If you need a credit card for really bad credit, prepare to pay outrageous annual percentage rates (APR) and fork over at least $100 for an annual fee. Also, be prepared to pay more than the minimum monthly payment. Here’s why you should:

If you have a credit card with a 16 percent APR and a balance of $5,000, it will take you 314 months to pay off your balance if you make the minimum monthly payment of 2 percent. Your total interest paid over the course of 26.2 years is $8,350. However, if you increase your monthly payment to 10 percent of the balance, you’ll be debt free in 46 months and will only pay a $743 in interest. That’s a savings of $7,607.

It definitely makes sense to pay your debt off as soon as possible. Getting a credit card with really bad credit is possible, but the point is to increase your credit rating so that in the future you’ll have a better credit score and lower interest rates.