Balance, rate, payment — see the exact month this debt is gone.
This calculator assumes a fixed interest rate and a consistent payment with no new charges added. Actual timelines can vary with rate changes or missed payments. Not financial advice.
Every month, interest accrues on whatever balance remains, and your payment covers that interest first, with the rest going toward the principal. As the balance shrinks, so does the interest charged the following month, so more of each payment goes toward principal over time — which is why payoff speeds up near the end even with a fixed payment amount.
Divide the debt into monthly cycles: each month, interest accrues on the remaining balance, your payment covers that interest plus reduces the principal, and the process repeats until the balance reaches zero. The number of cycles that takes is your payoff time — this calculator runs that simulation for you.
If your payment is smaller than the interest accruing each month, the balance grows instead of shrinking, even though you're paying every month. This is common on high-rate cards with very low minimum payments — this calculator will flag it if your numbers hit that case.