Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator
See exactly how long paying only the minimum takes — and how much adding even a small extra payment actually saves.
Quick answer
Paying only the minimum takes much longer and costs much more than it looks like month to month. On a $5,000 balance at 22% APR with a $100 minimum, paying just that minimum takes over 11 years and costs about $8,678 in interest — nearly double the original balance. To see this for your own card, enter it below and set your monthly budget equal to your total minimum payments (with $0 extra) — the calculator will show you the exact minimum-only timeline.
Your cards
Monthly budget
Fastest debt-free date
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Using the recommended method
Months to freedom
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Total interest paid
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Snowball
Smallest balance first
- Debt-free
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- Months
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- Interest
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Avalanche
Highest APR first
- Debt-free
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- Months
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- Interest
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Balance over time
Frequently asked questions
How is a credit card minimum payment calculated?
Most issuers set it as whichever is larger: a flat amount (often $25-35) or a percentage of your balance (commonly 1-3%), plus any interest and fees. It varies by issuer and card — check your card's terms for the exact formula.
What happens if I only ever pay the minimum?
You pay far more in interest and it takes far longer than most people expect, because so little of each payment goes toward the actual balance. On a $5,000 balance at 22% APR with a $100 flat minimum, paying only that minimum takes over 11 years and costs about $8,678 in interest — nearly double the original balance.
Does the minimum payment go down as my balance goes down?
If your minimum is a percentage of your balance, yes — it shrinks as you pay it down, which actually extends your payoff timeline even further since your required payment keeps getting smaller. A flat-dollar minimum (like in the example above) doesn't shrink, so it pays off faster than a pure percentage-based minimum would.
How much extra should I add to my minimum payment?
Any amount helps, but the difference is often bigger than people expect. On that same $5,000 example, adding enough to pay $250/month total (instead of the $100 minimum) cuts the payoff from over 11 years to about 26 months, and interest from $8,678 down to roughly $1,286.
Related: the interest calculatorand how to pay off credit card debt fast.