Credit card payoff calculator
The answer
Paying $200.00 a month on a $6,000.00 balance at 22.99% APR takes 3 yr 10 mo — around Aug 2030 — and costs $3,011.78 in interest.
Of the first $200.00, $114.95 is interest and $85.05 comes off what you owe.
- Total interest
- $3,011.78
- Total paid
- $9,011.78
An estimate from the inputs shown, not a promise of a particular date. How we calculate this.
A single card, a fixed monthly payment, and the month the balance is gone. Change any number and the answer above updates. Nothing is saved, and no account is needed.
A card feels stuck because interest is charged before your payment is applied, so part of every early payment is absorbed before a cent touches the debt. That share falls every month as the balance does.
Assumptions
- Interest accrues once a month, before that month's payment.
- The APR stays at 22.99% for the whole term.
- No new spending, fees, penalty rate or promotional rate.
- You pay the payment above in full, on time, every month.
Month by month
What is left at the end of each month, after that month's payment — from the same engine run as the answer above.
| Month | Date | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Oct 2026 | $6,000.00 |
| 1 | Nov 2026 | $5,914.95 |
| 2 | Dec 2026 | $5,828.27 |
| 3 | Jan 2027 | $5,739.93 |
| 4 | Feb 2027 | $5,649.90 |
| 5 | Mar 2027 | $5,558.14 |
| 6 | Apr 2027 | $5,464.63 |
| 7 | May 2027 | $5,369.32 |
| 8 | Jun 2027 | $5,272.19 |
| 9 | Jul 2027 | $5,173.19 |
| 10 | Aug 2027 | $5,072.30 |
| 11 | Sep 2027 | $4,969.48 |
| 12 | Oct 2027 | $4,864.69 |
Show the full schedule — all 3 years 10 months
| Month | Date | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Oct 2026 | $6,000.00 |
| 1 | Nov 2026 | $5,914.95 |
| 2 | Dec 2026 | $5,828.27 |
| 3 | Jan 2027 | $5,739.93 |
| 4 | Feb 2027 | $5,649.90 |
| 5 | Mar 2027 | $5,558.14 |
| 6 | Apr 2027 | $5,464.63 |
| 7 | May 2027 | $5,369.32 |
| 8 | Jun 2027 | $5,272.19 |
| 9 | Jul 2027 | $5,173.19 |
| 10 | Aug 2027 | $5,072.30 |
| 11 | Sep 2027 | $4,969.48 |
| 12 | Oct 2027 | $4,864.69 |
| 13 | Nov 2027 | $4,757.88 |
| 14 | Dec 2027 | $4,649.04 |
| 15 | Jan 2028 | $4,538.11 |
| 16 | Feb 2028 | $4,425.05 |
| 17 | Mar 2028 | $4,309.82 |
| 18 | Apr 2028 | $4,192.39 |
| 19 | May 2028 | $4,072.71 |
| 20 | Jun 2028 | $3,950.74 |
| 21 | Jul 2028 | $3,826.43 |
| 22 | Aug 2028 | $3,699.74 |
| 23 | Sep 2028 | $3,570.62 |
| 24 | Oct 2028 | $3,439.03 |
| 25 | Nov 2028 | $3,304.91 |
| 26 | Dec 2028 | $3,168.23 |
| 27 | Jan 2029 | $3,028.93 |
| 28 | Feb 2029 | $2,886.95 |
| 29 | Mar 2029 | $2,742.26 |
| 30 | Apr 2029 | $2,594.80 |
| 31 | May 2029 | $2,444.51 |
| 32 | Jun 2029 | $2,291.35 |
| 33 | Jul 2029 | $2,135.24 |
| 34 | Aug 2029 | $1,976.15 |
| 35 | Sep 2029 | $1,814.01 |
| 36 | Oct 2029 | $1,648.77 |
| 37 | Nov 2029 | $1,480.35 |
| 38 | Dec 2029 | $1,308.71 |
| 39 | Jan 2030 | $1,133.79 |
| 40 | Feb 2030 | $955.51 |
| 41 | Mar 2030 | $773.81 |
| 42 | Apr 2030 | $588.64 |
| 43 | May 2030 | $399.92 |
| 44 | Jun 2030 | $207.58 |
| 45 | Jul 2030 | $11.56 |
| 46 | Aug 2030 | $0.00 |
Why the opening payment barely moves the balance
Card interest is charged on the balance you carry, month after month. Until the balance comes down, the interest charge stays roughly the same — so the share of your payment that actually reduces the debt starts small and grows.
This is also why a larger payment helps more than it looks. In the model above, everything you pay beyond the month's interest reduces the balance, and balance you have removed stops accruing interest for the rest of the term.
On a real card that is close but not automatic. Federal rules require an amount paid above your minimum to go to your highest-rate balance ahead of the others — not to whichever balance you would have chosen — and the minimum itself is allocated at your issuer's discretion. If your card carries purchases, a cash advance and a balance transfer at different rates, your statement is what shows where the money actually went.
If the payment never clears it
If your monthly payment is smaller than the interest charged that month, the balance cannot fall at all — it grows. The calculator says so plainly rather than showing a date many years out. Paying more, or moving the balance to a lower rate, is what changes that.
Questions about this calculator
Should I enter my minimum payment or what I actually pay?
What you actually pay each month. The calculator holds that amount level for the whole term. If you only ever pay a minimum that falls as the balance does, the minimum payment calculator models that instead.
Does it account for new purchases on the card?
No. It assumes nothing new is added to the balance. If you keep spending on the card, the real payoff takes longer than the date shown.
Which APR should I use?
The purchase APR on your statement, if the whole balance is purchases. If part of it is a cash advance or a promotional transfer at a different rate, a single rate cannot represent it exactly; treat the estimate as a guide and your statement as the record.
How do I pay the card off by a particular month?
Use the debt-free date calculator: choose how many months you want and it works out the monthly payment that reaches that date.
Can I plan several cards together?
Yes, in the debt payoff calculator, where each card keeps its own balance, rate and minimum and you choose snowball or avalanche.
From our research
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe?
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — What is a grace period for a credit card?
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Regulation Z, 12 CFR §1026.53 — Allocation of payments
Our source and corrections policy explains how these are chosen.
Related
Reviewed 2026-09-19. Every figure on this page is produced by the same payoff engine the Dang! Payoff app runs, from the inputs shown, and is an estimate that holds only if the stated assumptions hold. The dates printed here were computed from a plan starting October 2026; the calculator re-anchors to the current month in your browser, so a date you read with JavaScript disabled is the one for that starting month rather than for today.
Dang! Payoff is a manual-entry debt payoff planner and tracker from Dang Apps LLC. It is not a lender, credit counselling agency, debt-relief, debt-management or debt-settlement service, and nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice or a recommendation about your situation. Your issuer’s or lender’s own terms govern your account.
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