Drop in your balance and APR. Move the extra-payment slider. Watch the balance-over-time chart split into two lines. This tool makes visceral what the math has always said: paying only the minimum is the single most expensive financial habit in American personal finance.
Standard issuer formula: monthly interest plus 1–2% of current balance (floored at $25).
Credit card issuers structure minimum payments around 1–3% of balance, with a floor around $25. The math: as you pay down the balance, the minimum also drops, which drops the principal component, which extends the payoff timeline. A $5,000 balance at 22% APR paying only the minimum takes roughly 27 years and costs more than twice the original balance in interest. Any extra payment attacks principal and breaks the compounding loop in your favor.
Not financial advice. Simulation caps at 600 months (50 years) to prevent runaway loops. Minimum floored at $25 or 1% of original balance, whichever is greater.