The average American has thousands of dollars of credit card debt.

As a whole, Americans hold a record $1.14 trillion in credit card debt as of the second quarter of this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s August report.

Individually, they carry an average balance of around $6,330, per TransUnion data. That’s up from $5,947 at the same point in time last year.

But Americans aren’t necessarily going into debt over flashy purchases, Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, tells CNBC Make It. “People tend to get into credit card debt for practical reasons, such as emergency expenses and day-to-day expenses, but this can be a tough cycle to break,” he says.

Many Americans carry a balance on their credit cards for years, Bankrate found. About a third of consumers surveyed by Bankrate held balances between one and three years.

“Credit card debt is easy to get into and hard to get out of,” Rossman says.

Carrying credit card debt can cost you

Carrying a balance from month to month can make your credit card debt more expensive in the long run due to accruing interest. If you’re able, it’s smart to consistently chip away at your debt until it’s paid off.

With that in mind, CNBC calculated how much you would need to pay monthly in order to pay down $6,330 in credit card debt in one, two and three years, as well as how much you would pay in additional interest charges.

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CNBC’s calculations are rounded to the nearest dollar, assume that you are not adding to your credit card debt while paying it down and that the $6,330 balance is on one credit card with an interest rate of 25%, the average interest rate as of Sept. 20, according to LendingTree.

1 year

·    Monthly payment: $602

·    Total amount paid: $7,200

·    Additional interest paid: $890

2 years

·    Monthly payment: $338

·    Total amount paid: $8,108

·    Additional interest paid: $1,778

3 years

·    Monthly payment: $252

·    Total amount paid: $9,060

Cheyenne DeVon Sep 25 20249:00 AM