There column at the end of the spreadsheet labeled New Balance should be equal to the Beginning Balance minus the Minimum Payment plus the Interest Amount. You will also need 12 rows for each credit card so that you can see how paying the minimum amount will extend your debt and accumulate a great deal of interest over time.
If you are unable to locate the minimum payment percentage on your statement, divide the minimum payment amount by the ending balance for that statement to arrive at a percentage. You need to calculate the percentage because the dollar amount will change each month. Assume a Visa card with a $1,000 beginning balance, 18% annual interest rate and a minimum payment of 3% of the total. In this scenario, you would enter $30 as the minimum payment, or the formula “=1000*. 03. "
You will have previously entered all the credit card information in columns C, D, E, etc. , depending on how many credit cards you have. The copied formula will calculate the new data from each column automatically. The annual interest rate is divided by 12 to arrive at a monthly interest charge. For this example of a $1,000 balance at 18% annual interest, the formula will return a monthly interest charge of $15.
To pay down your credit cards as quickly as possible, transfer your balances to cards with a lower interest rate or a zero percent introductory rate. See elsewhere in this article for ways to do this.
Keep in mind that the interest fee will change every month as you make payments on the balance.
If you keep your credit score high (over 690) by paying all your bills on time, you will get a lower interest rate. Check the interest rates on cards with your bank or credit union if you have been a good customer.
Be sure you make minimum payments on all credit cards to protect your credit score, but add extra payments to the highest interest cards.
