Smallest balance first. See how quickly the first debt disappears, and how much faster each one falls after that.
What you owe
$19,450 total
Replace the example rows below with your own debts. All three figures are printed on your statement.
Where do I find these numbers?
Debt
Any name you will recognise — “Visa”, “Store card”, “Car”. It only labels the row.
Balance
What you still owe today, not what you originally borrowed. On a statement it is the current or statement balance.
APR %
The yearly interest rate, near the interest charges on your statement. Cards often list several — use the purchase APR. Type 22.9, not 0.229.
Minimum
The smallest payment your lender will accept this month, shown as minimum payment due. On a loan it is your fixed monthly instalment.
DebtBalanceAPR %Minimum
On top of your $520 of minimums. This one number does most of the work.
$/ month
If nothing changes
Nov 2032
6 years 4 months of minimum payments
Interest handed over
$8,425
Adding $200 a month
Mar 2029
2 years 8 months and you are done
Interest handed over
$3,380
$5,045 saved·3 years 8 months soonerThat is what the extra $200 a month is worth to you.
$0$4,863$9,725$14,588$19,450
nowyr 1yr 2yr 3yr 4yr 5yr 6
Your snowball planMinimum payments onlyDebt by debt, and what to pay3 debts, in the order you clear them
Debt
Cleared in
Interest
Total paid
What to pay
1Store card
Apr 20279 months
$192
$2,042
Pay $255.00 a month through month 8, then $2.31 in month 9 to finish.
2Visa card
Aug 20282 years 1 month
$1,985
$8,185
Pay $155.00 a month through month 8, then $407.69 in month 9, then $410.00 through month 24, then $387.42 in month 25 to finish.
3Car loan
Mar 20292 years 8 months
$1,203
$12,603
Pay $310.00 a month through month 24, then $332.58 in month 25, then $720.00 through month 31, then $510.06 in month 32 to finish.
Month 1 is this month. Each time a debt clears, its payment moves to the next one — which is why the amounts in the last column go up while your monthly total stays the same.
Snowball vs. avalancheBoth cost the same here
Method
Debt-free
Interest
snowball
Mar 2029
$3,380
avalanche
Mar 2029
$3,380
With these balances both methods cost the same, so pick whichever order you will stick with.
Month-by-month scheduleAll 32 payments, printable
Month
Payment
Interest
Balance left
1. Aug 2026
$720.00
$220.73
$18,950.73
2. Sep 2026
$720.00
$213.90
$18,444.63
3. Oct 2026
$720.00
$206.93
$17,931.56
4. Nov 2026
$720.00
$199.85
$17,411.41
5. Dec 2026
$720.00
$192.63
$16,884.04
6. Jan 2027
$720.00
$185.27
$16,349.31
7. Feb 2027
$720.00
$177.77
$15,807.08
8. Mar 2027
$720.00
$170.14
$15,257.22
9. Apr 2027🎉 Store card paid off
$720.00
$162.35
$14,699.57
10. May 2027
$720.00
$155.27
$14,134.84
11. Jun 2027
$720.00
$148.09
$13,562.93
12. Jul 2027
$720.00
$140.78
$12,983.71
Why the snowball works when better plans fail
On paper the snowball is the wrong answer. Paying the smallest balance first ignores interest rates, and ignoring interest rates costs money. Every spreadsheet says to do something else.
The spreadsheets are missing the part that actually decides the outcome. Debt payoff is a plan you have to repeat every month for years while nothing visibly changes. The snowball is designed to make something visibly change as early as possible: a debt is gone, a statement stops arriving, and the payment you were making on it joins the fight.
How the snowball builds
Say you owe $600 on a store card, $4,000 on a credit card, and $9,000 on a car, with minimums of $30, $110 and $250. You find $200 a month. The store card gets $230 and is gone in three months.
Now the credit card gets $110 plus the $30 freed from the store card plus your $200 — $340 a month instead of $110. When it clears, the car gets $590. Your outgoing payment never rose above $590, but the money attacking each debt more than doubled twice along the way.
The calculator above shows this happening month by month with your own numbers, including the exact date each debt disappears.
Common questions
How does the debt snowball work?
List your debts from smallest balance to largest, ignoring interest rates. Pay the minimum on all of them, and put every spare dollar on the smallest. When it clears, add its payment to what you were already paying and move to the next smallest. Your monthly total never changes, but the amount hitting each remaining debt keeps growing.
Why ignore the interest rate?
Because the snowball is built around finishing, not optimising. Clearing a whole debt in two or three months is proof the plan works, and that proof is what keeps people paying in month eleven. The avalanche method is cheaper on paper, but only if you stay with it.
How much does the snowball cost compared to the avalanche?
Usually a few hundred dollars over the life of the plan, though it depends on your balances. The comparison table above shows the exact gap for your numbers, so you can decide whether the motivation is worth the difference.
What if two debts have the same balance?
This calculator breaks the tie by putting the higher interest rate first, which costs you slightly less without changing the order in any meaningful way.
Should I stop paying minimums on my other debts?
No. Every other debt keeps getting its minimum every month. Missing a minimum triggers late fees and penalty rates that will cost far more than the snowball saves.