TAMPA, Fla. —  In November, credit card debt hit $1.17 trillion nationwide.

That represents the highest it has ever been.

And right after that came the holidays where the average debt added on during that spending season was more than $1,100.

Of those Americans who took on holiday spending debt, financial website Lending Tree says 65 percent of them put it on a credit card. 

Nearly half of those people say it’s on a card with interest rates of 20 percent or higher. 

Steve Ribble with Guardian Accounting Group in Tampa said if you are sitting on credit card debt, you should work on getting that paid off quickly in the new year to avoid a ballooning balance from those high monthly interest rates.

“Hopefully by the time they file their taxes and if they are getting some refunds, they can turn around and use that money to pay down that debt,” said Ribble. “Because at some point it is going to be an issue.  I know we keep talking about how it continues to increase, but at some point, it has got to hit the wall and we will see the ramifications in our economy.”

Aside from credit cards, when it comes to interest rates for things like auto loans and mortgages, the Federal Reserve said it plans to slow its rate cuts in 2025 but no rate increases are expected.