Debt Repayment Calculator

A simple console-based application that calculates and displays a month-by-month breakdown of debt repayment, including interest charges and remaining balance. Overview This C# application helps users understand how long it will take to pay off their debt and how much interest they'll pay over time. It uses a compound interest calculation based on a fixed effective annual rate and displays the repayment schedule in South African Rand (ZAR). Features

Monthly Interest Calculation: Automatically calculates monthly interest based on an effective annual rate of 20.75% Payment Schedule: Displays a detailed month-by-month breakdown showing:

Total amount due each month Interest charged Remaining balance after payment

Currency Formatting: Displays all amounts in South African Rand (ZAR) format Loop Until Payoff: Continues calculations until the debt is fully paid (balance < R1.00)

How It Works The application uses the following calculation logic:

Takes user input for total debt amount Takes user input for monthly payment amount Calculates monthly interest using the formula: (effectiveRate / 100) / 12 For each month:

Calculates interest on current balance Applies monthly payment Updates remaining balance Displays all relevant information

Formula:

Monthly Interest Rate = (20.75% / 100) / 12 = 0.01729% Interest Charged = Current Debt × Monthly Interest Rate New Balance = Current Debt + Interest Charged - Monthly Payment

Prerequisites

.NET SDK (version 6.0 or higher recommended) A C# compatible IDE or text editor (Visual Studio, VS Code, Rider, etc.)

Important Notes

⚠️ Minimum Payment Required: Ensure your monthly payment is greater than the monthly interest charge, otherwise the debt will never be paid off The calculation stops when the balance falls below R1.00 All currency values are displayed in South African Rand (ZAR) format

Future Enhancements Potential improvements for this application:

Allow user to input custom interest rate Add input validation for negative numbers or invalid entries Display total interest paid and total time to pay off debt Export results to CSV or text file Add option to make extra payments in specific months Create a GUI version Add comparison between different payment scenarios

Contributing Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. License This project is open source and available under the MIT License. Author Your Name - Your GitHub Profile Acknowledgments

Built with C# and .NET Uses South African Rand (ZAR) currency formatting