Five Steps for Ditching Credit Card Debt by David Bach

I've spent a lot of time teaching Americans how to get out debt. From television appearances to books to speeches, I've tried to proactively address how to fight the credit card companies at their own game.

CardTrak.com reports that the median amount of credit card debt carried by a typical American is about $6,600. But 13 percent of participants in a recent online poll reported balances higher than a staggering $25,000.

Many of these families now have over nine credit cards per household. That's not hard to believe considering that the average college student now graduates with three credit cards.

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Eight ways to avoid credit card charges

Credit card customers are going to have to wait a while longer before they get any official help on how to work out the best deal. In response to an official complaint from the consumer lobby organisation Which? , the Office of Fair Trading has said it will "work hard" with companies to make the interest rates the credit card companies are charging more transparent.

Unfortunately for the befuddled consumer, the Office of Fair Trading stopped short of recommending that all credit card companies should adopt a standard way of charging.

At present, the 20 top credit card companies use 12 different methods to calculate interest charges, making it almost impossible for anyone who is not Einstein to compare rates with complete accuracy.

Read more at: Eight ways to avoid credit card charges