Credit card debt can be a brutal burden to carry around. With every passing day, each card's average daily balance is calculated, and interest charges are assessed on every dollar of debt. Because unsecured debt that is never tax deductible, credit card interest charges can be far more costly than most home mortgages or student loans.

Although there are no quick fixes to credit card debt, here are some proven ways to manage the debt, make it less onerous, and pay if off sooner.

Here are five ways to get control of your credit card debt with the goal of eliminating it entirely.

1. Consolidate it with a home equity loan.

Part of the problem with credit card debt is its high interest cost, due to the fact that credit card debt is unsecured by collateral, and is not tax deductible. By using a home equity loan, often called a second mortgage, to pay off your credit card debt, you are can lower the interest rate by essentially converting it to a a secured loan. In addition, home equity loans of less than $100,000 are often tax deductible, but check with your accountant or tax preparer to be sure. Of course, this strategy works only if you own your own home, and have considerable equity. (It also puts your home at risk if you are unable to repay the loan, so make sure you can make all of the payments.)

2. Open a new credit card with 0% APR on balance transfers.

When you have credit card debt, the thought of opening another credit card account can seem counterintuitive, but it can make sense in some situations. There are many credit cards that offer 0% APR balance transfers, allowing cardholders to avoid interest charges on their debt for a limited period of between six and 18 months. In most cases, these interest-free balance transfer offers charge a 3% balance transfer fee that gets added to the new account. Nevertheless, the Slate card from Chase is currently the only 0% APR balance transfer offer that does not have a fee. Slate offers 15 months of interest-free financing on both new purchases and balance transfers, with no annual fee. To qualify for these offers, you must have good or excellent credit, and the transfer may not be made between two accounts from the same credit card issuer.

3. Consider a low-interest balance transfer.

Instead of a 0% balance transfer offer with a 3% balance transfer fee, there are some cards that offer unusually low rates on balance transfers, and no balance transfer fee. For example, the PenFed Promise offered by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union features a 7.49% APR on balance transfers for 36 months, with no balance transfer fee. In addition, the Barclaycard Ring offer a standard APR of 8% that applies to balance transfers, with no balance transfer fee.