Last StatementAn Ardenholt programARDENHOLT · EST. 2026

§ VII — The guide

How to pay it off,
end to end.

The complete guide · 2026

Five pieces, in the order they are useful: how long it really takes, why the minimum is designed to last, which order to pay in, whether to consolidate, and whether to save first.

Almost everything written about getting out of debt is written about your behaviour. This guide is about the arithmetic, because the arithmetic is what nobody shows you and it is the part that decides the date.

Read in order it takes about twenty minutes. It is educational rather than financial advice, and every figure in it assumes fixed rates and payments made on time — which real credit agreements do not guarantee.

  1. How long will it take to pay off a credit card?The honest answer, and why the minimum stretches a modest balance into decades. Of the three inputs — balance, rate, payment — only one is yours to move, and it is the one left on autopilot.Start here
  2. The minimum payment trapThe minimum falls as the balance falls, so the finish line retreats as you approach it. Why that is structural rather than sinister, and the two moves that break it.The trap
  3. Avalanche or snowball: which order actually wins?Highest rate first costs the least interest. Smallest balance first clears an account sooner. What the difference is really worth, and why the cheaper one is not automatically the right one.The method
  4. Consolidation: when it helps, when it hides the problemOne loan instead of five bills can genuinely lower the rate — or just reset the clock while the cards fill back up. The two conditions that have to hold together, and how to check them before signing.Consolidation
  5. Pay off the debt, or save first?Clearing a balance is a guaranteed, tax-free return equal to its interest rate. That settles it for card debt — except for the one small buffer you need first, and why skipping it costs you twice.Priorities
  6. Why we built a debt app that costs $39 onceSubscription, ads, affiliate: the three ways personal-finance software is paid for, and why each of them puts the app on the wrong side of the table from the person using it.The house
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