You may have had a very good reason for running up high-interest debt: Maybe you had to make some unexpected big-ticket purchases, or lost a job, or endured an illness. Or maybe you have formed some unhealthy spending habits, such as impulse buying. Regardless of the cause, ridding yourself of that balance should be your top financial priority—credit card debt and a low credit score can have serious consequences for your overall financial security. “You need an action plan to help you work at reducing and eventually eliminating what you owe,” says Gail Cunningham, a spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a nonprofit organization. Here are several ways to create one for yourself.

If your answer is “having one card totally paid off,” then throw as much money as you can toward the card with the lowest balance first, says Curtis Arnold, the founder of CardRatings.com, a credit card comparison site. Yes, do this even if you need to pay only the minimum on your other cards in the meantime. If your answer is “boosting my credit score,” then tackle the card with the highest utilization rate (that’s your balance divided by the card’s limit). “Since your score takes a hit if you use more than 20 percent of your available balance, bringing the utilization rate down just 20 percent could significantly increase your score,” says Arnold. And if your answer is “paying less in interest,” then the tried-and-true method is to pay off the card that has the highest interest rate first.

You could get a percentage point or two shaved off, which can add up to hundreds of dollars saved annually. One tip to try: “If you’ve been offered a lower rate by a competitor, tell the customer-service rep,” says Bill Hardekopf, the CEO of CardRates.com, a credit card comparison site. “There’s a chance they’ll match the offer.” Otherwise your rate could skyrocket, possibly ending up higher than the one you just got rid of. You should also avoid making any purchases with the new card, as sometimes the low interest rate won’t apply to them. In addition, know that you’ll probably be charged a balance-transfer fee, which is usually about 3 to 4 percent of the total amount transferred. These secure sites offer loans with fixed interest rates that can be 20 to 30 percent lower than most credit cards, meaning you could save hundreds of dollars in interest on your debt, says Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, a cofounder of AskTheMoneyCoach.com, a personal finance site. If you have a job and a good credit score, you may qualify to make an online loan request for up to about $25,000. If you’re on a tight budget, go ahead and pay the minimum due each month, then try to make the same payment again two weeks later. Keep making a payment of the initial minimum-due amount twice a month until your debt is paid off. To keep track, put a reminder on your calendar. Case in point: Say you charged $2,000 on a card with a 17 percent interest rate. If you make only the minimum monthly payment (which is about 2 percent of the balance), it will take more than 5 years to pay off the balance. But if you make an additional payment of the original amount two weeks later, you will be debt-free in less than three (!) years. RELATED: When to Use a Debit Card—and When to Use a Credit Card Instead