You've got to stop paying 15% or more on your credit card debt.

Using a cash-out refinancing or home equity loan to pay off those bills is one way to save hundreds of dollars a year in interest costs.

But transferring your balance to a new credit card that charges 0% interest for a year is an even better alternative.

Every dollar you pay reduces the balance, making this the surest, quickest route to wiping out your credit card debt once and for all.

We checked dozens of cards offering balance transfers. Here are the three we liked best.

Our first choice:

The Discover More card offers 0% interest on balance transfers until May 2010 and on purchases made until the last day of the billing period in November 2009. This one-year window for 0% transfers is exceptional because many other cards now offer "up to" 12 months on transfers.

There's no annual fee, and if your credit remains unblemished, the interest rate could be as low as 10.99% when it kicks in. It will be determined by a review of your application and credit history. You need "good" credit to be accepted.

If your balance is made up of 90% or more of your balance transfer, your minimum payment is 4%. We like this because it forces you to maximize the 0% APR offer by paying off as much of your balance as possible during those 12 months.

Like most cards that accept balance transfers, there's a 3% fee added to the amount transferred.

The Capital One Platinum Credit Card offers 0% on your balance transfer until April 2010 and on purchases as well. Once the introductory period expires, your credit will be reviewed and your new rate will be a variable 14.9%. You will be charged 3% per balance transfer, but you only need good credit to qualify.

Making a year's worth of on-time payments to reduce or eliminate the transferred balance also should improve your credit score. That would allow you to qualify for a lower rate when the time comes.

If you have excellent credit, the same rules apply for the Platinum Prestige card, except when your 0% interest offer expires, your variable rate will be 11.9%.

Iberiabank Visa Classic offers 0% financing on balance transfers for 6 months, instead of the 12 months that some banks offer, but there is no 3% balance transfer fee.

If you don't pay the entire balance within six months, the rate will increase to 6.25%, 7.25% or 8.25%, depending on your credit. The cash advance fee, also credit dependent, ranges from a relatively low 10.25% to 12.25%. Many banks charge 19% or more. In addition, there is no annual fee.

In order to qualify, you must have excellent credit and two years of steady employment. There is no break on what you pay for purchases -- it's the regular rate. But when transferring a balance, your goal should be to pay it off rather than to run up more debt.

There is one more place to look for good deals on 0% balance transfers, and that's in your mailbox. Applications for credit cards probably arrive every week telling you that, "You're Preapproved!" Before shredding them, take a look at the ones with the 0% transfer option. Some of these offers are made only through the mail, and some are very good. Just be sure you read the "terms and conditions" on any application before sending it back.

You may have noticed that we haven't mentioned the reward programs that come with these cards.

That's because they don't enhance the card's value for balance transfers, and they can tempt you to make new purchases -- something you should never, ever do.

First, this card is meant to pay off your credit card balance, not add to it. And second, if you get a card that charges interest on new purchases, you will never pay off that balance. (None of these cards do -- at least for the first six to 12 months.)

Virtually every credit card assigns all payments to that portion of your bill being charged the lowest interest rate until that part of your debt is paid off.

So, let's say you transfer $10,000 and then add $1,000 in new purchases. You'll immediately begin paying interest on the $1,000 until you've covered the entire $11,000 debt.

The more you charge, the more interest you pay. Before you know it, the first $30 or $40 of every payment is going to the bank and your transfer balance isn't shrinking as quickly as it would have. Then your year is up, and you're paying interest on the remaining balance.

Credit cards count on you to make this mistake. That's why they offer such great deals on balance transfers.

You're too smart to do that.

By Carolyn Siegel

Interest.com Associate Editor