See your estimated debt-free date and work out an Emergency Fund target. No email, no signup.
The Rapid Payoff Calculator (Windows app) handles all your debts at once, compares snowball vs. avalanche, and gives you a month-by-month schedule you can print and stick on the fridge.
See the full calculator — $29A simple starting point: your essential monthly expenses multiplied by the number of months you'd want covered if income stopped. Essentials means housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, minimum debt payments, transportation, and medical — not everything you normally spend.
This is an illustration, not a universal target. Households with variable income, one earner, or dependents often choose more months; others start with a one-month cushion and build from there. Keep this money separate from your Freedom Account categories, which handle irregular normal-life expenses.
Each month, interest is added to your balance (your APR divided by 12), then your payment is subtracted. The calculator repeats this until the balance hits zero and counts the months. The "with extra payment" scenario runs the same math with your extra amount added — the difference between the two is money and time you keep.
If your payment doesn't cover the monthly interest, your balance grows instead of shrinking — the calculator will warn you. That situation is urgent but fixable: see our guide on how to get out of debt.