Post-Holiday Bill Barrage

Every year Americans tend to go overboard on holiday spending and right about now you might be wondering how long it's gonna take to pay off your credit card debt.

Family Finance Expert, Nancy Lewis, says despite many people's intentions to cut back this past holiday season they still over extended and soon the bills will arrive.

"The first rule is, don't ignore the bills when they come in. A lot of people want to say, 'Well, I don't have the money and so I'm not gonna pay my bill this month'. That is not the thing to do."

If your deciding how to cover your expenses and worried about even making the minimum payment, "you always, always, always, pay basic needs first."

Barbara O'Neil at Rutgers University Extension, says that does not mean ignoring credit card bills, but you've got to cover the basics.

"Food and shelter, utilities, that sort of thing, gas to get to work. Credit card debt is, of course, unsecured, so nobodies going to come along and take anything back from you the way they would with a car loan and repossess your car."

But you do need to contact your credit card company and try to work something out.

To help with problems this year and prevent them happening again next year. Finance experts recommend contacting non-profit credit counselors like the National Foundation For Credit Counseling or American Consumer Credit Counseling.