Debt Payoff Calculator
Put every debt in, set what you can pay each month, and see how the two payoff methods compare — when each debt clears, and what the choice costs.
Debt free in
2 years 10 months
$19,800 across 3 debts, paying $700 a month using the avalanche method.
- $3,363
- on top of what you owe
- $23,163
- $450
- the floor for any budget
- $250
- goes to the target debt
- $3,363
- the same
- Store card
- month 7
The order they clear
Each debt keeps receiving its minimum until it is gone; when one clears, its payment rolls onto the next. That rolling payment is what makes both methods work.
- Store card7 months
- Credit card2 years
- Car loan2 years 10 months
How this calculator works
Both methods are simulated month by month against the same budget, so the comparison is like for like.
- 1. Interest is charged on every balance.
- 2. Every debt receives its minimum payment.
- 3. Whatever the budget leaves over goes entirely to one target — the highest rate under avalanche, the smallest balance under snowball.
- 4. When a debt clears, its minimum joins the spare money and the next target receives more.
Avalanche is mathematically optimal: paying the highest rate first minimises total interest, always. Snowball is not, and it wins on a dimension arithmetic does not capture — a debt that disappears is a debt you stop thinking about.
What is assumed
- Fixed rates, and no new spending on any of the accounts.
- A constant minimum payment. Card minimums usually fall as the balance does, which stretches the timeline.
- Interest applied monthly rather than daily.
- The same budget every month, paid on time.
Questions people ask
Avalanche always costs less — it attacks the most expensive debt first, so less interest accrues. Snowball clears individual debts sooner, which is easier to sustain. The calculator shows the difference in dollars: if it is small, the method you will actually stick to is the better one.
Every debt keeps receiving its minimum. Whatever your budget leaves over goes to one target. When a debt clears, its minimum joins the spare money and the total going at the next target grows. That compounding of freed-up payments is what makes both methods far faster than paying minimums everywhere.
Because minimum payments keep flowing to every debt regardless of the target. A small balance on minimums alone can finish before the large high-rate debt you are attacking. The order shown is the order debts are actually cleared, not the order they are targeted.
Then the balances grow and no method clears them, which the calculator says outright. That situation calls for something other than a payoff strategy — a hardship programme, a consolidation loan, or credit counselling.
Usually not. A mortgage is secured, long-term and typically the cheapest debt you hold, so putting spare money against it ahead of a 23% card costs you money. Include cards, personal loans, auto loans, store cards and medical debt.
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An estimate for planning. It assumes fixed rates, no new borrowing and every payment made on time.