Credit cards are built so that the comfortable thing, paying the minimum, is the most expensive thing. Minimum payments are calculated to keep the balance alive for years, and the interest compounds on whatever survives each month. Getting out is not complicated, but it does mean choosing a route and actually running it.

First, stop the hole getting deeper

Take the cards out of the online checkouts, out of the phone wallet, and ideally out of the wallet. You cannot bail and refill at the same time. This step costs nothing and doubles the effect of everything below.

Route one: pay the card down hard, in order

Keep every minimum going, then aim every spare dollar at one card until it dies, then the next. Highest rate first is cheapest; smallest balance first is most motivating, and the trade-off between them is the whole subject of our snowball versus avalanche guide. This route needs no approval, no paperwork and no new credit. Its only requirement is spare dollars and a stubborn streak.

Route two: a balance transfer card

Some NZ banks offer low or zero percent for a period on balances you bring across. Used with discipline, it is a genuinely cheap bridge: the trick is that the promotional rate ends, the revert rate is usually ugly, and the clock does not care how your year went. If you take this route, divide the balance by the promo months and set that as an automatic payment, so the balance is actually gone when the music stops. And do not spend on the new card; purchases often sit outside the promo deal.

Route three: consolidate onto a fixed loan

Move the card balances onto one fixed-rate personal loan, so the revolving debt becomes a straight line with a finish date. The rate is usually well below card rates for a reasonable credit file, the repayment never moves, and the lender can pay the card balances off directly so the slate really is cleared. The honest caveats: a longer term can cost more in total even at a lower rate, and the cleared cards must be closed or capped or you will end up with both debts. The full arithmetic, traps included, is in when consolidation works and when it costs more.

Picking between them

Small balance and strong willpower: route one, no paperwork. Bank-grade credit file and a balance you can clear inside a promo window: route two, run like a drill. Several cards, a juggle that keeps slipping, or a balance that has stopped moving: route three puts an end date on it, and a credit card consolidation loan offer will show you the whole cost next to what the cards are charging now.

Whichever route: the balance falling is nice, but the account closing is the win. Celebrate closures.