Credit card → Store card → Personal loan → Car loan
Payoff order (snowball)
Store card → Personal loan → Credit card → Car loan
Monthly payment (all debts)
$910.00
With $910.00 a month, the avalanche clears everything in 31 months with $4,342.45 of interest; the snowball takes 32 months and $4,824.18. Avalanche saves $481.73. The first debt is gone in month 6 with the snowball and month 23 with the avalanche.
Debts still open
SnowballAvalanche
Total interest paid
When each debt is paid off Rows: 4
Debt
Balance
Rate %
Snowball month
Avalanche month
Interest (snowball)
Interest (avalanche)
Credit card
$7,500.00
24.9
28
23
$3,069.46
$1,936.72
Car loan
$11,000.00
6.9
32
31
$1,245.20
$1,232.97
Personal loan
$4,000.00
13.5
16
27
$445.80
$802.93
Store card
$1,200.00
19.99
6
24
$63.73
$369.83
How it's calculated S
Monthly budget
∑minimums+extra=710.00+200.00=910.00
The budget stays the same every month, so each cleared debt's minimum rolls into the next target.
Each month
Add a month of interest (rate ÷ 12) to every open debt, pay every minimum, then put what is left on the first open debt in the target order.
Snowball target order (smallest balance first)
Store card → Personal loan → Credit card → Car loan
Avalanche target order (highest rate first)
Credit card → Store card → Personal loan → Car loan
Interest difference
4,824.18−4,342.45=481.73
About the debt snowball vs avalanche calculator
Both methods pay every minimum each month and put the rest of the budget, including the minimums freed as debts are cleared, on one target debt. The snowball targets the smallest balance first; the avalanche targets the highest interest rate first. Both run month by month on the same budget, and the result compares months to debt-free, total interest and the order in which the debts disappear.
With the four default debts and 200 extra, a budget of 910 a month, the avalanche finishes in 31 months with 4,342.45 of interest and the snowball in 32 months with 4,824.18, so the avalanche saves 481.73. The snowball clears its first debt, the store card, in month 6; the avalanche clears its first, the credit card, in month 23.
Interest is added monthly at rate ÷ 12 and each minimum stays fixed. Minimums that fall with the balance, fees and new borrowing are not modeled.
Debt snowball vs avalanche: which saves more?
The avalanche pays extra toward the highest interest rate first and usually costs the least interest. The snowball pays off the smallest balance first, so accounts close sooner. On the four debts below with 910 a month, the avalanche takes 31 months and 4,342.45 of interest, the snowball 32 months and 4,824.18.
That is 481.73 less interest and one month sooner for the avalanche, about 15 a month over the 32 months. The snowball's first payoff comes in month 6, while the avalanche clears nothing until month 23, a real difference if quick wins keep you paying.
How both methods work
Both pay every minimum each month and put the rest of a fixed budget on one target debt. When a debt is paid off, its minimum stays in the budget and rolls on to the next target. The example debts:
Credit card: 7,500 at 24.9%, minimum 225.
Car loan: 11,000 at 6.9%, minimum 310.
Personal loan: 4,000 at 13.5%, minimum 135.
Store card: 1,200 at 19.99%, minimum 40.
The minimums total 710; adding 200 extra gives the 910 budget. Each month adds interest at the annual rate ÷ 12 to every open balance before payments go out.
The two orders and the month each debt is paid off:
Snowball: store card (month 6), personal loan (16), credit card (28), car loan (32).
Avalanche: credit card (23), store card (24), personal loan (27), car loan (31).
The CFPB's debt-reduction guidance describes both the highest-interest-rate and snowball approaches, including rolling a cleared debt's payment to the next one.
How much an extra payment speeds things up
These rows keep the same four debts and change only the extra payment:
Extra monthly payment
Avalanche months
Avalanche interest
0
45
7576.90
200
31
4342.45
400
25
3164.64
Even with no extra money, rolling freed minimums forward matters. Paying each debt only its own minimum, the credit card would take 58 months and interest would total 8,098.73.
Keeping the full 710 budget clears everything in 45 months with 7,576.90 of interest. With no extra payment the two orders differ by only 2.19 of interest here, because spare money appears only once the first debt is paid off.
When the two methods give the same result
One debt. There is nothing to order.
The smallest balance also has the highest rate. Both methods pick the same target.
