Debt Payoff Calculator

How it works

Every month, two things happen to a debt: interest gets added, and your payment gets subtracted. This debt payoff calculator replays that month by month, so the interest each month is your balance times the annual percentage rate (APR) divided by 12.

Whatever your payment covers beyond that interest actually shrinks the balance. The number of months until the debt hits zero follows this formula:

• B — starting balance
• i — monthly interest rate (APR ÷ 12)
• P — your monthly payment
• n — months until the debt is gone

That APR is the yearly cost of a debt as the lender states it. On a credit card it usually floats, while on a personal loan or a fixed mortgage it holds for the whole loan term. Enter the interest rate you are charged today, and the calculator treats it as steady until the debt clears.

That steady rate settles one more question. If your payment is smaller than the monthly interest, there is no answer, because the debt only grows. That is why a card balance can stay the same for years.

With the defaults above: on a $12,000 credit card debt at 22% APR, the first month's interest is $220, so only $180 of a $400 payment touches the balance. Stick with it and the debt is gone after 44 payments, with about $5,581 going to interest along the way. That interest total is what the debt costs on top of what you borrowed, and it is the number worth shrinking.

✓ Every result is checked against independent reference math. See how we test the calculators →

A worked example: $12,000 at 22%, paying $400

Picture a $12,000 credit card balance at 22% APR while you pay $400 a month. When does it hit zero? Not for 44 months, and along the way $5,581 of your money goes to interest on top of the $12,000 you borrowed, for $17,581 paid in all.

The first month shows why it drags: $220 of that $400 payment is pure interest, so only the rest chips at the balance. The higher the rate, the longer the tail.

Now push the payment up to $450. The card clears in 37 months instead of 44, and the interest you hand over drops to $4,625. That is real money kept for a change you set once.

Try your own balance, rate, and payment to see the payoff move.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter the balance you owe on the debt today, not the amount you first borrowed.
2. Add the interest rate from your card or loan statement as an APR.
3. Enter the monthly payment you can repeat every month without missing one.
4. Read the payoff month count and the total interest, the full cost of the debt.
5. Raise the payment by $25 or $50 and compare, to find a pace you can sustain.

Six ways to clear the debt sooner

• Add even a little. Every extra dollar cuts the balance, which shrinks all future interest, and paying $450 instead of $400 finishes 7 months sooner and saves about $956.
• Pay the highest rate first. Send every spare dollar to the highest-rate debt first and keep minimums running on the rest, because that order costs the least interest.
• Take quick wins if you need them. The debt snowball method clears the smallest debt first, and seeing the two methods side by side usually shows a small gap in dollars.
• Ask for a lower rate. A debtor with a clean credit history can often get a credit card APR cut by phone, and creditors say yes more often than debtors expect.
• Stop the credit card debt growing. Pause new spending on the card, or the payment never covers much more than the interest.
• Read balance transfer offers closely. A 0% card deal helps only if the fee is small and the debt clears inside the promotional window.

How long will it take to pay off $30,000 in debt?

Start with plain arithmetic, because it sets the minimum. Clearing $30,000 of debt inside one year means $2,500 a month if the interest rate were zero. It never is, so the payment has to be higher than that.

$25,000 works the same way. One year is roughly $2,083 a month before interest, and two years is about $1,042. Three years drops it near $694, though the total interest climbs, because the debt sits unpaid for longer.

A $100,000 balance is the same arithmetic at a larger scale. Over three years that is about $2,778 a month before any interest, which most budgets cannot absorb.

Those figures show whether a target is realistic. If $2,500 a month is not in a debtor's budget, a one-year payoff is not going to happen.

Enter a real balance and a payment you can repeat, then read the date the debt clears. Big balances need both moves: more money each month and a lower APR.

Where does the extra payment come from?

The calculator shows what an extra payment does to a debt. The harder question is where that money comes from, and the answer is usually small, repeatable moves.

• Trim one recurring cost. A forgotten subscription, an overpriced phone plan, or car insurance you have never reshopped frees up money every month.
• Put windfalls toward the balance. A tax refund or a work bonus can cut months off the debt.
• Round up. Paying $420 instead of $400 barely registers, but it pulls the payoff date forward and cuts interest off the total.
• Sell what you do not use. An old phone or tablet can be sold for cash, and most makers run trade-in programs.
• Automate it on payday. Set the transfer in your banking app so the money leaves before you spend it.

A one-off windfall and a permanent rise in the monthly payment are different moves. It is worth seeing what a lump sum does to the debt before you pick one.

Does this work for a mortgage or student loans?

Yes, with caveats. Any loan with a fixed interest rate and a level payment follows the same maths.

• Fixed loans fit best. A personal loan or an auto loan behaves exactly like the formula above, and so does a mortgage.
• A credit card needs an assumption. Those rates float, so enter today's card APR and read the result as a snapshot.
• Home equity loans work the same way. The rate is fixed, the term is fixed, and the house is the collateral, so a missed payment costs the debtor more than a fee.
• A home equity line of credit is different. A HELOC has a draw period with interest-only payments, then a repayment period, and only that repayment period behaves like this calculator.
• Student loans have their own rules. Federal income-driven repayment plans recalculate the payment as income changes, so this tool suits fixed plans better.

This tool handles one loan or card at a time. If you owe on several, decide the order you clear them in and keep minimums running on the rest.

What if the payment is out of reach?

Sometimes no realistic payment clears the debt. That is a different problem, with its own sources of help, from a phone call through credit counseling up to bankruptcy.

• Call the creditors first. Many credit card issuers run hardship programs that cut the rate for a stretch of months, and a debtor who asks early gets more options.
• Try nonprofit credit counseling next. A credit counseling agency reviews the debtor's budget and can agree a debt management plan with creditors at reduced rates. The FTC guide on how to get out of debt says what to check.
• Treat debt settlement with caution. A debt settlement firm tells the debtor to stop paying creditors while it negotiates a smaller lump sum. Those fees are steep, credit damage is real, and the IRS can treat forgiven debt as taxable income.
• Know what Chapter 7 does. Chapter 7 bankruptcy clears most unsecured debt in months, but alimony, child support, and recent tax debt survive it. A means test decides who qualifies for Chapter 7.
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the other route. It puts the debtor on a court-supervised repayment plan for three to five years, and that plan can protect a house.
• Watch for upfront-fee scams. Nobody erases a debt for a fee paid in advance, and the CFPB's debt help pages set out a debtor's rights.

Any bankruptcy stays on the credit record for years, so it comes last. Keep insurance, rent, and food paid through it all.

A debt consolidation loan is a milder option. One loan replaces several balances, and debt consolidation helps only if the new rate beats the old blended rate after fees.

After the last payment

The month the debt clears, you suddenly have income you have not assigned to anything. Where that money goes next decides whether the debtor stays out of debt for good.

• Redirect the whole payment. You already lived without it, so send it to the next debt, or into savings accounts and investing.
• Build a buffer first. A small emergency fund in a high-yield savings account keeps the next surprise bill off the card.
• Check your credit report. Cleared accounts should show a zero balance at Equifax, and Experian and TransUnion should agree. Each credit bureau gives free copies.
• Expect the FICO score to recover slowly. Lower card balances improve the credit utilization ratio Equifax and lenders watch, and credit scores follow.

Weigh the opportunity costs too. Few savings accounts pay anything close to the guaranteed 22% return that clearing a credit card gives, which makes it the plainest win in personal finance. Your finances get easier from here.