How credit-card interest actually works
Once you can see how a card charges you, the whole thing stops feeling like a trap and starts feeling like a problem you can solve.
APR, in plain numbers
APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate — the price of borrowing for a year. Say your card is 24% APR. Cards charge monthly, so divide by 12: that's 2% a month. On a $1,000 balance, that's about $20 of interest this month, added right on top of what you already owe.
Next month, if you haven't cleared it, that 2% is charged on the new, bigger balance — interest on your interest. That's compounding, and on a credit card it's working against you. (There's a whole lesson on making it work for you later.)
The minimum-payment trap
The minimum payment is the smallest amount the card will accept — often just a little more than the interest itself. Pay only that, and almost nothing goes toward the actual balance, so it barely shrinks. That's why a balance can sit there for years even though you pay every single month. The fix isn't earning more; it's paying a bit above the minimum so real money hits the balance.