Four debts totaling $31,300 are paid off in 36 months at $1,075 a month
The debt payoff planner takes the balance, APR and minimum payment of each debt plus the extra you can add every month, and calculates the month everything is paid off and the interest you pay on the way. The example on the first screen has a store card with $1,800 at 19.99%, a credit card with $6,500 at 24.99%, a car loan with $14,000 at 7.5% and a personal loan with $9,000 at 11.9%. The minimums add up to $975.00. Add $100.00 a month, send the leftover money to the highest-rate debt first, and all four debts are gone in 36 months with $6,404.59 in interest.
Paying only the minimums on the same debts takes 58 months and costs $8,908.24 in interest. Choosing an order and concentrating the leftover money on one debt at a time makes you debt-free 22 months sooner and saves $2,503.65. This page explains when the calculation helps, how it runs, how the avalanche and snowball methods differ and what research says about them, what extra payments do, how interest-only debts and the minimum payment warning on your card statement fit in, and where the numbers stop being reliable.
When you need this calculation
With a single loan, a loan calculator is enough. Once a store card, a credit card, a car loan and a personal loan all compete for the same paycheck, the real question becomes where this month's extra $100 should go. Splitting it evenly leaves every balance alive for longer, and the high-rate balances keep growing in the meantime. The planner shows on one screen how the same budget behaves in different orders.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) describes two basic strategies for reducing debt: pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first, or pay off the smallest debt first, the snowball method. In both you keep making the minimum payment on every debt, put only the leftover money on one debt, and when that debt is gone move its payment to the next one. The same tool helps when you are deciding whether to use a bonus on one balance, when you compare a plan before and after a balance transfer or refinance, when you build a plan together with a partner, and when you want a clear picture before talking to a credit counselor.
How the calculation works
- For each debt, enter a name, the current balance, the APR and the minimum monthly payment. You can enter up to 10 debts, and a card with all three numbers empty is ignored.
- Choose the payoff order. Avalanche sends the leftover money to the highest rate first, snowball to the smallest balance first, and a custom order follows your list. With a custom order every card gets ↑ ↓ buttons.
- Enter the extra amount you can pay on top of the minimums. Under "More" you can set the first payment date and a yearly increase of the extra.
- The result box shows the number of months until you are debt-free, the month the last payment falls in, the total interest, and the difference from paying minimums only. Under each debt card you see the month it ends.
- Below that, the page compares the orders on the same budget, shows results for several extra amounts, a chart of the remaining debt, a payoff timeline and a monthly schedule you can download as an Excel (.xlsx) file. Clicking a comparison row or an extra-amount card switches the plan to it.
The calculation runs month by month. First, each balance gets balance × APR ÷ 12 added as interest, rounded to the cent. Next, the minimum is paid on every debt. Whatever remains of the monthly budget (the extra plus the minimums of debts that are already finished) goes to the first debt in the order. If that debt ends within the month and money is left, the rest moves to the next debt. In the example, the first month's interest is $135.36 on the credit card ($6,500.00 × 24.99% ÷ 12), $29.99 on the store card, $87.50 on the car loan and $89.25 on the personal loan, $342.10 in total. Of the $1,075.00 paid in the first month, only $732.90 reduces principal.
Avalanche or snowball
With the four example debts and the same budget of $1,075.00 a month, the order changes the result like this.
| Payoff order | Debt-free after | First debt paid off | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche (highest rate first): credit card, store card, personal loan, car loan | 36 months | Month 30 | $6,404.59 |
| Snowball (smallest balance first): store card, credit card, personal loan, car loan | 36 months | Month 13 | $6,561.88 |
| Minimums only (no extra, and a finished debt's payment is not moved) | 58 months | Month 36 | $8,908.24 |
The avalanche saves $157.29 in interest, and the snowball clears the first debt 17 months earlier. With the same budget the avalanche rarely costs more interest than any other order, and the gap grows when the rates differ a lot and the high-rate balance is large. When the rate order and the balance order are the same, both methods give identical results.
The reason the snowball is still popular has to do with whether people actually finish. Gal and McShane (2012) analyzed data from a debt settlement company and reported that closing accounts one by one predicted getting out of debt, regardless of how much was in the closed accounts. Kettle and colleagues (2016) ran a field study and experiments with people who had several debts and found that concentrating repayment on one account raised the motivation to get out of debt and the repayment effort compared with spreading it, and that the effect was strongest when the payment went to the smallest account. In the other direction, Amar and colleagues (2011) found that participants tended to pay the smaller debt first even when a larger debt carried a higher rate (debt account aversion). The practical summary: the avalanche costs the least interest, the snowball may be easier to keep going, and the comparison row in the planner shows whether the interest gap is one you can accept.
