On your credit card statement you will usually see two amounts – the full balance  that you can pay off to avoid paying any interest in the following month, or a minimum payment. While repaying the minimum each month  prevents you from suffering late or no-payment penalties, it is not an effective way to stay ahead of your credit card debt. You can pay any amount between your minimum payment and your total outstanding credit. Even if you can't pay it off fully, try paying as much as you can. The faster you pay off your balance, the less interest you will accumulate. Ideally, pay off all your balance every month, which means you'll never pay any interest.