Find out how long your credit card will take to pay off and how much interest you will pay on the way. Enter the balance, the APR and what you pay each month. Then see how paying a little more clears it far sooner. This uses a simple monthly-interest estimate, not your exact statement.
A planning estimate using a simple monthly rate, not your exact statement.
Credit cards usually charge a high APR, and the interest is added to your balance every month. If you only pay a small amount, most of it goes on interest and the balance hardly moves — so the card lingers for years and costs far more than the original purchases.
Example. A balance of 1,200 at 0% APR with a 200 payment and no new spending clears in exactly 6 months with no interest. Raise the APR and the same payment takes longer and costs interest.
Use the "Pay more / month" box to see how much time and interest a higher payment saves. To plan several debts together, try the Debt Payoff Calculator.
Each month the balance is charged one twelfth of the APR, any new spending is added, then your payment is taken off. This repeats until the card is cleared. Real cards often use daily balances and grace periods, so treat this as a planning estimate.
When your payment is only a little more than the monthly interest, most of it goes on interest and the balance barely moves. Paying more each month breaks that cycle — the extra goes straight to the balance.
If the payment is smaller than the monthly interest (plus any new spending), the balance grows instead of shrinking and the card is never paid off. The calculator shows a clear warning rather than an impossible date.
Only if you will keep using the card. Any new monthly spending is added to the balance before the payment, which makes the payoff take longer. Leaving it at zero shows the fastest route out.
This focuses on one card with a fixed payment and optional new spending. The Debt Payoff Calculator handles several debts at once and chooses an order to clear them.
A calculator gives you one answer. A cashbook shows you the whole picture: write down cash in and cash out, see where the money goes in charts and on a calendar, and share a ledger with your family, team or friends.
This takes a few seconds.
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