The following report by Call 4 Action reporter Meghan Jones first aired Dec. 6, 2005, on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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Chances are you are making your holiday purchases with a credit card -- and you're probably not thinking about paying for them until January.

You may get a surprise when you get your bill.

We already know that we will pay for the convenience of using a credit card.

For most, that cost is about to go up.

The federal government told banks in 2003 they would have to raise the payments, but the new rules did not have to be implemented until 2006.

Federal regulators worried that keeping the minimum payments around 2 percent -- which is typical -- prevented people from ever making a dent in their debt.

For example, the average household credit card debt is $10,000 with an interest rate of 16 percent and minimum payment of 2 percent.

It will take 40 years to pay off and cost the consumer more than $19,000 in interest.

Most cards will go up 1 percent -- some may double to 4 percent, which means a double payment.

It depends on your bankcard holder's policy.

That means holiday shopping could cost you more, because the credit card bills are more than anticipated.

"Typically, the middle of January we start to see our incoming calls increase dramatically because of that," said consumer credit counselor Caryn Bilotta.

Bilotta, of Consumer Credit Counseling, said holiday credit card spending is the reason so many people come to them.

She expects to see even more people once the minimum payment increase goes into effect.

The bottom line -- there are great items for sale. This year more than ever, make sure you can pay for them.

"Because then you end up spending more than you have and you run into a lot of problems at the end of the year," said consumer Natalie Stewart.

If you want to figure out how much your minimum payment could increase, visit http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/MinPayment.asp.