Have you figured up how much money you’re wasting in unsecured high-interest credit card debt each month? If not, the results may surprise you. Did you know that you could literally waste hundreds of dollars of your hard-earned income on high-interest payments each month? Over the course of time, you could waste thousands.

Most unsecured credit comes in the form of credit cards, and credit card companies have figured out a way to make a fortune off of you. Think about it this way. If a man approached you and said that he would loan you $2,000 and you would never have to pay back that money, but that you could pay a $50 payment to him every month for the next 30 years, would you take him up on his offer? You absolutely would not. You would recognize it for a scam and quickly calculate that he would make back his original $2,000 plus an extra $16,000 from you.

But aren’t you doing the same thing by only paying your minimum credit card balances each month? Why not take out your credit card statements now and see how much of your minimum balance goes toward interest payments? A good chunk does, and very little goes toward the principle balance.

If you can only afford to pay your minimum balances each month, you need help to pay off that costly debt quickly or you will end up paying thousands in interest. One of the best ways to get out of credit card debt quickly is through a debt consolidation loan or a second mortgage.

A second mortgage will allow you to pay off your high-interest debt and replace it with a loan carrying a much lower interest rate, and that could save you hundreds of dollars a month. And a second mortgage will also lower the amount of your principle payment each month so you will save even more.

If you own your home, there really is no reason to waste all of your hard-earned money on interest payments. You wouldn’t hand your money over to a stranger for nothing in return, stop handing it over to credit card companies. I guarantee that you will not regret having the extra money where it belongs: in your pocket.