No interest. With every rate at zero, total interest is zero either way.
Ties are broken by the other measure: equal balances go higher rate first in the snowball, equal rates go smaller balance first in the avalanche, and list position settles anything left.
The order debts actually close can differ from the target order, because a small minimum can clear a debt first.
With a 5,000 debt at 20% (minimum 100), a 1,000 debt at 5% (minimum 50) and 150 extra, the avalanche targets the 20% debt, yet the 1,000 debt closes first, in month 21. The avalanche still saves 129.81.
Entering your debts
One debt per line: name, balance, rate, minimum payment, for example Credit card, 7500, 24.9, 225.
Leave out thousands separators and the percent sign: 7,500 adds an extra comma and breaks the line.
The extra payment goes on top of all the minimums. Entering your whole monthly budget there would count the minimums twice.
Up to 20 debts.
What the comparison assumes
Rates and minimums stay fixed, and there are no new purchases, fees or missed payments. The budget has to exceed the first month's combined interest, and both plans must finish within 100 years.
A card issuer's minimum usually shrinks with the balance, which this fixed-minimum model leaves out. The credit card payoff calculator shows that effect for one card.
Worked examples
Four debts with 200 extra
Debts
Credit card, 7500, 24.9, 225
Car loan, 11000, 6.9, 310
Personal loan, 4000, 1…
Extra payment each month
200
Months to debt-free (snowball)
32
Total interest (snowball)
4,824.18
Months to debt-free (avalanche)
31
Total interest (avalanche)
4,342.45
Interest avalanche saves over snowball
481.73
Payoff order (snowball)
Store card → Personal loan → Credit card → Car loan
Payoff order (avalanche)
Credit card → Store card → Personal loan → Car loan
Checked against: Month-by-month simulation of both strategies with a constant budget
Checked against: Hand calculation: 200 a month clears A in month 2 and the 900 total in month 5
High-rate large debt vs low-rate small debt
Debts
Big high, 5000, 20, 100
Small low, 1000, 5, 50
Extra payment each month
150
Months to debt-free (snowball)
25
Total interest (snowball)
1,304.28
Months to debt-free (avalanche)
24
Total interest (avalanche)
1,174.47
Interest avalanche saves over snowball
129.81
Checked against: Independent calculation
Questions
Which is better, the debt snowball or the debt avalanche?
The avalanche usually costs less interest, because every extra payment goes to the most expensive debt. The snowball clears individual debts sooner, which some people find easier to keep up. With the default debts the avalanche saves 481.73 and one month, while the snowball's first payoff comes in month 6 instead of month 23. If the smallest balance also has the highest rate, the two orders are the same.
How does the debt snowball method work?
List your debts from smallest to largest balance, pay the minimum on all of them, and put every extra amount on the smallest. When it is paid off, add its payment to the next one. With 200 extra a month, the defaults clear the 1,200 store card in month 6, the 4,000 personal loan in month 16, the 7,500 credit card in month 28 and the 11,000 car loan in month 32.
How does the debt avalanche method work?
Order your debts by interest rate, highest first, pay every minimum, and send the extra to the top of the list; when a debt is cleared, its payment moves to the next highest rate. In the default example the 24.9% credit card is cleared in month 23, the 19.99% store card in month 24, the 13.5% personal loan in month 27 and the 6.9% car loan in month 31.
How much does an extra payment speed up debt payoff?
A lot, because the extra goes straight to principal and compounds as payments roll over. The default minimums total 710 a month and clear all four debts in 45 months with 7,576.90 of interest using the avalanche. Adding 200 a month cuts that to 31 months and 4,342.45; adding 400 cuts it to 25 months and 3,164.64.
Why roll a paid-off debt's payment into the next one?
Keeping the total payment constant is what makes both methods work. If each default debt were paid only by its own minimum, the last one, the credit card, would take 58 months and the interest would total 8,098.73. Rolling freed minimums forward with no extra money clears everything in 45 months with 7,576.90 of interest.
About this calculator
budget=i∑mini+extra;snowball: smallest balance first;avalanche: highest rate first
For planning only. Lenders, tax authorities and markets apply their own rounding, fees and rules; confirm figures with them before you commit.
Checked against references
This calculator includes 4 worked examples with independently sourced answers. They run in the test suite, and you can run them here too.
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