Debt Payoff Planner
Plan the fastest way out of debt: compare the snowball and avalanche methods, see your debt-free date, total interest and a full month-by-month schedule.
Your debts
Add at least one debt with a balance above zero to see your payoff plan.
- Debt-free in
- —
- Debt-free by
- —
- Total interest
- —
- Total paid
- —
- Monthly budget
- —
Payoff order
| # | Debt | Balance | APR | Paid off | Interest paid |
|---|
Payment schedule
| Year | Paid | Principal | Interest | Remaining balance |
|---|
Estimates only, based on fixed rates and fixed payments. Real cards charge fees, variable APRs and shifting minimum payments, so treat this as a planning guide rather than financial advice.
How it works
This debt payoff planner runs a month-by-month simulation of your debts. Every month each
balance is charged interest at APR ÷ 12, then your total monthly budget — the sum
of all the minimum payments plus any extra you add — is spread across the debts: every debt
gets its minimum, and everything left over is thrown at one target debt. When that debt hits
zero its payment rolls onto the next one, which is why the plan speeds up over time. That
rolling payment is the "snowball" in both methods.
The debt avalanche targets the highest APR first, which mathematically minimises total interest. The debt snowball targets the smallest balance first, which clears individual debts sooner and keeps motivation up. The planner simulates both and tells you exactly how much interest and how many months the avalanche saves for your numbers, so you can decide whether the difference is worth the extra patience. Add or remove debts, change the extra payment, and everything recalculates as you type.
Copy the plan as text or download the full schedule as a CSV for a spreadsheet. Every calculation happens in your browser with plain JavaScript — your balances and rates are never uploaded, stored or sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up and no ads.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the debt snowball and the debt avalanche?
Both methods pay the minimum on every debt and throw all your spare cash at one target debt, then roll that payment onto the next debt when the target is cleared. They differ only in which debt is the target. The debt avalanche targets the highest APR first, which always costs the least interest overall. The debt snowball targets the smallest balance first, so you close accounts sooner and get the psychological win of a shrinking list. This planner simulates both for your exact numbers and tells you the difference — for the example debts on the page the avalanche saves $300.37 in interest and finishes one month sooner, which is small enough that many people happily choose the snowball.
How long will it take to pay off my debt?
It depends on your balances, APRs and how much you can pay each month. The planner charges each balance interest at APR ÷ 12 every month, pays every debt its minimum, and cascades whatever is left over onto the target debt, repeating until every balance is zero. It then shows the number of payments, the calendar month you become debt-free, the total interest and the total amount paid. For a single debt the result matches the standard amortization formula n = −ln(1 − P·r/M) ÷ ln(1 + r): $5,000 at 18% APR with $150 a month clears in 47 payments with $1,983.60 of interest.
Does paying a little extra each month really make a difference?
Yes, and usually far more than people expect, because every extra dollar comes straight off the principal and stops accruing interest for the rest of the term. Minimum payments on credit cards are deliberately low — often around 1–3% of the balance — so most of each payment is interest and the balance barely moves. Type a figure into the extra payment field and watch the debt-free date and total interest update as you type. Because the freed-up minimum from each cleared debt rolls onto the next one, the plan also speeds up on its own over time.