How long will minimum payments really take?
Minimum payments are designed to be small — which is exactly why they keep people in debt for years. Enter your balance to see the real timeline and total interest, and how one fixed loan payment compares.
Your card debt
Compare a consolidation loan
In plain terms
Paying only the minimum on $10,000, you’d be paying for 25 yrs 3 mos — until about 2051 — and hand over roughly $18,887 in interest, more than the $10,000 you borrowed.
See the difference
How long you’d be in debt
Total interest you’d pay
Teal = the consolidation-loan path.
Minimum payments only
- Time in debt
- 25 yrs 3 mos
- Debt-free around
- 2051
- Total interest
- $18,887
- Total paid
- $28,887
- Starting payment
- $300 (shrinks)
With a consolidation loan
- Time in debt
- 4 yrs
- Total interest
- $2,640
- Total paid
- $12,640
- Fixed payment
- $263.34
Your minimum starts around $300 and shrinks every month — which is exactly why it drags on for years. The loan is a fixed $263.34 until it’s gone.
This calculator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent, stored, or shared. Results are estimates for education only, not an offer, quote, or guarantee of any rate, term, or savings. Actual figures depend on your credit and the lender. The minimum assumes 1% of the balance plus that month’s interest (with a $25 floor) and no new charges; actual card formulas vary.