly payment total of $375. Soon this card will be paid off and you will have $375 extra each month to pay off other debts or better yet, INVEST!

So, which debts should get paid off first?

Generally, you want to pay off debts that are charging you highest interest rates first. In above example you could have added $100 payment to $5000 credit card rather than $4000 credit card. But $4000 credit card is charging you 27% where $5000 credit card is charging 18%. By paying off card charging higher interest rate first, you will save some money on interest charges.

If this sounds too confusing, you can enlist your computer. You can search Internet for keywords "debt reduction calculator" or you can visit http:/ /www.simplejoe.com/debteraser/index2.htm and review a product named Simple Joe's Debt Eraser.

Simple Joe's Debt Eraser helps you create a Rapid Debt Reduction Plan that is customized to your debts and your situation. Just enter your debts and amount you can afford to pay each month. The software will create a plan telling you how much to pay towards each debt each month until they are all paid off.

You CAN pay off your debts. The trick is to stop charging purchases to your credit cards and develop a debt reduction plan. Your plan should include "snowballing" your payments and prioritizing debts by high interest rate.