New Tool: Credit Card Debt Calculator
I like to talk a lot about wedding finances, specifically about how getting into debt for your wedding is serious business. Starting off your marriage with thousands of dollars in credit card (or other) debt is a crappy way to begin a marriage. I know this from experience and it’s a journey that I hope none of you ever experience.
I know a lot of you are using plastic to finance your big day. It’s easy. It’s convenient. You can make small-ish monthly payments. No biggie, right? Wrong. A small loan can morph into a ridiculously long and expensive ordeal if you’re not careful.
To help you understand what you’re committing to with a credit card wedding, I’ve launched this handy little calculator that shows the number of years and the total cost (loan + interest) of a paying with your card. You can find it under Tools in the navigation menu or by clicking here.
Here’re some sobering numbers:
If you charge $10,000 at the current average credit card rate of 16.8%, it will take you 46 months to pay off the debt with a minimum of $300/month payments.
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This is such a smart tool. We're using our snowball calculator to help us pay as we go so that the wedding is paid off (along with old debts left over from our previous lives) before the wedding. It's my favorite thing about our wedding, honestly. I love knowing that on our wedding day, we're starting our new life together with a clean slate and a financial plan in place.
This is such a smart tool. We're using our snowball calculator to help us pay as we go so that the wedding is paid off (along with old debts left over from our previous lives) before the wedding. It's my favorite thing about our wedding, honestly. I love knowing that on our wedding day, we're starting our new life together with a clean slate and a financial plan in place.
What a great idea- sometimes, it's easy to say “it's only $100 more dollars for ….” but when you see the big picture, it's important to only do what you can afford. Thanks!
What a great idea- sometimes, it's easy to say “it's only $100 more dollars for ….” but when you see the big picture, it's important to only do what you can afford. Thanks!
This is so great. I have so many friends getting married so young, and they have said casually that they have over $20,000 in student loans each, but it will work itself out. My fiance and I want to be financially stable and the first step in that is understanding the nitty-gritty about finances. Thanks for sharing.
This is so great. I have so many friends getting married so young, and they have said casually that they have over $20,000 in student loans each, but it will work itself out. My fiance and I want to be financially stable and the first step in that is understanding the nitty-gritty about finances. Thanks for sharing.