Credit Card Payoff Calculator

The minimum payment is designed to last

Minimums are typically 1 to 3 percent of the balance, or a small floor amount, and they fall as the balance falls. Paying only the minimum on a 5,000 balance at 20 percent APR takes over 30 years and costs more in interest than the original debt. This is not an accident of the arithmetic — a percentage-based minimum that shrinks with the balance produces a repayment curve that flattens out almost indefinitely.

Fixed payments change everything

Paying a fixed amount rather than the shrinking minimum is the single highest-impact change available. Fixing the payment at the current minimum, and never reducing it as the balance falls, typically cuts a 30-year payoff to under 5 years on the same card. No extra money is required in month one; the saving comes entirely from not letting the payment shrink.

Interest compounds daily on most cards

The APR is divided by 365 and applied to the daily balance, so interest accrues on interest within the same month. This makes the effective annual rate slightly higher than the stated APR, and it means the date you pay within the cycle matters — paying earlier reduces the average daily balance the interest is computed on.

The grace period only exists if you clear in full

Cards typically charge no interest on new purchases if the statement balance is paid in full by the due date. Carry any balance and the grace period usually disappears entirely, so new purchases begin accruing interest from the transaction date. This is why partially paying a card is much worse than it appears: it removes the protection on everything you buy next month too.

Balance transfers are a tool with a deadline

A 0 percent promotional period genuinely stops the interest, but the transfer fee is commonly 3 to 5 percent up front, and any balance remaining when the promotion ends reverts to the standard rate. The transfer only pays if the balance actually clears within the window, which requires dividing it by the number of promotional months and committing to that payment.