Debt avalanche calculator
Highest interest rate first. The avalanche puts every spare dollar where it’s costing you most, for the lowest total interest of any order.
Your debts
Debt-free with the avalanche
month 28
2 yrs 4 mo · $720 a month
The avalanche saves $187 in interest over the snowball.
Payoff order
- 1Store card$640 at 26.99% · interest paid $28Paidmonth 3
- 2Visa$4,200 at 22.9% · interest paid $839Paidmonth 17
- 3Personal loan$2,600 at 13.5% · interest paid $421Paidmonth 21
- 4Car loan$9,800 at 7.4% · interest paid $1,065Paidmonth 28
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How the debt avalanche works
- List debts by APR, highest first. Balance size doesn’t matter.
- Pay the minimum on every debt.
- Send all extra money to the highest-rate debt.
- When it’s gone, roll its whole payment to the next-highest rate.
A dollar of 27% store-card debt costs almost four times as much a year as a dollar of 7% car loan. Killing the expensive dollars first means less of every future payment is swallowed by interest. Try the APR slider explainer to see how changing one rate reshuffles the order.
When the avalanche is hard to stick with
If your highest-rate debt is also your biggest, it can take a year or more before anything gets crossed off. Some people handle that by tracking the balance falling rather than waiting for a zero; others knock out one tiny debt first for a quick win, then switch. The snowball vs avalanche page shows what that trade costs in dollars.
Questions people ask
What is a debt avalanche calculator?
It plans your payoff using the avalanche method: minimums on every debt, all extra money on the debt with the highest interest rate, then the next-highest once that one is gone. It shows the order, payoff dates and how much interest you save.
Does the avalanche always save the most money?
Among plans that pay the same total each month and only change the order, yes. Paying the highest APR first removes the most expensive dollars of debt soonest. With equal rates, it behaves like the snowball.
How much does the avalanche save compared to the snowball?
It depends on how different your rates are and how big the high-rate balances are. When the smallest debt is also the highest rate, both methods give the same plan. The comparison box above shows your exact difference.
What about a 0% promotional balance?
Enter its current APR (0%) and it will sit at the end of the avalanche. Keep an eye on when the promo ends: if the rate will jump, update the APR here and you may want to clear it before the deadline.