Estimate how long it will take to clear your credit card balance based on your monthly payment.
Time to Pay Off:
Total Interest Charged:
Total Amount to be Paid:
How to Use the Credit Card Pay Off Calculator
To use this tool, you need three specific pieces of information from your latest credit card statement: your current remaining balance, your annual percentage rate (APR), and the amount you intend to pay toward the card each month.
Understanding Your Results
The calculator uses the standard credit card interest formula. It calculates your monthly interest rate (APR divided by 12) and applies it to your declining balance each month. If your "Planned Monthly Payment" is too low—specifically, if it's less than or equal to the interest charged in the first month—the calculator will alert you that the balance will never be paid off.
Strategies for Faster Payoff
The Avalanche Method: Focus on paying off the card with the highest APR first while making minimum payments on others. This saves the most money on interest.
The Snowball Method: Focus on paying off the smallest balance first to build psychological momentum.
APR Negotiation: Sometimes calling your creditor to ask for a lower APR can significantly reduce the "Total Interest Charged" shown in the calculator.
Example Calculation
If you have a $3,000 balance with a 22% APR and you pay $150 per month:
Time to pay off: Approximately 26 months.
Total Interest: You will pay roughly $794 in interest.
Total Paid: The total cost of that $3,000 debt becomes $3,794.
By increasing your payment by just $50 to $200 per month, you could shave 8 months off the timeline and save over $250 in interest.
function calculatePayoff() {
var balance = parseFloat(document.getElementById('currentBalance').value);
var apr = parseFloat(document.getElementById('annualApr').value);
var payment = parseFloat(document.getElementById('plannedPayment').value);
var errorDiv = document.getElementById('errorMessage');
var resultDiv = document.getElementById('payoffResult');
// Reset display
errorDiv.style.display = 'none';
resultDiv.style.display = 'none';
if (isNaN(balance) || isNaN(apr) || isNaN(payment) || balance <= 0 || apr < 0 || payment <= 0) {
errorDiv.innerText = "Please enter valid positive numbers for all fields.";
errorDiv.style.display = 'block';
return;
}
var monthlyRate = (apr / 100) / 12;
var monthlyInterestCharge = balance * monthlyRate;
if (payment <= monthlyInterestCharge) {
errorDiv.innerText = "Your monthly payment is too low. It must be greater than the monthly interest charge ($" + monthlyInterestCharge.toFixed(2) + ") to ever pay off the balance.";
errorDiv.style.display = 'block';
return;
}
// Formula: n = -log(1 – (i*B)/P) / log(1 + i)
var months = -Math.log(1 – (monthlyRate * balance) / payment) / Math.log(1 + monthlyRate);
var roundedMonths = Math.ceil(months);
var totalPaid = 0;
var totalInterest = 0;
var currentBalance = balance;
for (var i = 0; i < roundedMonths; i++) {
var interestForMonth = currentBalance * monthlyRate;
var principalForMonth = payment – interestForMonth;
if (currentBalance 0) {
timeString += years + (years === 1 ? " Year" : " Years");
if (remainingMonths > 0) {
timeString += " and " + remainingMonths + (remainingMonths === 1 ? " Month" : " Months");
}
} else {
timeString = roundedMonths + (roundedMonths === 1 ? " Month" : " Months");
}
document.getElementById('resMonths').innerText = timeString;
document.getElementById('resInterest').innerText = "$" + totalInterest.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
document.getElementById('resTotal').innerText = "$" + totalPaid.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
resultDiv.style.display = 'block';
}