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Debt Repayment Calculator

Enter what you owe, the APR and what you pay each month to see how long the debt takes to clear, how much interest you'll pay along the way, and what paying a little extra each month would save.

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Paid off by—
Total interest paid—
Total repaid—
First month's interest—

Estimate only, for general information — not financial advice. Assumes a fixed APR applied in equal monthly steps (APR ÷ 12), the same payment every month, and no new spending, fees or charges. Your lender's statement is the authoritative figure.

How the payoff maths works

Each month, interest is added to the balance at one twelfth of the APR, then your payment comes off. Only the part of the payment left over after covering that month's interest actually reduces the debt — so if the payment barely covers the interest, the balance barely moves, and if it doesn't cover the interest at all, the debt grows. Paying more than the minimum shrinks the balance sooner, which means less interest next month, which means even more of the following payment goes on the balance. That snowballing effect is why a modest extra payment can take years off the payoff date.

FAQ

Why does it say my payment doesn't cover the interest?
Interest is charged on the outstanding balance every month. If your payment is no more than that month's interest, nothing is left to reduce the balance, so the debt would never clear — it would grow. The calculator shows the first month's interest so you can see the minimum you'd need to pay to make any progress at all.
How accurate is the payoff date?
It's an estimate. The calculator applies the APR in equal monthly steps and assumes the same payment every month with no new spending. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that many credit card companies actually work interest out daily on your average daily balance — which is also why paying sooner, or paying more, reduces the interest you're charged — and a card's minimum payment usually falls as the balance falls rather than staying fixed. Real timings can therefore differ; your statement is the figure that counts.
Which debt should I pay off first?
This tool looks at one debt at a time, so run it once per debt. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes two common approaches: clearing the highest-interest-rate debt first, because it's costing you the most, or clearing the smallest balance first to build momentum. MoneyHelper adds an important distinction for UK households — "priority debts" are the ones with the most serious consequences if you miss them, and they aren't necessarily the largest or the most expensive; credit cards, store cards and payday loans are non-priority by comparison. If you're not sure how best to clear what you owe, MoneyHelper suggests speaking to a debt adviser.

Sources

Method: standard amortization, run month by month. The monthly rate is r = APR ÷ 12 ÷ 100; each month, interest = balance × r is added, the payment is subtracted, and the loop stops when the balance reaches zero (the final payment is only what's left). The number of months is also given in closed form by n = −ln(1 − r × balance ÷ payment) ÷ ln(1 + r); this page uses the month-by-month version so the final partial payment and total interest are exact for the stated assumptions. At 0% APR it is simply balance ÷ payment, rounded up. The extra-payment comparison re-runs the same loop with the larger payment.