Debt payoff calculator

List your cards and loans, set what you can pay each month, and compare the avalanche and snowball methods: when you are debt-free under each, what the interest costs, and the order the debts fall.

Your debts
The plan
The minimum payments add up to $540.00.
Avalanche pays the highest rate first and costs the least. Snowball clears the smallest balance first for an early win.
Debt-free in3 years, 4 monthspaying $900.00 a month
Total interest
$4,360
Total paid
$35,560
Minimums only
Never at this amount
StrategyTimeInterest
Avalanche3 years, 4 months$4,360
Snowball3 years, 5 months$5,139
Minimums onlyNever at this amount
  • Avalanche
  • Snowball
$0$10K$20K$30K$40K
StartMonth 10Month 21Month 31Month 41
Payoff order
  1. 1Store cardPaid off in month 4
  2. 2Credit cardPaid off in month 18
  3. 3Car loanPaid off in month 22
  4. 4Student loanPaid off in month 40

Estimates, rounded for display. Rates, taxes and fees change; check the figures that matter against your own statements.

How it works

The math behind the result

Both methods pay every debt’s minimum each month and send everything left in the budget to one target debt. Avalanche targets the highest interest rate; snowball targets the smallest balance. When a debt is cleared, its minimum joins the extra and the next target gets a bigger payment, which is why either method speeds up as it goes.

Avalanche always costs the least interest and is never slower, because every extra dollar goes where it is charged the most. Snowball trades some interest for quicker wins, an account closed within a few months, which many people find easier to stick with. The comparison shows exactly what that trade costs on your numbers.

The minimums-only row is the alternative: fixed minimum payments and nothing extra. Real card minimums shrink as the balance falls, which stretches that payoff even further than shown.

each month, for every debt: balance = balance + balance × APR ÷ 12 − payment
extra = monthly amount − minimums due, sent to the target debt
a cleared debt’s minimum joins the extra for the next target
Common questions

Questions, answered.

With Zypper

Connect the cards and loans and Zypper keeps every balance in one list and in your net worth, so the total you are paying down is one number that falls each month. The payments themselves show up in Bills & Recurring with their next expected dates.