What it does
Type your balance and APR and see two ways to pay: only the minimum each month, or a fixed amount you choose. For each you get the time to pay off, the total interest and the total you pay. A chart shows both balances shrinking.
A balance transfer switch shows what happens if you move the balance to a card with a low promo rate, including the transfer fee. With several cards, the debt payoff helps you pick an order, and the loan payoff planner and budget planner help find the money to pay more.
How to use it
- Enter the balance and the APR from your statement.
- Enter your card’s minimum rule (a percent of the balance and a smallest amount).
- Enter the fixed payment you could make.
- Optionally turn on the balance transfer and enter its fee, promo rate and months.
What each setting does
- Minimum is a percent of the balance: the payment shrinks as the balance shrinks, so it takes very long.
- Never less than: the card’s floor amount.
- Fixed payment: the same amount every month. It must be higher than the first month’s interest.
- Transfer fee: added to the balance. After the promo months the normal APR applies to what is left.
Worked example
A 3,000 balance at 20% APR with a 2% minimum (floor 25) takes about 31 years and costs over 10,000 in interest. Paying a fixed 150 a month clears it in 25 months for about 680 in interest.
FAQs
Why does the minimum take so long? Most of it goes to interest, and the payment shrinks as the balance does.
Is a balance transfer always cheaper? Only if the fee plus the interest after the promo is less than what you would pay now. Check the new card’s terms.
Does it count new purchases? No. Stop using the card, or the numbers will not hold.
Not financial or tax advice.
Where the numbers come from
- Interest each month is the balance times the APR divided by 12. The minimum payment is a percentage of the balance with a floor, the usual rule; check your statement for your card's own rule. Balance transfer: the fee is added to the balance, the promo rate applies for the promo months, then the normal APR.
- Card issuers work out interest daily, so real statements can differ slightly. Check the official source: your card agreement. Drawings are fibub's own.
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Last updated 2026-11-10.