Most people do not become aware of debt problems until bill-paying turns into a financial struggle. Tips to take to ease your debt load:

    Size up your bills.
Add up the total balances on credit card bills and calculate how long it will take to pay them off with different size payments. Use free calculators at www.cardweb.com or www.bankrate.com.

    Guard your house.
Many people pay off credit card debt with a home-equity loan. The interest rate is typically lower and interest payments are tax deductible. But doing so will put your home at risk if your expenses continue to rise and you start carrying balances again on the same cards.

    Watch the traps.
Avoid transferring credit-card balances to a new card that promises a low interest rate or none at all for an introductory period. In most cases, the fine print will tell you that late payments will result in the deal being terminated—leaving you stuck with another high-rate card.