List your debts, set your extra payment, and see both classic strategies simulated side by side — months to debt-free and total interest for each.
Same debts, two orders, different price
With multiple debts, minimum payments keep you afloat — the extra dollars decide how fast you escape and what you pay for the trip. The two classic orders: avalanche attacks the highest interest rate first and minimizes total interest; snowball attacks the smallest balance first and maximizes early wins. This calculator runs both on your actual debts so the trade-off is a number, not a debate.
What the numbers mean
- Debt-free in — months until the last balance hits zero, holding your total monthly payment constant.
- Total interest— what the debt costs you beyond repaying the principal. The gap between methods is avalanche's saving.
How to use the result
If avalanche's saving is large, take it. If it's small, choose whichever order you'll actually sustain — an abandoned avalanche loses to a finished snowball. And notice the third lever the comparison quietly reveals: raising the extra payment even slightly usually beats either ordering. Re-run the numbers whenever a debt closes; the freed minimum is a raise you give your payoff plan.
Frequently asked questions
- Which method is mathematically better?
- Avalanche, always — paying the highest interest rate first minimizes total interest by definition. The comparison above shows exactly how much it saves on your debts. When the rates are close together, the difference can be surprisingly small.
- Then why does anyone choose snowball?
- Because paying off debt takes years, and quick early wins help people persist. Snowball clears the smallest balances first, shrinking the number of open accounts fast. If seeing accounts hit zero keeps you paying, snowball's extra interest can be a fair price for actually finishing.
- How does the simulation work?
- Each month, every debt accrues one month of interest at its APR, minimum payments go to every debt, and your extra payment — plus minimums freed by paid-off debts — attacks the priority debt for the chosen strategy. It runs until everything hits zero and reports the months and total interest for each method.
- What if the calculator says my balances never shrink?
- Then your combined payments don't cover the monthly interest — the debt is compounding against you. Priorities become: stop new borrowing, look at rate reductions (balance transfers, consolidation, hardship programs), and raise the monthly payment even modestly. Small increases matter enormously near the break-even point.