“Our national credit card debt is almost $50 billion, and we’re paying interest on $36 billion. How do we cut it?”

Is that all? Just the $36 billion? Come on Australia! My out-of-control, credit-card addict, Grandma owes nearly a quarter of that herself. Seriously! Are the rest of you really even trying? I … think … not!

The Reserve Bank says the average credit card debt is $3321, which means you’re paying nearly $50 a month in interest. It’s not tax deductible. It was largely just for whimsical “stuff”. And it is sending you out backwards. (But bank shareholders would like to say “thank you”.)

Credit card debt is not just bad debt, it’s dumb debt. It means you’re living beyond your means and, if you’re paying interest every month, I think you know that. But worse, it tends to be a symptom of a money problem with a near neverending cycle.

“There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza,” sang Harry Belafonte to Odetta (in the best version). “Well, fix it, dear Henry,” Odetta retorted.

Fixing the hole in your household finance bucket absolutely must start with the obliteration of credit card debt, because of what it signifies.

By paying down your plastic debt to zip, you will have proven to yourself that you have willpower, are in control of your spending and that you can commit to a plan.

If you’re reading this page of this newspaper, then you clearly have an interest in bettering your finances.

The first step is the credit card. When that job is ticked off, you can divert those fortnightly savings to the fun part of finances – creating wealth to pave the way to an early retirement.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.