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Debt Payoff Planner

List your debts, set what you can pay each month, and see the payoff order that costs you the least.

Your debts

Adding a mortgage? Enter principal & interest only

Most mortgage bills also collect property taxes, home insurance, and PMI (escrow). Those don't pay down the balance, so including them makes every result look faster and cheaper than reality.

On top of all your minimums

Which debt gets the extra first?

Minimums only

in 13 yrs, 8 mo

$17,047 interest

Debt Avalanche

Highest rate first — the cheapest path

Debt-free in 3 yrs, 3 mo — 10 yrs, 5 mo sooner than minimums only.

Total each month
$655.00
$455.00 in minimums + $200.00 extra
Total interest
$3,691.98
Total paid
$24,991.98

Next month: $330.00 to Credit card (gets the extra), $60.00 to Personal loan and $265.00 to Auto loan.

  1. 1Credit card paid off in 2 yrs, 1 mo · $1,730 interest
  2. 2Personal loan paid off in 2 yrs, 3 mo · $273 interest
  3. 3Auto loan paid off in 3 yrs, 3 mo · $1,690 interest

Each paid-off debt's minimum rolls into the next target, so your total monthly payment stays the same until you're done.

$5,591$11,183$16,774$22,365Today1 yr, 8 mo3 yrs, 3 mo

Want this to update as you pay things down? Track your accounts and load them here anytime.

Estimates for informational purposes only — not financial advice.

Building a Debt Payoff Plan

When you owe money in several places, the order you attack your debts changes what they cost you. This planner takes your full debt picture — every balance, rate, and minimum payment — plus whatever extra you can put toward debt each month, and simulates the two classic strategies side by side. The avalanche targets the highest interest rate first and is mathematically the cheapest path. The snowball targets the smallest balance first and delivers the earliest wins. Both roll each paid-off debt's minimum into the next target, so your total monthly effort never shrinks — it compounds. Compare both against what minimum payments alone would do, and pick the plan you'll actually stick with.

How this calculator works

Compares two ways to pay off several debts, highest rate first (avalanche) and smallest balance first (snowball), with paying only the minimums.

How it calculates

  1. Monthly budget = all your minimum payments + the extra amount you enter. It stays the same every month.
  2. Each month, every debt adds interest at its APR ÷ 12 and then gets its minimum payment.
  3. The rest of the budget goes to the target debt: the highest APR for the avalanche, the smallest balance for the snowball. When a debt is paid off, its minimum rolls into the next target.
  4. This repeats until every debt is paid, for up to 100 years, recording each payoff month and the interest each debt cost.
  5. The minimums-only comparison pays each debt exactly its minimum, with no extra and no rollover.
  6. Debt-free by a set month searches for the smallest extra a month, to the cent, that has the chosen strategy pay off every debt by that month, running the same month-by-month plan as the results.
  7. Debts loaded from My Accounts start at their balance today: each account's last statement balance, then every payment due since (the ones marked missed or different as marked) and any extra payments, charges and fees logged. Their planned extra payments land in the month of the payment they come off with.

What it assumes

  • Each minimum payment stays as entered. Card minimums shrink as the balance falls, so for a card this is like keeping today's minimum as a fixed payment.
  • No new borrowing, fees or rate changes.
  • Interest is the APR ÷ 12 on each month's balance, and payoff dates count whole months from today.

Sources

Copy and figures last reviewed .

How we build and check all our calculators

Frequently Asked Questions

Avalanche vs snowball — which pays less interest?

The avalanche always pays the least total interest, because every extra dollar attacks the most expensive debt first — no other order can beat it mathematically. The snowball costs somewhat more but delivers the first paid-off debt sooner, which keeps many people motivated. When your rates are similar the difference is small; when one debt's rate towers over the rest, the avalanche's edge grows. This planner shows both totals so you can see the actual gap for your debts.

Why doesn't my total monthly payment shrink as debts get paid off?

That is the rollover, and it is the engine of the whole plan. When a debt is cleared, its minimum payment is not returned to your spending money — it rolls into the extra amount attacking the next target. Your total outlay stays constant while the number of debts falls, so the remaining balances collapse faster and faster. Letting freed-up minimums drift back into the budget is the main reason payoff plans stall.

How much extra should I put toward debt each month?

Whatever you can sustain — consistency beats size. Because extra payments go entirely to principal and every cleared debt's minimum rolls forward, even $50 or $100 a month can cut years and a surprising amount of interest from the plan. Try a few values in the planner and watch the payoff date and total interest move; that feedback is often what makes a number feel worth committing to.

Should I include my mortgage or car loan in the payoff plan?

Start with high-rate unsecured debt — credit cards and personal loans — where the interest savings are largest. Car loans are reasonable to include, especially at higher rates. Mortgages usually carry the lowest rates, so under the avalanche they would correctly be paid last anyway; many people leave the mortgage out and direct spare money to it only after everything else is gone. If you do include a mortgage, enter only the principal-and-interest portion of the payment, which the mortgage calculator breaks out — most mortgage bills also collect property taxes, home insurance, and PMI through escrow, and none of that pays down the balance, so entering the full bill makes the plan look faster and cheaper than it really is.

What does the "minimums only" comparison show?

It simulates what happens if every debt receives exactly its minimum payment and nothing more — no extra money, no rollover. That is the default path when nobody is steering, and it is slow and expensive because each debt keeps paying only the fixed minimum you entered, much of which goes to interest. Comparing your avalanche or snowball plan against this baseline shows the real dollars and years your plan saves, not just its cost in the abstract.

Term Definitions

Minimum Payment

The minimum payment is the smallest amount your lender requires each month to keep the account in good standing. On installment loans it is your fixed monthly payment; on credit cards it is usually a small percentage of the balance. Paying only minimums keeps every debt alive as long as possible — a payoff plan works by paying more than the minimums somewhere.

Interest Rate

The interest rate is the percentage of the principal that a lender charges for borrowing money. It is typically expressed as an annual rate. A lower interest rate will result in lower monthly payments and less total interest paid over the life of the loan.

Extra Monthly Budget

Your extra monthly budget is whatever you can pay toward debt each month beyond the sum of your minimum payments. The payoff planner keeps this total budget constant: as each debt is paid off, its freed-up minimum joins the extra and accelerates the next target. Even a modest extra amount, applied consistently and rolled over, can cut years and thousands of dollars from a payoff.

Debt-Free By

Pick the month you want to be debt-free and the planner works out the smallest extra a month, on top of all your minimums, that gets every debt paid off by then with the strategy you chose. Each paid-off debt's minimum still rolls into the next one.

Debt Avalanche

The debt avalanche strategy directs all extra money at the debt with the highest interest rate while paying minimums on the rest. When that debt is gone, its payment rolls into the next-highest rate. Mathematically this is the cheapest possible order — no other sequence pays less total interest — though the first payoff can take longer to arrive than with the snowball.

Debt Snowball

The debt snowball strategy directs all extra money at the smallest balance while paying minimums on the rest. Small debts disappear quickly, and each cleared payment "snowballs" into the next one. It usually costs somewhat more interest than the avalanche, but the early wins are real: many people stick with a plan they can see working. The best strategy is the one you actually follow.

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