Most consumers that have excessive credit card debt are making minimum payments. And that puts a huge grin on the face of the credit card companies! Why? So they can keep you in debt for life!

Your creditors structure their offers of credit in such a way that entices you to only make the minimum monthly payment. They will do everything in their power to get you to continue making

For example, your monthly statements don't say "maximum payment due", but rather "minimum payment due". They take advantage of the fact that most people live paycheck to paycheck and it's much easier for them by making minimum payments.

Also, as long as you're making your payments on time, the creditors are quick to bombard you with offers of higher credit limits. They could care less if you got laid-off and have a stack of bills to pay! All they want is to bury you further and further in debt.

Why would they want you making minimum payments? Because about 98% of the payment is applied to the interest, not the principal! This is why your balance seems to never decrease. For many, the balance grows due to additional credit card usage, fees, penalties, etc.

Consequently, if you have $30,000 of unsecured debt, and you are making minimum payments, and your average interest rate is 18%, it will take you about 33 years to pay-off your debt! But your creditors won't disclose this information on your monthly statements.

If you took-out an auto loan and the loan officer told you that the term for the $30,000 car was 33 years, what would you think?

To prove this, see creditcards.com. Click on "credit card calculator", then "minimum payment calculator", and input the required information to determine the pay-off duration.

I cannot find any reason whatsoever to continue making minimum payments. If you are overloaded with credit card, or other types of unsecured debt (e.g. medical bills, collection accounts), there are other options and strategies that are available.

To name a couple, Debt Management assists debtors by negotiating with creditors to lower the interest rate. Also, for debtors that are behind on their payments, the debt management counselor will also attempt to get unpaid interest, penalties, and late fees waived.

You may also consider Debt Settlement. This program helps debtors by negotiating with their creditors to significantly reduce the principal amount of debt that the debtor owes. By lowering the balances, a debtor will be enabled to pay-off debts much faster than making minimum payments.

By not making minimum payments, nothing positive can happen. There are various methods of debt elimination. You need to find the best option for you.