Debt & Purchase Calculators
Every balance has two prices: the one printed on the statement, and the one you actually pay once interest and time are added in. These calculators show you the second number — the one the lender never puts in front of you.
Start with what the balance really costs: the credit card payoff calculator turns a minimum payment into the full count of months and interest, and the debt snowball vs. avalanche calculator shows which payoff order clears it for less. Before you take on new debt, run the purchase through Can I Afford It? or the car payment vs. income calculator, which flags the 15%-of-take-home red line and the negative-equity trap. And when a price tag doesn't feel real, the price-to-hours-of-work calculator converts it into the hours of your life it actually costs. To see the counterfactual, the cost of waiting to invest calculator shows what that same money could have become if it had been working for you instead. No advice, no signup — just the math, run in your browser and gone when you close the tab.
Calculators in this category
Credit Card Interest Shock + Event Adder
Add one or more credit cards and see how many months and dollars your balances cost when you only pay the minimum, plus the interest hit from adding one extra purchase to any card.Car Payment vs Income + Negative Equity
See your car payment as a percent of take-home income and whether you owe more than the car is worth. Stop the negative-equity spiral before it starts.Wants vs Debt
Put your monthly discretionary spending next to the monthly interest you are paying on credit card debt. The juxtaposition is the point.Hours of Life / Barista Converter
Convert any price into the real hours of work it takes to earn it after taxes. Use it before impulse buys.Debt Snowball vs Avalanche
Compare the Snowball and Avalanche debt payoff strategies. See which method pays off faster and saves more interest.Can I Afford It? Flowchart
Run a simple affordability check before a major purchase. It checks price against income, emergency fund, debt, and the 48-hour rule.Compound Interest Grapher
Graph the future value of savings with monthly contributions and a live years slider.Event Debt Adder
Add a vacation or event cost to your credit card balance and see how many extra months and dollars it really costs at minimum payments.True Cost Time Calculator
Convert a price into raw hours of work using your gross hourly wage, with no tax deduction.Credit Score Drop Simulator
Estimate how many points your credit score could drop from missed payments, maxed cards, or new inquiries.Common questions
How much does credit card debt really cost on minimum payments?
A $3,000 balance at 24.99% APR on a 3% minimum takes about 197 months to clear and adds roughly $5,521 in interest — a true cost near $8,521, or about 276 hours of work. Paying a fixed amount above the minimum collapses both the time and the interest dramatically.
Is the debt snowball or avalanche method cheaper?
The avalanche method — paying highest-APR debt first — always costs the least in total interest. The snowball method — smallest balance first — costs slightly more but clears individual debts faster, which some people find easier to sustain. The calculator shows the exact dollar gap between the two for your balances.
How much car payment can I actually afford?
A common guardrail keeps the car payment under about 15% of monthly take-home pay, with total transportation costs under 20%. The bigger hidden risk is negative equity — owing more than the car is worth and rolling that balance into the next loan, which quietly compounds the debt.