How to Use Excel to Determine the Monthly Payment Needed to Pay Off a Credit Card
- 1). Launch Microsoft Excel and open a new workbook. A blank workbook should open when you launch Excel. If not, select "File" on the menu bar and choose "New Workbook."
- 2). Enter descriptive row names by clicking on the appropriate cell, typing in the descriptions and pressing the "Enter" key. In cell A1, enter "Interest Rate." In cell A2, enter "Number of Years to Pay Off Credit Card Debt." In cell A3, enter "Credit Card Balance." In cell A4, enter "Monthly Payment Required to Pay Off Credit Card Debt."
- 3). Enter your data. In cell B1, enter the annual interest rate that your credit card charges. This can be found on your latest credit card statement. In cell B2, enter the number of years in which you would like to completely pay off your credit card debt. In cell B3, enter the current balance on your credit card from your most recent statement. In cell B4, enter the following formula, including the equal sign: =PMT(B1/12,B2*12,B3).
- 4). Review the results. The value in cell B4 should be a negative number. It is the amount you must pay every month to pay off your credit card debt in the time you specified in cell B2. You can make adjustments to any of the inputs and see the new monthly payment by selecting a cell, typing a new value and pressing enter.
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