PORTLAND -- Kim Farrell-Pace earns a good living as a letter carried for the US Post Office in Beaverton. Combined, she and her husband earn more than $100,000 a year. Farrell-Pace said her family lives modestly. But somehow, they managed to rack up more than $40,000 in credit card debt.

“It's very easy to get them,” Farrell-Pace said about her 15 credit cards. “But it's tough to pay them off.”

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Farrell-Pace uses her credit cards for the basics. Groceries, Medical bills, gas for her car.

“We were making our payments up until the last 6 months,” she said. “Then in the last six months, with the economy going to heck like it has, all of a sudden our interest rates went from 0 to 28 percent.”

All it takes is one late payment for interest rates to skyrocket, said Denise Graham, a financial Specialist with Clear Point Financial Solutions.

She said the average American family has $9,000 in credit card debt. Graham sees people with as much as $60,000 in debt on a regular basis. But she said there are ways to dig yourself out.

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- Trim fixed expenses, like utilities, cell phones, and cable.

- Increase your income. (She recommends getting a second job, even if for a few months.)

- Put away the plastic!! Try to keep between two and six cards tops.

Graham said the most important way to pay off your debt quickly is to call your creditors. Right now, more than ever, they’re willing to work with you, she said.

“They will adjust your interest rate, possibly adjust your payment where they will help you become debt free,” Graham said. “Of course, there's always the last resort if you absolutely need to and that is bankruptcy because there's no other way out.”

As for Farrell-Pace, she is working with her credit card companies, trying to get them to reduce her rates. She said she and her husband have cut way back on their expenses and are committed to reducing their hefty balances to zero.

“We told everyone at Christmas don't expect a lot because we're not going to get in more debt,” Farrell-Pace said.