Debt Avalanche Calculator

You pay the minimum on every debt, then send all of your extra cash to the debt with the highest interest rate. When that debt is gone, you roll its old minimum plus your extra into the next-highest-rate debt, and so on. Because the most expensive balance shrinks first, the avalanche method costs the least interest of any payoff order for the same monthly budget.

The avalanche attacks the highest interest rate first to minimize total interest. The snowball attacks the smallest balance first to give you quick wins and motivation. The avalanche usually saves more money, while the snowball often feels easier to stick with. If two debts have the same rate, this calculator clears the smaller balance first.

It is the amount you can pay each month on top of all your minimum payments. The calculator aims that extra at your highest-rate debt every month. Raising it shortens your payoff timeline and lowers total interest, so try a few values to see the effect on your debt-free date.

If a debt's minimum is less than or equal to one month of its interest, the balance grows instead of shrinking and it never gets paid off. For example, $10,000 at 24% APR accrues about $200 in interest the first month, so a $200 minimum makes no progress. Increase that minimum or your extra payment so each balance can actually go down.

The calculator runs your plan one month at a time, accruing interest at each debt's monthly rate (APR divided by 12) and applying payments until every balance hits zero. It then counts the months and adds them to your start date. If the start date lands on a day that a later month does not have, it clamps to the last day of that month.

No. This is an estimate to help you compare payoff strategies, not financial advice. It assumes fixed interest rates, fixed minimum payments, and no new charges or fees, which rarely hold exactly in real life. Check your actual statements and talk to a qualified advisor before making a plan.