You open your credit card statement, pay the minimum, and expect your balance to drop. But month after month—nothing changes. What gives?

Here’s the truth: minimum payments are a trap.

In your 20s, it’s easy to fall into the cycle—a card, a charge, a paycheck that almost covers it. Until one day, you realize you’re drowning in debt, and the number barely moves.

Why It Happens:

Your minimum payment mainly covers interest—not your actual balance (called the principal). If you have a $10,000 balance with a 24% APR, and your minimum payment is calculated at 2.5%, that’s about $250/month. Of that, maybe only $50 goes toward your balance.

That’s right: $200 pays for the “privilege” of having debt.

If you only pay the minimum on that $10K balance, it would take over 53 years to pay off. You’d pay almost $40,000 in interest alone.

So What Do You Do?

Pay anything above the minimum. Even $25 extra helps. It drastically reduces your payoff timeline.

Automate payments to go higher than the minimum.

Use every bit of extra money—birthday cash, work bonus, anything—to knock down the balance.

Stop using the card while you’re paying it off.

Want to run your own numbers? Use this credit card payoff calculator to see just how much faster you can pay down debt.

This isn’t about shame. It’s about clarity and action. You can do this. You don’t have to live in that stress loop. Start where you are. Choose one step. That’s how the cycle breaks.

Got questions about your debt or money mindset? Ask anonymously through our Ask Anything form. We’ve got you.