Debt Snowball Calculator
List your debts, add any extra you can pay each month, and see exactly which order to pay them off in — smallest balance first — plus how many months until you’re debt-free.
Your Payoff Order
How the Debt Snowball Method Works
The snowball method ignores interest rates on purpose. You list every debt from smallest balance to largest, pay the minimum on all of them, and throw every extra dollar you have at the smallest one. Once it’s gone, its minimum payment doesn’t disappear — it rolls into the extra payment on the next-smallest debt, so your payoff power grows with every debt you clear. That’s the “snowball” — a small amount of extra cash gets bigger and bigger as it rolls downhill.
Mathematically, this isn’t the cheapest way to get out of debt — the debt avalanche method (paying off highest-interest debt first) saves more in total interest. But the snowball method is built around behavior, not math: clearing a small balance in month one gives you a real, visible win, and that momentum is often the difference between sticking with a payoff plan and abandoning it halfway through.
This calculator runs the real month-by-month simulation — interest still accrues on every balance at its own APR, minimums get paid on everything, and your extra payment attacks the smallest debt first, then rolls forward automatically as each one is paid off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Snowball vs. avalanche — which saves more money?
Avalanche (highest interest rate first) almost always saves more in total interest, sometimes by hundreds or thousands of dollars on larger debt loads. Snowball can cost a bit more overall, but many people find they’re more likely to finish the plan because of the early wins.
What if two debts have about the same balance?
Put the higher-interest one first. When balances are close, there’s no real behavioral advantage to picking the lower-rate debt, so you might as well save a little on interest.
Should I include my mortgage in the snowball?
Most people leave mortgages out of a debt snowball and focus it on credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, and car loans — debts with higher rates and shorter realistic payoff timelines.
What happens to a paid-off debt’s minimum payment?
It gets added to your extra payment and rolls onto the next debt in line. This calculator does that automatically in the simulation — it’s the core mechanic that makes the snowball accelerate over time.