Money tool
What is that balance really costing you?
Most cards are paid off in years, not months, and the interest is usually the larger half. Put your own numbers in and see the real shape of it.
- Last reviewed
- Method
- Minimum payment and interest, month by month
- Your figures
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US card averages have been running around 21-22%
What this assumes
- A fixed rate and a fixed payment every month.
- No new spending on the card and no annual or late fees.
- Interest charged monthly on the remaining balance.
A real statement will differ. Treat this as the shape, not the invoice.
Time to clear it
4y 10m
4 years 10 months of payments · cleared by August 2031
$3,594
Total interest
$8,594
Total paid
42%
Interest share
Where your payments go
- Principal$5,000
- Interest$3,594
Year by year
What is still owed at the end of each year, and what the interest has cost by then.
| Year | Still owed | Interest so far |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,377 | $1,177 |
| 2 | $3,580 | $2,180 |
| 3 | $2,560 | $2,960 |
| 4 | $1,255 | $3,455 |
| 5 | $0 | $3,594 |
If you only paid the minimum
$154
First payment
16 years 10 months
Time to clear
$8,789
Interest paid
That is $5,196 more interest than paying $150 a month, and 12 years longer. Both start at the same payment — the difference is that the minimum shrinks every month while a fixed payment does not.
Typical US rule: the month’s interest plus 1% of the balance, with a $35 floor. Your own card's rule is on your statement.
What $50 more a month would do
Paying $200 instead clears it in 3 years and saves $1,471 in interest — 22 months sooner.
A guide, not a quote. It assumes you add nothing new to the balance and the rate does not change. One further purchase, or a promotional rate ending, pushes the payoff date out further than the interest alone suggests.
Think you know your finances? Test yourselfEducational estimate only, not financial advice.
How this works
What a card costs each month
interest this month = balance × (APR ÷ 12)
- The balance used is what is left after the previous payment
- A 36% APR is 3% a month, so a 100,000 balance costs 3,000 before anything is repaid
- Anything paid above that month’s interest is the only part that reduces the debt
The minimum payment is the trap, and it is arithmetic
A card minimum is usually a percentage of what you owe, with a small floor. Because it is a percentage, it shrinks every month as the balance shrinks. The debt therefore approaches zero without ever quite arriving, and the term stretches out for years.
This is the single most expensive habit in consumer credit, and it is not caused by a high rate alone. It is caused by a payment that gets smaller exactly as fast as the thing it is meant to clear.
A worked example
Take a 100,000 balance at 36%, with a minimum of 5% of the balance and a floor of 500.
Pay only the minimum and the first payment is 5,000. The balance clears in 145 months — a little over twelve years — and costs 140,499 in interest. You hand over 240,499 in total to clear 100,000.
Now pay a flat 5,000 every month instead. The first payment is identical. The balance clears in 31 months and costs 54,995 in interest, for 154,995 in total.
The same first payment, the same rate, the same balance. Holding the amount still rather than letting it shrink saves 85,504 and nearly ten years. Nothing else changed.
The payment that changes nothing
There is a figure worth knowing for any balance: the monthly interest. On 100,000 at 36% it is 3,000. A payment of exactly 3,000 leaves the balance precisely where it was — you could pay it every month forever and never owe a penny less.
Any payment below that number means the debt is growing even though you are paying. The calculator above reports this threshold, because the gap between your payment and that line is the only part of the money doing any work.
Questions people ask
Why does my balance barely move when I pay the minimum?
Because most of the minimum is covering that month’s interest. On a 36% card, 3% of the balance is consumed before a single unit comes off the debt. A minimum set at 5% of the balance leaves only about 2% doing any work, and that 2% shrinks every month as the balance does.
Should I clear the card or keep saving?
Compare the rates honestly. A card at 20–36% is costing you far more than almost any savings account or steady investment is likely to earn, and the card’s cost is certain while the return is not. The usual exception is an emergency buffer: clearing the card and then borrowing again on it the next time something breaks leaves you no better off.
Does a balance transfer actually help?
It can, but only if two things are true: the transfer fee is smaller than the interest it avoids, and you clear the balance before the promotional rate ends. A transfer that resets at a high rate with most of the balance intact simply moves the problem and adds a fee. Work out the monthly payment that clears it inside the promotional window before you take one.
Is paying weekly better than monthly?
Slightly, on cards that charge interest on the daily balance, because the balance spends less time at its higher level. The effect is real but small. The size of the payment matters far more than its frequency.
Method and figures last reviewed . Every worked example here is produced by the same calculation the page runs — enter the same inputs above and the numbers will match.