Debt Snowball Calculator

The debt snowball is a debt reduction strategy where you list all your debts from smallest balance to largest balance, regardless of interest rates. You make minimum contractual payments on all accounts while putting every extra dollar toward the smallest debt. Once that debt is paid off, you roll its entire payment amount into the next-smallest debt, building momentum as each balance reaches zero.

Neither is universally better, and this page does not recommend one. The avalanche order costs the least interest because the highest APR is paid down first; with the sample debts it saves $75.08 over the snowball. The snowball closes its first account sooner — month 7 against month 17 here — which some people find easier to stick with. Enter your own debts: when the rates are close the difference is a few dollars; when a big balance carries a high rate it can be hundreds.

Payment rollover means keeping your total monthly debt budget fixed even when an individual account is paid off. For example, if you were paying $50 minimum on Card 1 plus $100 extra ($150 total), when Card 1 is eliminated, you add that entire $150 to the minimum payment of Card 2. Your monthly out-of-pocket spending stays constant, but the amount targeting the remaining balance expands.

It is your choice; most guides on the snowball leave the mortgage out because its balance is far larger and its rate usually far lower than card debt, so it would sit last in either order and only stretch the chart. The calculator accepts any debt with a balance, APR and minimum, so you can include it if you want to see the full picture. Leaving it out keeps the plan focused on credit cards, personal loans, auto loans and medical bills.

Yes. Applying a one-time windfall—such as a tax refund, work bonus, or proceeds from selling unused items—directly to your target debt provides an instant boost. In Month 1, the lump sum knocks down or eliminates the smallest balance immediately, allowing your monthly budget to cascade into the next account months ahead of schedule.

When two debts have identical or nearly identical balances, use interest rate (APR) as the tie-breaker and pay the account with the higher interest rate first. This preserves the psychological win of clearing an account quickly while minimizing the interest penalty between the two equal balances.

Card agreements usually set the minimum as a small percentage of the balance plus that month's interest, with a dollar floor, so the required minimum falls as the balance falls. This calculator keeps each minimum fixed at the amount you enter from your statement, which is what a snowball plan does anyway — you keep paying the original amount rather than the shrinking minimum. Expect small differences from your statements for that reason.

No calculator can say by how much, but the direction the scorers publish is favourable: paying balances down lowers your credit utilization, part of the "amounts owed" category myFICO puts at 30% of a FICO Score, and paying every minimum on time protects payment history, the 35% category. Closing a paid-off card removes its limit and raises utilization, so many people keep it open at a zero balance. The credit utilization calculator on this site shows the before-and-after ratio.

More of each payment goes to interest and the payoff moves later. The calculator uses one fixed APR per debt, so re-enter the new rate and recalculate; the snowball order itself does not change, because it ignores rates. The comparison strip shows what the avalanche order would save at the new rate, which is where a large increase shows up first.

Two cards ($1,200 at 19.99% and $3,400 at 24.99%), a $6,500 personal loan at 11.99% and a $12,000 auto loan at 6.49%, with minimums of $45, $95, $180 and $260 and $150 extra a month: a $730 budget. The snowball clears them in 37 months with $3,831.11 of interest; the avalanche, which starts with the 24.99% card, also takes 37 months and costs $3,756.03; minimums alone take 67 months and $6,750.08. Replace them with your own statements.

Yes. Beneath the payoff trajectory chart on this page, click the "Download CSV" button in the schedule bar to export your complete month-by-month debt reduction ledger, including principal payments, interest charges, and remaining balances for spreadsheet analysis.