How much faster an extra payment makes it
This is the same example with the $975.00 of minimums unchanged and only the extra monthly payment varied.
| Extra per month | Avalanche months | Avalanche total interest | Snowball months | Snowball total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 41 months | $8,279.27 | 41 months | $8,282.97 |
| $50 | 38 months | $7,233.75 | 38 months | $7,371.56 |
| $100 | 36 months | $6,404.59 | 36 months | $6,561.88 |
| $200 | 32 months | $5,329.73 | 32 months | $5,464.67 |
| $500 | 24 months | $3,731.12 | 24 months | $3,810.80 |
Even with $0 extra, moving the payment of each finished debt to the next one finishes 17 months sooner than minimums only (41 instead of 58 months) and saves $628.97 in interest. If you put 10% in the yearly increase box, a $100 extra becomes $110 from month 13 and $121 from month 25, which brings the payoff to month 35 and the interest down to $6,346.29.
Interest-only debts and the minimum payment trap
For a line of credit where you only pay the interest and the principal stays, enter one month of interest as the minimum payment. A $5,000 balance at 7.2% costs $5,000 × 7.2% ÷ 12 = $30.00 a month. If you pay only that, the balance never shrinks, and the planner marks the debt as not paid off by its minimum alone. Ten years of $30.00 payments is $3,600.00 in interest with the $5,000 still owed. Add $200 a month to the same debt and it ends in month 24 with $373.78 in interest.
When a minimum is smaller than one month of interest, the balance grows until the debt's turn comes. The result box then shows a notice and the chart shows that debt's band getting thicker at the start. In that case, putting the debt earlier in the order or raising the extra amount lowers the interest.
The same effect shows up on a single credit card. A $6,500 balance at 24.99% with the payment held at $195.00 takes 58 months and $4,708.97 in interest in this calculator. A fixed payment of about $259 a month would end it in 36 months with $2,792.56 in interest. These are this calculator's figures with the payment held constant; the numbers on your card statement follow the issuer's own minimum payment formula.
The minimum payment warning on your card statement
Under Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12), a card issuer on an open-end credit card account that is not secured by a home must print repayment disclosures on each periodic statement. The statement carries a bold warning that begins "Minimum Payment Warning: If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest," followed by a note that payoff will take longer. It also shows the estimated time to pay off the balance with minimum payments only (in months if under two years, otherwise in years rounded to the nearest year), the estimated total cost of doing that, a note that both estimates use the current balance and assume only minimum payments and no new charges, and a toll-free number for credit counseling information.
The rule also requires, with exceptions, the monthly payment that would pay the balance off in 36 months, a statement that paying it every month clears the balance in 3 years, the total cost of that plan and the savings compared with minimums only. The 36-month items are not required if the minimum-payment estimate is already three years or less, or if the 36-month payment would be below the required minimum. If the minimum payment is less than the monthly interest, the statement instead says that the issuer estimates you will never pay off the balance shown on the statement. Charge cards that require full payment each cycle, and cycles after two straight cycles paid in full or with a zero or credit balance, are exempt.
Those statement figures are a single-card estimate by the issuer. This planner does something different: it uses the minimum you enter, keeps it fixed, and shows how several debts behave together once the freed-up payments are moved. Use the 36-month payment on your statement as a quick yardstick for the extra amount you enter here. A budget of $259 on the $6,500 example card, for instance, matches the 36-month result above, and the planner then shows how the other debts change at the same time.
Common mistakes
- Splitting the leftover money evenly across all debts: both methods concentrate the leftover on one debt. Spreading it makes every debt end later and delays the benefit of moving finished payments.
- Spending the payment of a finished debt: if you do not move it to the next debt, the result falls back to the minimums-only case. In the example that costs 17 months.
- Mixing up monthly and annual rates: the box takes the annual rate (APR). If a figure is a monthly rate, multiply it by 12 first.
- Entering a number that is not the real minimum: for an installment loan, enter the required monthly payment. For a credit card, enter the minimum on your latest statement.
- Ignoring fees: this planner does not include late fees, annual fees or a prepayment penalty. If the debt that would receive the extra payment has one, check your agreement first.
Limits
- Interest is calculated each month as balance × APR ÷ 12 and rounded to the cent. Real lenders accrue interest daily, so a month's figure can differ by a few cents or dollars.
- Minimums are fixed at the amount you enter. A card minimum that shrinks with the balance, variable rates, penalty interest, fees and prepayment penalties are not included.
- The payoff order is decided once from the starting balances and rates and is not recalculated along the way.
