Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Enter your balance, APR, and payment to see months to payoff, total interest, and your debt-free date — then compare minimum payments against fixed payments to see what an extra $100/month buys you.
Your cards
Combined minimums: $195/mo — your fixed payoff budget. When a card is cleared, its payment rolls into the next target.
Three strategies, one set of cards
Avalanche saves $33 in interest vs snowball. Paying only minimums costs $423 more in interest and takes 1 yr 4 mo longer than avalanche.
Payoff order
- 1.Card Apaid off Jan 2030
- 2.Card Bpaid off Nov 2030
- 3.Card Cpaid off May 2031
Combined balance over time
How the math works
Each month, interest of balance × APR ÷ 12 is added, then your payment is applied. The simulation repeats until the balance hits zero; the final payment is trimmed so it lands exactly. If your payment is less than or equal to one month's interest, the balance can never decline — the planner flags that instead of drawing a chart.
The minimum-payment trap: card issuers typically require only ~1–2% of the balance (or $25, whichever is more). On a $5,000 balance at 24.99% APR, a $125 minimum payment takes over 8 years and costs more than $6,000 in interest. A fixed $200 payment clears the same balance in about 3 years for roughly half the interest. The trap isn't the rate alone — it's that minimums are designed to stretch the loan out.
Three strategies, one input set: avalanche (highest APR first) minimizes total interest; snowball (smallest balance first) clears the first card fastest; minimums-only shows the true cost of the issuer's schedule. All three pay every card's minimum each month; avalanche and snowball roll each cleared card's payment into the next target, keeping your total monthly budget constant.
Common questions
Why does paying a little extra each month help so much?+
Credit card interest compounds monthly on the remaining balance. Every extra dollar of payment skips not just this month's interest on that dollar, but every future month's interest on it too. That's why raising a payment from $200 to $300 can cut total interest nearly in half, not just by a third.
Should I pay the highest-APR card first?+
Mathematically, yes — the avalanche method (highest rate first, minimums on the rest) minimizes total interest. The snowball method (smallest balance first) costs a bit more in interest but gives faster psychological wins. Pick the one you'll actually stick with; the best strategy is the one you follow.
What does 'never pays off' mean in this calculator?+
If your monthly payment is less than or equal to one month's interest charge, the balance stays flat or grows — you'd pay forever and owe the same or more. In practice, issuers set minimums slightly above this line, which is exactly why minimum-only payments take decades.
Does this account for new purchases or balance transfers?+
No — it models paying down a fixed starting balance with no new charges. New purchases restart the interest clock on the added amount. A balance transfer to a 0% introductory APR card is a separate scenario: you'd model it here as a 0% APR balance for the promo period.