How Long Does It Take to Pay Off a Credit Card? And How to Shorten It
Published 2026 · 4 min read
The honest answer: a $5,000 balance at 22% APR with a $200 monthly payment takes about 34 months and costs over $1,700 in interest. Most people are shocked by the interest number, not the time.
The math
Credit cards compound monthly. Each month, interest is added before your payment is applied. The formula looks intimidating, but the pattern is simple: the higher your balance and rate, the more of each payment vanishes into interest.
Ways to shorten it
- Pay more than the minimum. Minimum payments stretch small balances into decades.
- Attack the highest-rate card first (avalanche) to cut total interest.
- Balance transfer to a 0% card — but watch the transfer fee and the end date.
- Stop adding new charges — nothing works while the balance keeps growing.
A dangerous threshold
If your monthly payment is below the monthly interest, you'll never pay it off. That's the point where the balance grows despite your payments — the calculator flags it clearly.
Run the numbers
Use the credit card payoff calculator — enter your balance, APR and payment to see the months, total interest and total paid.
A simple way to see your own answer in seconds: enter your balance, APR and intended payment into the payoff calculator above, then raise the payment by $50 and run it again. The difference between the two results is the true cost of delaying - every month you pay less than you comfortably could is a month the balance keeps earning interest against you at your card's full rate.