Debt Payoff Calculator

Avalanche or snowball?

Both methods pay the minimum on everything and throw every spare dollar at one target debt. They differ only in which debt gets the spare dollar.

• Avalanche targets the highest interest rate. It is arithmetically optimal — it always costs less in total interest.
• Snowball targets the smallest balance. It costs more, but it clears your first debt sooner.

The honest answer is that the gap is often smaller than people expect. Run your own numbers above. If avalanche saves a few hundred dollars across three years and snowball is the one you will actually stick with, snowball wins — a plan abandoned in month four saves nothing at all.

What moves the number most

1. The extra payment. By far the biggest lever. Change it by $100 above and watch what happens to the timeline.
2. The highest rate. A single high-rate balance can dominate total interest even when it is not the largest debt.
3. Refinancing. Moving a balance to a lower rate does the same work as a bigger payment, without needing more money.

What this calculator assumes

• Rates stay fixed for the whole payoff period
• Minimum payments stay flat rather than declining with the balance
• No new borrowing, no fees, no promotional rates expiring
• Interest compounds monthly on the balance carried into the month
• Freed-up minimums roll into the next target once a debt clears

Real credit cards recalculate the minimum as the balance falls, which lengthens real timelines slightly compared with this model. Treat the output as a sound comparison between two strategies rather than an exact schedule.

If the calculator says the debt never clears

That means the minimums plus your extra payment are not outpacing the interest accruing. No ordering strategy fixes that — it is a situation for a non-profit credit counsellor, who can look at options a calculator cannot.