What next?
A payoff date is useful; a plan is better. These are the next moves that actually cut the interest.
External links are marked and open in a new tab. If repayments are unaffordable, free charity debt advice is better than any calculator.
What your result means
Time to clear assumes you make the same payment every month and add no new spending. Minimum payment needed is the interest charged in the first month — pay less than that and the balance grows no matter how long you keep paying. The gap between your payment and that figure is the only part actually reducing the debt.
Why this one is different
Two ways to describe one payment are both accepted: a fixed sum, or a share of what you owe — the form card agreements actually use. Choosing the share does not make it fall over time the way a real card statement would, and the page says so plainly instead of leaving you to discover it. A separate row gives the smallest flat payment that ever clears the card.
Paying the minimum can turn a two-year debt into a twenty-year one
A card minimum is typically calculated as a small percentage of the balance, so it falls as the balance falls. That design keeps you paying interest almost indefinitely — the debt shrinks by ever-smaller amounts as the years pass.
Fixing your payment at a flat amount instead of the shifting minimum is the single change that clears a card fastest. Try raising the monthly figure here by a modest amount and watch the interest total collapse.
How it works
Interest is charged monthly on the outstanding balance at one twelfth of the APR. Your payment covers that interest first; whatever is left reduces the balance. The calculator steps through month by month until the balance reaches zero, adding up the interest as it goes.
How to use this calculator
- Choose your currency.
- Enter your current balance.
- Set the card’s APR — it is on your statement.
- Enter the monthly payment you can commit to — as a cash amount, or switch to % of balance to model a minimum-style payment.
- Raise the payment and compare the interest saved.
Formula
Repeated month by month until the balance reaches zero. The number of iterations is your payoff time; the interest added along the way is the total cost.
Example calculation
A £3,000 balance at 22.9% APR paying £150 a month:
Total interest ≈ £815
Total paid ≈ £3,815
Frequently asked questions
Does this assume I stop spending on the card?＋
Yes. Any new purchases are added to the balance and charged interest, which pushes the payoff date back. Treat the result as a best case that holds only if the card is not used again.
What about a 0% balance transfer?＋
A transfer moves the balance to a card charging no interest for a promotional period, usually for a fee of a few percent. Set the APR here to 0 to model the promotional window, then check whether you clear it before the rate reverts.
Should I clear the highest-rate card first?＋
Mathematically yes — the avalanche method pays the most expensive debt first and minimises total interest. The snowball method clears the smallest balance first and wins on motivation. Both work; the one you stick to is the right one.
Why does the minimum payment take so long?＋
Because the minimum is usually recalculated as a small percentage of the falling balance, so the payment shrinks as the debt shrinks. That feedback loop stretches repayment across years or decades and means most of what you pay is interest. Fixing your payment at the current minimum, rather than letting it fall, dramatically shortens the term.
Should I pay off the smallest balance or the highest rate first?＋
The highest rate first costs less in total interest — that is simple arithmetic. Clearing the smallest balance first costs more but produces a visible win sooner, which some people find easier to sustain. If the difference in rates is small, the psychological approach may well win overall.
What happens when a 0% balance transfer period ends?＋
The remaining balance reverts to the standard rate, which is usually high. A transfer fee is also typically charged upfront. The offer only saves money if you clear the balance within the promotional window, so divide the balance by the number of months and treat that as the required payment.
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Assumptions & limitations
Every figure here comes from a simplified model. Keep these limits in mind when reading your result:
- Assumes a fixed APR, a fixed monthly payment and no further spending on the card.
- Entering the payment as a percentage of the balance fixes a flat payment from today’s balance. A real card minimum is recalculated on the falling balance every month, so it shrinks as you pay down and clears the card considerably more slowly than the same figure held flat.
- Interest is applied monthly; real cards may calculate it daily, giving slightly different totals.
- Excludes annual fees, late-payment charges and cash-advance rates.
- Promotional 0% periods that later revert are not modelled automatically.