TPM Cafe's Warren Report's handy link to credit card payment calculator

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.hellodollar.com/archives/2005/07/credit_card_pay.html

July 29, 2005

Credit Card Payment Calculator

Do you really know how much you will pay your credit card company if you make the minimum payments each month? Do you know how long it will take, even if you never charge another dollar to your card? This calculator will tell you, and the answers might surprise you.

There is good news, though. If you can afford to pay even a tiny bit above the minimum payment, it can dramatically reduce both the time it takes to pay off the debt and the total amount of interest you wind up paying.

After you use this calculator to see how long it will take to pay off your credit card with the minimum payment, try playing with the "smallest amount charged by your credit card each month" value. If you can afford to pay more than that each month, put it in there, and hit the "Calculate" button again. See what a difference it makes!

Remember, increasing your minimum payment will only help if you stop charging more purchases and maxing out your credit card. But it's worth it!

Click the link below for The Calculator:

http://www.hellodollar.com/archives/2005/07/credit_card_pay.html

[NVMojo]

1. very helpful, thanks!

[wli]

2. it's not too tough to figure it out with a little math

Of course, Bushler doesn't want people figuring out how to do sums and so on so they can figure this out for themselves.