Debt Avalanche Calculator

List your debts and extra payment to get the mathematically cheapest payoff order, your debt-free date, and the interest you save vs. the snowball.

Debt-free in–

Debt-free date–

Total interest paid–

Total paid–

Snowball method would cost–

Payoff order:

How the debt avalanche works

The avalanche method pays the minimum on every debt and sends every spare dollar at the debt with the highest interest rate. When it’s paid off, its minimum rolls onto the next-highest APR. Because your extra dollars always attack the most expensive debt, the avalanche is the mathematically optimal order — no other sequence pays less total interest.

Monthly budget = sum of all minimum payments + extra payment Each month: pay minimums → everything left attacks the highest APR On payoff: that minimum rolls into the attack budget

Avalanche vs. snowball at a glance

	Avalanche	Snowball
Attack order	Highest APR first	Smallest balance first
Total interest	Lowest possible	Equal or higher
First win arrives	Can take a while	Fast
Best for	Rate gaps are large; you trust yourself to persist	Motivation from quick wins matters most

This page runs both strategies on your numbers and shows the difference — when the gap is small, pick whichever keeps you going; when a 25%+ card sits next to low-rate loans, the avalanche’s savings get serious.

Worked example

Same three debts as our snowball example — $2,400 card at 24.99%, $1,200 personal loan at 12%, $8,500 car at 7.5%, $150/month extra.

The avalanche attacks the 24.99% card first, then the loan, then the car. The card — the debt bleeding the most interest per dollar — dies months sooner than under the snowball, which is exactly where the interest savings come from.

Tips for the avalanche

Use APR, not perks, to rank debts. A store card at 29.99% outranks everything regardless of balance size.
Re-rank when rates change. Variable card APRs move with the prime rate; a promo APR expiring can rocket a debt to the top of the list.
Consider a hybrid: knock out one tiny balance first for morale, then run a strict avalanche — for most debt mixes it costs only a few dollars more than pure avalanche.
Refinancing beats ordering. Moving a 25% card balance to a lower-rate consolidation loan or 0% transfer (mind the 3–5% fee) can save more than any payoff order — the avalanche then finishes the job.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the avalanche actually save vs. the snowball?

It depends on the spread between your rates and how long payoff takes. With one high-APR card among low-rate loans and a multi-year payoff, savings can reach hundreds or thousands of dollars; with similar APRs the difference is often trivial. The comparison row above computes it for your exact debts.

What if two debts have the same APR?

Order between them doesn’t change total interest. Most people take the smaller balance first for the earlier win.

Should 0% promotional balances go last?

By APR ranking, yes — but only until the promo ends. If the balance can’t be cleared before the deferred rate kicks in (often 25%+), schedule enough payments to finish it before expiry, then run the avalanche normally.

Does the avalanche help my credit score faster?

Both methods help as balances fall. Scores weigh overall credit utilization; the avalanche tends to cut high-utilization card balances sooner (cards usually carry the top APRs), which can nudge scores a bit faster — but the difference is secondary to simply paying debt down.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-20 · Report an issue