Half of American households have no credit card debt. But this article contains information for those who have a lot of credit card debt and who may be making minimum payments.

When you owe a lot on credit cards, you are endlessly, permanently paying monthly payments and never catching up.

That's because your average interest rate is over 18%. And many cardholders only pay their minimum payments.

I recently interviewed a well known California bankruptcy attorney, Jason Jones. You can hear this interview as it's included with the Mortgage Relief Formula on one of the CDs. Jason discusses how people attempt to cope with credit cards while they are also dealing with ARMS that reset or foreclosures.

(By the way, get my free 25 page special report on how to keep your home, with exclusive insider specifics on lowering your morgage payment without a new loan, secrets of settling debts without bankruptcy and much more. Just fill in your info here and I'll never share your name with anyone:)

Jason points out that credit card debt is dischargable in bankruptcy. But most people who file bankruptcy these days end up in Chapter 13. If you must file for bankruptcy and end up in Chapter 13, the court makes you pay back your debts month after tedious month, over typically a fouri year period.

At the end of four years or so, the court discharges any remaining debt. But meanwhile, you have had to pay every month. And you have the blot of bankruptcy on your credit. And you are tethered to this workout plan so even if you get sick or lose your job, your financial life is subject to trustee and court oversight.

Contrast that to someone who works out their credit card debt outside of bankruptcy. I teach you how to do this in my Mortgage Relief Formula home study course. You learn how you can contact your credit card companies and offer a workout plan that they are likely to accept. The plan will actually enhance your credit rather than diminish it. How your credit card companies report to credit bureaus is something you can negotiate.

Contrast that with bankruptcy — there is no negotiating how that is reported. Bankruptcy filings come from court records and usually (although not always) there is nothing you can do to prevent a bankruptcy filing from hitting your credit report.

Nowadays, credit card companies have punitive interest rates of as high as 30% that they hit you with if you fall behind. Rather than making forever payments, it may pay for you to consider a do-it-yourself credit card workout plan. You can get yourself out of debt and avoid spending years in bankruptcy.