Debt Payoff Plan
Avalanche saves money, snowball buys a first win. Price both, then pick the one you will finish.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/debt-snowball-vs-avalanche-calculator
My debts
- Date
- Smaller balance
- APR
- Minimum
- Larger balance
- APR
- Minimum
- Extra per month
- SNOWBALL INTEREST
- AVALANCHE INTEREST
- SAVING
- First win — snowball
- First win — avalanche
- Strategy chosen
How the two differ
- Both methods
- pay every minimum, every month
- Both methods
- roll a cleared payment into the next debt
- Snowball targets
- the SMALLEST BALANCE
- Avalanche targets
- the HIGHEST RATE
- ⚠ Avalanche never costs more on
- total interest - it saves, or it ties at $0
- ⚠ Snowball never waits longer for
- your first win - sooner, or a tie
- They AGREE when
- smallest balance = highest rate
- A $0 saving means
- the decision does not matter — start
- Payoff months
- fractional; ROUND UP for the real month
- Minimums assumed
- FIXED — real cards recalculate, costing more
- ⚠ The dominant term
- whether you FINISH it
Every debt, smallest first
| Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum | Order | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Before you start either plan
- Every debt listed with its real balance and APR
- Minimum payments confirmed from statements, not memory
- A realistic extra amount, not an aspirational one
- Automatic payments set up for every minimum
- A small emergency buffer FIRST, or the plan breaks on the first surprise
- Any 0% promotional period and its END DATE noted
- Balance transfer fees compared against the interest saved
- Cards removed from wallets and browsers if that is the pattern
- A date each month to update the numbers
- The plan written where someone else can see it
- Chosen the method you will FINISH
The whole trade-off in two numbers
On the defaults: avalanche saves $866; snowball clears a debt 21 months sooner. Neither is the right answer for everyone - but knowing both figures turns an argument into a decision.
Sometimes there is no decision
If your smallest balance also carries your highest rate, both methods pick the same debt and the saving is exactly $0. That is common with small credit card balances, and it means you can stop deliberating.
Finishing beats optimising
An avalanche abandoned in month eight costs more than a snowball completed. That is not encouragement, it is the largest term in the calculation — and no formula on this page can model it for you.