Minimum payments keep you current, but they also keep you in debt longer and cost more interest.
Minimum payments are designed to keep your account current, not to eliminate debt quickly. When APR is high, much of your payment goes to interest, and the balance shrinks slowly.
Minimums are typically a small percentage of the balance plus interest. As the balance falls, the minimum often falls too, which slows progress even more.
Add a consistent extra payment, even if it is small. Then focus the extra on a single target debt while paying minimums on the rest.
Consistency matters more than sporadic large payments. A predictable extra amount reduces interest every month and creates steady progress.
See how extra payments change the timelineAvalanche usually saves the most interest. Snowball can make the plan feel easier to stick with. Either method beats minimums-only.
Lowering APR can help as much as increasing payments. That can come from a card issuer rate reduction, a balance transfer you can pay off on time, or a personal loan with a lower fixed rate.
Avoid adding new charges while you are paying down existing balances. Otherwise you are climbing a moving hill, and minimums will keep rising.
If your balance barely changes month to month, or your minimums keep you from making meaningful extra payments, you are in the trap. Increasing your payment even slightly can break it.
A plan that feels too slow is hard to sustain. That is a good signal to rework your budget or switch methods.