Debt avalanche calculator
Highest rate first. See your payoff order, debt-free date and how much you save against the snowball.
Your debts
The numbers are an example. Replace them with yours. Everything is worked out in your browser.
The avalanche saves you $1,732 in interest and finishes 2 months sooner. The snowball clears your first debt 16 months sooner.
Your route down to zero
Your total balance month by month. Each numbered marker is a debt you clear for good.
Debts cleared, in order
- Exit 1Card A24 months in
- Exit 2Card B26 months in
- Exit 3Personal loan28 months in
- Exit 4Car loan29 months in
Minimums only: 6 years, 1 month and $13,123 interest. This plan saves $8,172.
Month-by-month scheduleAvalanche, 29 months
| Date | Payment | Interest | Principal | Balance left | Paid off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month in | $937.00 | $332.88 | $604.12 | $21,295.88 | |
| 2 months in | $937.00 | $323.25 | $613.75 | $20,682.13 | |
| 3 months in | $937.00 | $313.41 | $623.59 | $20,058.54 | |
| 4 months in | $937.00 | $303.36 | $633.64 | $19,424.90 | |
| 5 months in | $937.00 | $293.10 | $643.90 | $18,781.00 | |
| 6 months in | $937.00 | $282.62 | $654.38 | $18,126.62 | |
| 7 months in | $937.00 | $271.92 | $665.08 | $17,461.54 | |
| 8 months in | $937.00 | $260.97 | $676.03 | $16,785.51 | |
| 9 months in | $937.00 | $249.81 | $687.19 | $16,098.32 | |
| 10 months in | $937.00 | $238.39 | $698.61 | $15,399.71 | |
| 11 months in | $937.00 | $226.74 | $710.26 | $14,689.45 | |
| 12 months in | $937.00 | $214.85 | $722.15 | $13,967.30 | |
| 13 months in | $937.00 | $202.68 | $734.32 | $13,232.98 | |
| 14 months in | $937.00 | $190.26 | $746.74 | $12,486.24 | |
| 15 months in | $937.00 | $177.56 | $759.44 | $11,726.80 | |
| 16 months in | $937.00 | $164.58 | $772.42 | $10,954.38 | |
| 17 months in | $937.00 | $151.33 | $785.67 | $10,168.71 | |
| 18 months in | $937.00 | $137.77 | $799.23 | $9,369.48 | |
| 19 months in | $937.00 | $123.94 | $813.06 | $8,556.42 | |
| 20 months in | $937.00 | $109.79 | $827.21 | $7,729.21 | |
| 21 months in | $937.00 | $95.33 | $841.67 | $6,887.54 | |
| 22 months in | $937.00 | $80.56 | $856.44 | $6,031.10 | |
| 23 months in | $937.00 | $65.46 | $871.54 | $5,159.56 | |
| 24 months in | $937.00 | $50.02 | $886.98 | $4,272.58 | Card A |
| 25 months in | $937.00 | $35.71 | $901.29 | $3,371.29 | |
| 26 months in | $937.00 | $25.92 | $911.08 | $2,460.21 | Card B |
| 27 months in | $937.00 | $16.25 | $920.75 | $1,539.46 | |
| 28 months in | $937.00 | $9.47 | $927.53 | $611.93 | Personal loan |
| 29 months in | $615.24 | $3.31 | $611.93 | $0.00 | Car loan |
Why does the debt avalanche save the most interest?
Every month, each debt charges interest on what you still owe. A dollar paid onto a 30% card removes 30 cents a year of future interest. A dollar paid onto a 6% car loan removes 6 cents. The avalanche simply puts spare dollars where they remove the most interest. Everything else, including paying every minimum on time, stays the same.
A worked example where the avalanche matters
This list has $21,900 of debt and $687 in minimums. The extra payment is $250, so the monthly budget is $937. The largest balance is also the most expensive: Card A is $9,500 at 29.99%.
| Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card A | $9,500 | 29.99% | $285 |
| Card B | $2,400 | 15.9% | $72 |
| Personal loan | $3,800 | 9.5% | $120 |
| Car loan | $6,200 | 6.5% | $210 |
| Plan | Debt-free in | Total interest | Payoff order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | 2 years, 5 months | $4,951 | Card A, Card B, Personal loan, Car loan |
| Snowball | 2 years, 7 months | $6,683 | Card B, Personal loan, Car loan, Card A |
| Minimums only | 6 years, 1 month | $13,123 | Car loan, Personal loan, Card B, Card A |
The avalanche saves $1,732 against the snowball and finishes 2 months sooner. The cost of that is patience: the avalanche's first cleared debt is the Card A, in month 24, while the snowball clears the Card B in month 8. For 24 months the avalanche gives you no cleared account, even though it is working harder behind the scenes.
How much does the avalanche save? It depends on your highest rate
The avalanche advantage is not a fixed percentage. To show how it moves, here is the same list with only Card A's rate changed.
| Card A APR | Snowball interest | Avalanche interest | Avalanche saves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29.99% | $6,683 | $4,951 | $1,732 |
| 24.99% | $5,304 | $4,185 | $1,119 |
| 19.99% | $4,149 | $3,522 | $627 |
| 14.99% | $3,164 | $2,913 | $251 |
| 9.99% | $2,314 | $2,258 | $56 |
As Card A's rate falls toward the other debts, the saving shrinks. When every rate is similar, the two methods are close and the choice is mostly about how you like to work.
Practical points
- Check that the minimums cover the interest. If a minimum is smaller than a month's interest, the calculator will tell you. That debt only goes down when the extra money reaches it.
- Rates change. Variable-rate debts and ended promotions can reshuffle the order. Re-run the calculator when a rate moves.
- Do not let the rolled-over money leak. The avalanche only keeps its edge if the payments you free up keep going to the next target.
- Mind late fees. A missed minimum on a low-rate debt can cost more than the interest you saved by focusing elsewhere.
If a plan this long sounds hard to keep up, compare it with the debt snowball calculator, or see both on the main debt payoff calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is the debt avalanche method?
You pay the minimum on every debt, then put all your spare money on the debt with the highest interest rate. When it is cleared you move to the next highest rate, adding the old payment to the new target. Because the money always goes where it is charged the most interest, it costs the least interest of the common payoff methods.
How much does the avalanche really save compared with the snowball?
It depends on your numbers, so check them in the calculator. For the four debts in the worked example on this page it saves $1,732 and 2 months, because the biggest balance also has the highest rate. If you change only the rate on that biggest debt to 14.99%, the saving drops to $251. The wider the gap between your highest rate and the rates on your small debts, the more the avalanche is worth.
What if two debts have the same interest rate?
Then the order between them makes no difference to the interest. The calculator targets the smaller balance first, since that clears a debt sooner at no extra cost.
Does the avalanche work if the highest rate is a tiny balance?
Yes, and that is the easiest case: the plans for avalanche and snowball are identical, so you get the cheapest order and the quick win together. The avalanche only feels slow when the highest-rate debt is also large, which is exactly the case where it saves the most.
Should I use a balance transfer or consolidation loan instead?
It can beat both methods if the new rate is much lower and the fees are small, but it needs checking. A 0% transfer card usually charges a one-off fee of a few percent and the rate jumps when the promotion ends, so compare the total cost over your real payoff time. This site does not yet have a balance transfer calculator, so compare using your own numbers.
Why does the calculator fix the order at the start?
The target order is set from your starting balances and rates and then kept. That keeps the result easy to follow (a single list of debts in order) and matches how the method is normally taught. In ordinary cases the order would not change as balances fall, since rates stay fixed.