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buckery.app/debt-free-date

Your debt-free date

One balance, a yearly rate, and what you pay each month. A lower rate can apply for the first few months. This is a calculator, not financial advice.

Optional. Leave the months empty and the yearly rate applies from the first month. 0% is a balance transfer or purchase offer.

Debt-free

July 2030

About £1,196 in interest.

Scenario: £50 more a month. The balance reaches zero in September 2028. That is 22 months earlier in this projection, and about £609 less interest. You decide.

Interest is worked out once a month. A fee, or interest charged by the day, will move the date.

Buckery is a calculator, not advice. It shows what could happen under scenarios you choose, using the figures you enter. It doesn't know your full situation and doesn't tell you what to do. Buckery isn't authorised by the FCA to give debt advice. For free, impartial debt advice, contact MoneyHelper or StepChange.

Keep this date in the app

How it works

This page is for one debt. A credit card or a loan — one figure you owe, not several at once. Comparing a set of debts stays in the app.

Type what you owe, the yearly interest rate, and what you pay each month. If a lower rate applies first — a 0% balance transfer or purchase offer, for example — type how many months it lasts, and the rate for those months. Leave the months box empty and the yearly rate applies from the first month. The reduced-rate box starts at 0%.

The page walks forward a month at a time. Each month it adds interest at the rate in force, then takes off the payment, until the balance would drop to nothing. The result names the debt-free month and the interest, and, when a reduced rate was typed, the month that rate ends and what is still owed then.

The yearly rate is the sort of APR figure on a UK statement. It is divided by twelve and added once a month. The reduced rate is divided the same way. A balance that is charged interest by the day, or a fee, will not match this date exactly.

If the payment does not cover the interest in force that month, the balance does not fall. The page says the payment never clears it. It does not invent a date. A month at 0% still falls, because that month adds no interest.

“What if you paid £ more” runs the same sum with a higher payment, including any reduced-rate months. It shows how many months sooner the balance would reach zero, and about how much less interest would be added. The page does not pick a payment for you.

The month in the heading is counted from this month. Come back next month and the name moves on. The number of months, and the interest, stay the same for the same figures.

A worked example

The form above opens on a single balance of £2,400, a yearly rate of 22.9%, and a payment of £80 a month. The extra box is £50. Months at a reduced rate is empty, and the reduced rate is 0%.

At £80 a month the balance reaches zero in 45 months. Interest over that time is about £1,196.

In this illustration, a payment of £130 a month (the £80 plus the £50 in the extra box) reaches zero in 23 months. That is 22 months earlier in this scenario, and about £609 less interest. It is one scenario. You decide the payment.

Leave the reduced-rate months empty and the panel matches those figures. The month name in the heading is 45 months on from this month, or 23 months on when the extra £50 is included.

Type 6 in Months at a reduced rate and leave the reduced rate at 0%. The first six months add no interest, so £80 a month brings £2,400 down to £1,920. The yearly rate starts after that. The balance then reaches zero in 39 months, with about £672 in interest. The panel names the month the reduced rate ends, and the £1,920 still owed then.

A fee added to the balance will move both dates. This sum does not add one.

This is a calculator, not financial advice.

The same kind of picture for the days before you’re paid is on bills before payday.

FAQs

How long does it take to pay off a credit card?
It depends on the balance, the yearly rate, and the amount paid each month. With the example on this page — £2,400 at 22.9%, paying £80 — the balance reaches zero in 45 months, with about £1,196 in interest. Change any of those and the date moves. A reduced rate for the first few months moves it too. The payment stays the same every month. It does not fall as the balance falls.
What is a debt-free date calculator?
It names the month a single balance would reach zero if that payment carried on. The month is counted from this month. It is not a date printed on a statement. One balance, one payment, and a yearly rate. A reduced rate can apply for the first few months.
How long if the payment is only the minimum on the statement?
UK card statements set a minimum. It is often a percentage of the balance plus interest, or a small fixed amount, whichever is higher, and it usually drops as the balance drops. This page does not work out that rule. Type the amount that will actually leave each month. A minimum that shrinks takes longer than the same starting figure held steady.
What if the rate is 0% until a date?
Type how many months the lower rate lasts, and the rate for those months. Leave the rate at 0% and those months add no interest. When they end, the yearly rate applies. The result names that month and what is still owed then. If the balance reaches zero first, the yearly rate never starts. A fee is not in the sum.
Is the yearly rate the APR on the statement?
Type the yearly rate the statement shows. The page divides it by twelve and adds that once a month. A reduced rate, if you type one, is divided the same way for those months. Interest charged by the day, or a fee, is not in the sum, so the month can differ from a statement’s own estimate.
Can this compare more than one debt?
No. This page is one balance. A card and a loan together, or several cards, are outside it. The app can hold more than one debt and show one debt-free date for the set.