Loans & Debt
Credit Card Payoff
See what paying the minimum really costs on one card, what a fixed payment saves, and the amount that clears it in three years.
How your card sets the minimum
What this means
The minimum on this card starts at $142 and falls every month as the balance does — which is why paying it takes 19 yr 2 mo and costs $8,100 in interest. Paying a flat $200 instead clears it in 2 yr 10 mo and costs $1,750. Same card, same rate — the only difference is that the payment stops shrinking.
That is the whole trick, and it needs no discipline beyond setting an automatic payment for a fixed amount and leaving it alone. If the number here is out of reach, pick one you can hold every month: a payment that never moves beats a bigger one you abandon in March.
Two things this leaves out, both in your favour if they apply: it assumes you add no new charges to the card, and it charges interest once a month where a real card compounds daily on an average daily balance. It also cannot see fees. Treat the payoff time as a close estimate and the direction as certain.
Build on it
These are estimates to help you think — not personalized legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a promise of any result.
This calculator puts two paths on one screen for a single card: paying the minimum your statement asks for, and paying the same fixed amount every month. It shows how long each takes, what each costs in interest, and the payment that would clear the balance in three years.
Why it matters: the minimum payment is not a small fixed bill. It is a percentage of the balance, so it shrinks every month as the balance does — and a payment that retreats at nearly the speed of the debt is what turns a few thousand dollars into a decade or more. Paying a flat amount, even the same one you start with, changes the answer completely.
How to use it
Enter the card
The balance and the purchase APR, both on your statement. One card at a time — for several at once, the Debt Payoff calculator compares avalanche and snowball across the whole list.
Set what you can actually pay
A number you could hold every month without fail, not the best month you've ever had. A payment you keep beats a bigger one you abandon.
Match the minimum formula to your card
Two shapes are common: the month's interest plus about 1% of the balance, or a flat 2% to 4% of the balance, each with a dollar floor. Your cardholder agreement says which. They give very different answers, so it is worth looking up rather than guessing.
Behind the numbers
Why the minimum is a moving target
Because it is a percentage of what you owe, it falls as you pay. Early on, most of it is interest and only a sliver touches the balance — so the balance barely moves, so next month's minimum barely moves. The payment and the debt retreat together, which is why the finish line stays where it is.
The two minimum formulas are not close
A minimum of interest plus 1% always retires principal, so the card always pays off eventually. A flat percentage does not: if the percentage is under the monthly interest rate — a 2% minimum on a card charging more than 24% a year — the balance grows every month no matter how faithfully you pay. The calculator says so rather than printing a payoff date that does not exist.
A fixed payment is the whole strategy
Set an automatic payment for an amount that does not change, and every month more of it lands on the balance as the interest portion shrinks. It is the same money the minimum would have started at, and it is the difference between years and decades. No discipline required beyond setting it once.
The rate is a number you can sometimes change
If the payment cannot cover the interest, more payment is not the only lever. A credit union personal loan, a balance transfer offer, or the issuer's own hardship program can each cut the rate, and the last one is free to ask about. None of them helps if the card goes straight back into use, which is the part to be honest with yourself about first.
The math behind it
Each month the balance earns interest at the APR divided by twelve. The minimum-only path then subtracts whatever your formula asks for that month — a percentage of the current balance, sometimes on top of the interest, never below the dollar floor — and repeats on the new, smaller balance, which produces a new, smaller minimum. The fixed path subtracts the same amount every month instead. The three-year figure works backward from the deadline: the payment big enough that three years of it, plus the interest along the way, clears the balance exactly — rounded up to the cent, so the deadline it names is one it actually meets.
Worked example
$5,000 at 22%, with a minimum of the month's interest plus 1% of the balance and a $25 floor. The first minimum is about $142 — and paying only the minimum takes 19 years 2 months and costs $8,100 in interest. Paying a flat $200 a month clears the same card in 2 years 10 months for $1,750. The $58 a month between those two plans is worth 16 years 4 months and about $6,350.
Freeze the payment, not the card
You do not need a new number every month. Take today's minimum, round it up to something you can hold, set it as an automatic payment, and never lower it as the balance falls. That single decision is most of the difference between the two columns on this page.
Common questions
How long will it take to pay off my credit card?
It depends far more on how you pay than on what you owe. Paying the minimum on a mid-sized balance at a typical card rate runs to a decade or longer; paying a fixed amount each month usually clears the same balance in a few years. Enter your own balance, rate and payment above and the two numbers appear side by side.
Why does my statement say the minimum takes so long?
Because it does. Card statements carry a minimum-payment warning showing how many years the minimum alone would take and what monthly payment would clear the balance in three years — a disclosure the Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires. This calculator computes the same three-year figure, so you can check it against your own paper.
Should I pay off the card or build savings first?
Usually a small starter emergency fund first, then the card hard. Without any cushion the next unexpected bill goes straight back onto the card and undoes the progress. Once a starter fund is in place, high-rate card debt is one of the best-paying things you can do with a dollar — the Emergency Fund and Debt Payoff calculators cover both sides.
Sources & references
Go deeper
The calculator gives you a number. The Debt Management Brick teaches you what to do with it, in plain English. And if you’re not sure where to start, the free BrickScore Assessment checks your whole foundation in about 5 minutes.