See the real cost of carrying a credit card balance and how long it will take to clear. Enter your current balance, the card annual percentage rate, and the fixed amount you plan to pay each month, and the calculator steps through the balance month by month to show the payoff time, the debt-free date and the total interest you will hand over along the way. It also warns you if your payment is too low to ever cover the monthly interest, which is the trap that keeps card balances alive for years. Because it works out the exact schedule, you can nudge the monthly payment up and instantly see how many months and how much interest you save, which is usually eye-opening. All calculations run locally in your browser.