Q: I understand that one should pay off the credit card with the highest interest first, but I have a card at 12 percent with $1,500 of debt and a card at 18 percent with $6,000 in debt. Since the two cards have such different amounts, and $1,500 is a relatively small amount, would it look better if I paid off the smaller card first?

A: Most experts would advise you to pay off the highest-interest- rate card first so you can avoid paying a huge amount of money in interest charges. This can occur if you are only making the minimum payment on a high-interest-rate card for an extended period while putting your free cash flow toward paying off another card.