If you’re like most Americans, you carry balances on one or more credit cards. Those balances may be minimal or they could be worth as much as $10,000. In fact, the national average of family unsecured debt hovers at around $10,000. This may not be typical of your financial situation, but the high-interest rates associated with most credit cards can reek havoc on any family’s finances no matter how small the balance they carry.

The interest rate that you get for your credit cards relies heavily on your credit standing; the lower your credit score is the more interest you pay each month. If you’re like most people during these tough economic times, your credit standing is probably not as good as it used to be and that means that your interest payments are skyrocketing.

Sure, there are some decent credit card rates out there, but they are not available to the majority of credit card consumers. Most cardholders pay anywhere from 21 to 30 percent in annual interest on their credit card balances.

Think about it this way. A consumer who carries a $2,000 balance on a credit card with 29 percent interest will pay $50 a month in interest alone and never see the balance diminish.

And why don’t those balances seem to go down when you faithfully pay your minimum payment each month? The reason why is that most credit card companies calculate your minimum monthly payment by adding as little as 1 percent of your principle balance to your interest payment. The rest of the principle balance they carry over to the next month to incur even more finance charges.

But you don’t have to let them get by with it. There is a way to stop this vicious cycle once and for all: debt consolidation. Consolidating your debts brings all of your high-interest debt together under one payment with a much lower interest rate. Wouldn’t you love to lower your interest rates by a dozen points or more? Just think of how much lower your payments would be and how much more quickly you could find yourself debt free.

There is simply no reason to continue to pay astronomical finance charges on your unsecured debt. And the way out can be as simple as applying for a consolidation loan. What are you waiting for? There is nothing to lose and your hard-earned money to gain.