A quick way to cut what you pay in credit-card interest is to increase your payments—even by just a little bit. If you're only paying the minimum on your bills, it could take years to pay off the balance and cost you a fortune in interest, which lenders must now show on your credit-card statements. Sadly, sometimes the interest winds up costing more than the original purchase.

Many credit cards require a minimum payment of 2 percent of the balance every month. If your credit card charges 18 percent interest and you only make the minimum monthly payment each month (starts at $100 per month in this example), then it could take you 39 years to pay off a $5,000 balance. All told, you'd pay more than $13,000 in interest—nearly three times as much as the original charge.

But the new credit-card statements don't show how much money you can save in interest by boosting your monthly payments. If you increase your monthly payment to just $250 per month, for example, you'll pay off the balance in two years and pay $989 in interest. And if you can afford to pay $500 per month, you'll pay off the balance in just under a year and pay $458 in interest.

After you stop spending so much money in interest every month, you'll be able to stretch your paycheck further—giving you more money to use for your current expenses and to save for the future.