Debt Snowball Calculator

Debt snowball payoff calculator for multiple debts

A debt snowball plan helps you pay off multiple debts by focusing your extra money on the smallest balance first, while still paying the minimums on everything else. The idea is simple: clearing a small debt quickly creates momentum, and when that debt is gone, its minimum payment is “freed up” and rolled into the next debt. Over time, your payment power grows even if your total budget stays the same.

This calculator is built for real-world use. You can enter up to five debts with a balance, APR, and minimum monthly payment. If you do not know an APR, you can leave it at 0% and the calculator will treat it as non-interest-bearing. You can also enter an optional extra monthly payment amount. The calculator then simulates month-by-month payments using the snowball method, estimates how many months it takes to become debt-free, and sums the interest you would pay along the way.

The outputs are practical. You get a payoff order (which debt disappears first, second, and so on), the estimated payoff month for each debt, your total interest cost, and a short timeline preview showing the first 12 months of progress. This is useful both for quick planning and for sanity-checking whether a higher extra payment meaningfully changes the timeline. If your inputs are estimates, the result is still directionally useful because it shows the leverage points: minimum payments, APR, and the size of your extra payment.

Assumptions and how to use this calculator

• Interest is calculated monthly using APR ÷ 12 and added before payments each month.
• Minimum payments are applied to each active debt every month, then all extra goes to the current snowball target.
• When a debt is paid off, its minimum payment is rolled into the snowball for future months (your total monthly outflow stays consistent).
• Empty rows or rows with a zero balance are ignored; APR defaults to 0% if left blank.
• This is an estimate and does not include fees, penalty APRs, changing minimum-payment rules, or day-to-day interest timing differences.

Common questions

What is the difference between the debt snowball and the debt avalanche?

Snowball targets the smallest balance first to create quick wins and simplify your list. Avalanche targets the highest APR first to minimize interest cost. If you are purely optimizing cost, avalanche usually wins. If you are optimizing follow-through and consistency, snowball often wins because early payoffs can reduce the chance you quit.

What should I enter as the minimum payment?

Use the amount you expect to pay every month even if you were not doing a snowball. For credit cards, it is better to enter a realistic minimum or your planned baseline payment rather than the absolute minimum required by the bank, because the required minimum can change as balances change.

What if my debts have 0% promotional APR or the APR changes later?

If your debt is currently 0% APR, enter 0% to model that period. If the APR will change later, this calculator cannot automatically switch rates at a future date. In that case, run two scenarios: one with the current rate for a “best case,” and one with the post-promo rate for a “worst case.” The truth will usually sit between them.

What if I do not have an extra payment amount?

Leave extra payment at 0. The calculator will still produce a payoff timeline based on minimum payments. This can highlight whether your current minimums are sufficient to actually reduce balances, especially on high-APR debt where interest can consume most of a small payment.

How can I make the result more accurate?

Use current statement balances, accurate APRs, and a stable minimum payment amount. If your minimum payment is “X% of balance,” estimate it from your latest statement. Also try a slightly higher and slightly lower extra payment to see sensitivity, because real life rarely matches a single perfect number every month.