Compare the avalanche and snowball strategies to see how fast you can become debt-free, how much interest you will pay, and the order your debts disappear.
Highest APR first — saves the most interest.
Paying only minimums would take 4 yr 4 mo and cost $4,883.86 in interest.
| # | Debt | Paid Off After |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Credit Card | 1 yr 5 mo |
| 2 | Personal Loan | 1 yr 9 mo |
| 3 | Car Loan | 2 yr 7 mo |
When you carry several debts at once — a credit card, a car loan, a personal loan — the order in which you attack them changes how long it takes to become debt-free and how much interest you pay along the way. This calculator simulates your payoff month by month. Each month it adds interest to every balance based on that debt's APR, applies the required minimum payment to each debt, and then throws all of your extra payment at one target debt chosen by your strategy. When a debt is fully paid, its freed-up minimum payment rolls into the pool of money attacking the next debt. That rolling, growing payment is what makes structured payoff so powerful.
The simulation is capped at 1,200 months (100 years) as a safety limit. If a debt's interest grows faster than its payments can cover — for example a high-APR card with a minimum that barely touches the balance — the calculator detects that the debt can never be paid off and tells you to raise the payments instead of spinning forever.
The debt avalanche method targets the debt with the highest interest rate first, regardless of its balance. Mathematically this is the optimal strategy: interest is what costs you money, so killing the most expensive debt first minimizes the total interest you pay and usually gets you debt-free the fastest. The downside is psychological — if your highest-rate debt also has a large balance, it can take a while before you celebrate paying anything off.
The debt snowball method targets the smallest balance first, regardless of interest rate. You knock out small debts quickly, which creates early wins and momentum. Behavioral research suggests many people stick with the snowball method better because those quick victories keep them motivated. The tradeoff is that you may pay somewhat more total interest than the avalanche method, since you are not always attacking the most expensive debt first.
Both methods pay the same total minimums; the only difference is where your extra dollars go. Use the toggle above to compare them side by side. If the numbers are close, the snowball's motivational edge may be worth the small extra interest cost. If you are disciplined and want to save the most money, the avalanche wins.
Suppose you have three debts: a $5,000 credit card at 22% APR (minimum $150), a $12,000 car loan at 6.5% (minimum $300), and a $3,000 personal loan at 11% (minimum $100), plus $200 in extra payment each month. Under the avalanche method, the 22% credit card is attacked first because it is the most expensive, then the 11% personal loan, then the 6.5% car loan. Under the snowball method, the $3,000 personal loan is attacked first because it is the smallest, then the $5,000 card, then the $12,000 car loan. The snowball gives you a paid-off debt sooner, but the avalanche typically clears everything with less total interest because the expensive card stops accruing sooner. Enter these figures above to see the exact months and interest for each.
The single biggest lever is the extra payment. Even an extra $100 a month, applied consistently and rolled forward as debts clear, can cut months or years off the timeline and save thousands in interest compared to paying only the minimums.