- The monthly payment is the sum of the starting minimums plus the extra, and it does not shrink when a debt ends. A plan that is not finished within 600 months (50 years) is not calculated.
- Nothing you type is saved. The link you copy keeps your debts only after the # in the address, and the part after # is not sent to a server when the page opens. Anyone you give the link to can see the details.
As of 2026-10-16. The text of 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12) was read on the eCFR (text dated 2026-10-01). Research results and the CFPB description come from the sources below. The amounts in the tables are results of this calculator, and the interest rates in the example are illustrative only.
Sources
- 01CFPB: How to reduce your debt (2019)Two basic strategies: pay the highest-rate debt first, or pay the smallest debt first (snowball)
- 02Gal & McShane (2012), Can Small Victories Help Win the War? Evidence from Consumer Debt Management, Journal of Marketing ResearchClosing accounts predicted getting out of debt, regardless of the amount in the closed accounts
- 03Kettle, Trudel, Blanchard & Häubl (2016), Repayment Concentration and Consumer Motivation to Get Out of Debt, Journal of Consumer ResearchConcentrating repayment raises motivation, most when the payment goes to the smallest account
- 04Harvard Business Review: Research: The Best Strategy for Paying Off Credit Card Debt (2016)People who concentrated payments on one card paid down more credit card debt than those who spread them
- 05Amar, Ariely, Ayal, Cryder & Rick (2011), Winning the Battle but Losing the War: The Psychology of Debt Management, Journal of Marketing ResearchA tendency to pay the smaller debt first even when a larger debt has a higher rate (debt account aversion)
- 06eCFR: 12 CFR 1026.7, Periodic statement, paragraph (b)(12) Repayment disclosuresMinimum payment warning, payoff estimate, 36-month payment, counseling number, exemptions
Frequently asked questions
Which saves more interest, the avalanche or the snowball method?
With the same budget, the avalanche (highest rate first) usually costs the same or less interest. In the example of four debts totaling $31,300 with $1,075.00 paid each month, both methods take 36 months, but the avalanche costs $6,404.59 in interest and the snowball $6,561.88, a difference of $157.29. The snowball pays off the first debt in month 13, against month 30 for the avalanche.
Why would anyone use the snowball method if it costs more interest?
It has to do with whether people actually finish. Gal and McShane (2012) reported that closing accounts one by one predicted getting out of debt regardless of the amounts, and Kettle and colleagues (2016) found that concentrating payments on one account, especially the smallest, raised the motivation to get out of debt. If the interest gap is small, the method you can keep up is often the better choice.
Does the order matter if I have no extra money each month?
Yes, a little, as long as you move the payment of each finished debt to the next one. In the example, a $0 extra finishes in 41 months with $8,279.27 in interest, against 58 months and $8,908.24 with minimums only, which is 17 months sooner and $628.97 less. The avalanche and the snowball differ only slightly at $0 extra ($8,279.27 against $8,282.97).
How long does it take if I pay only the minimums?
For the four example debts, minimums of $975.00 a month take 58 months and cost $8,908.24 in interest. Adding $100 a month and sending the leftover to the highest rate first ends in 36 months with $6,404.59 in interest, which is 22 months sooner and $2,503.65 less. If a minimum is equal to or below the first month's interest, that debt is not paid off by its minimum alone.
How do I enter an interest-only debt?
Enter one month of interest as the minimum payment. A $5,000 balance at 7.2% costs $5,000 × 7.2% ÷ 12 = $30.00 a month. If you pay only that, the balance does not shrink, and the planner tells you so and starts paying it down when other debts end and money frees up. Adding $200 a month to the same debt ends it in month 24 with $373.78 in interest.
What is the minimum payment warning on my credit card statement?
Under Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12)), statements on open-end credit card accounts that are not secured by a home carry a warning that begins "Minimum Payment Warning: If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest," plus an estimate of the time to pay off with minimums only, a toll-free number for credit counseling and, with exceptions, the payment that would clear the balance in 36 months. This planner is a separate estimate that keeps the minimum you enter fixed.
Why does the result differ a little from my statement?
The planner calculates interest each month as balance × APR ÷ 12 and rounds to the cent, while lenders accrue interest daily. It also does not include a card minimum that shrinks with the balance, variable rates, penalty interest, fees or prepayment penalties. Use it as a planning estimate and check exact amounts against your lender's payoff schedule.
Where is my debt information stored?
Nowhere. What you type disappears when you close the page, and the Copy link button builds an address that keeps your debts only after the # symbol, a part that is not sent to a server when the page opens. Anyone you send the link to can see the debt names and amounts, so share it carefully.