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Find out what an extra $100/month does to your debt.
Extra payments attack the principal directly, which shrinks every future interest charge. This calculator shows your baseline payoff schedule for any fixed-rate loan — car, personal, student — then lets you add an extra monthly amount and instantly see the new payoff date and total interest saved. The answer is often startling: modest extra payments can cut years off a loan.
People use this when they get a raise, a bonus, or a tax refund and face the classic question: throw it at the loan or not? It shows exactly what an extra $50 or $500 a month does to a car loan, student loan, or personal loan — the months erased and the interest saved, in dollars.
Mathematically, earlier money wins — a lump sum today beats the same total spread over time. But consistency beats intention for most people: automate a fixed extra amount you can sustain.
Paying down a loan earns a guaranteed, risk-free return equal to its interest rate. If your loan APR exceeds what you expect from investing after taxes and risk, pay the loan first. High-interest debt (above ~7–8%) almost always wins this comparison.
For standard amortizing loans, yes — as long as the lender applies extra payments to principal rather than advancing the due date. Check your loan agreement or tell the lender explicitly to apply overpayments to principal.