Finance Tools
What It Does
Compares two popular debt repayment strategies — Avalanche and Snowball — to help you find the fastest and cheapest way to become debt-free. Enter all your debts with their balances, interest rates, and minimum payments, plus any extra monthly amount you can put toward debt repayment. The calculator simulates both strategies month-by-month and shows a side-by-side comparison of total interest paid, total time to payoff, and interest saved. A detailed schedule lets you see exactly how each payment is allocated. This is an estimator for planning purposes — actual results depend on payment timing, fees, and rate changes.
How to Use It
- Add each of your debts with the following fields:
- Debt Name (optional) — a label to identify each debt (e.g. “Credit Card”, “Car Loan”).
- Balance — the total amount you currently owe on this debt.
- Annual Interest Rate (%) — the yearly interest rate charged on the debt (e.g. 18.5 for 18.5%).
- Minimum Monthly Payment — the smallest amount you are required to pay each month toward this debt.
- Set the extra monthly payment — the additional amount you can pay above all minimums combined.
- Choose a strategy to view the detailed schedule for (Avalanche or Snowball). Both are always compared.
- Select your currency from the dropdown (defaults to USD).
- Click “Calculate” to see the comparison and schedule, or “Clear” to reset all fields.
- Review the strategy comparison to see which approach saves more money and time.
- Expand the month-by-month schedule to see how each payment is distributed across your debts.
- Use “Copy Results” to copy the comparison summary, or “Export CSV” / “Export Excel” to download the full analysis.
Options Explained
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Debts | Your list of outstanding debts. Each needs a balance (amount owed), annual interest rate, and minimum monthly payment. The name field is optional but helps identify debts in the schedule |
| Extra monthly payment | The additional amount you can pay each month on top of all minimum payments. This is the key accelerator — it gets directed to one debt at a time based on the chosen strategy |
| Strategy | Avalanche targets the highest-interest-rate debt first (saves the most money). Snowball targets the smallest-balance debt first (provides fastest “wins” for motivation). The comparison always shows both |
| Currency | The currency for all monetary values — affects the symbol shown on amounts. Does not perform any conversion |
| Export CSV | Downloads a .csv file with the strategy comparison, per-debt summary, and month-by-month schedule — ideal for spreadsheets |
| Export Excel | Downloads an .xlsx file with the same data formatted for Microsoft Excel or compatible applications |
About Debt Repayment Strategies
The Avalanche method directs your extra payment to the debt with the highest interest rate first, minimizing total interest paid over the life of your debts. This is mathematically optimal — it always costs the least (or ties with other strategies).
The Snowball method targets the debt with the smallest balance first, giving you quick “wins” as debts are eliminated. While it may cost slightly more in total interest, the psychological boost of paying off debts faster can help you stay motivated.
Both strategies share the same core principle: make minimum payments on all debts, then focus any extra money on one target debt at a time. When that debt is paid off, its freed-up minimum payment “snowballs” (or “avalanches”) into the next debt, accelerating payoff over time. Even a small extra monthly payment can save thousands in interest and years off your debt-free date.