The debt snowball pays off your smallest balance first for quick, motivating wins — then rolls each freed-up payment onto the next debt. List up to four debts, add any extra you can throw at them, and see your debt-free date, total interest, and time saved.
Smallest balance first
Enter each debt's balance, APR, and minimum monthly payment. Leave a balance blank to skip that row.
On paper, attacking your highest-interest debt first (the avalanche method) saves the most money. So why do so many people succeed with the snowball instead, which deliberately ignores interest rates and targets the smallest balance? Because getting out of debt is a behavior problem as much as a math problem. Knocking out a tiny $800 card in a couple of months delivers a real, visible win — and that jolt of momentum keeps you going when a spreadsheet-optimal plan would have you grinding on a huge balance for a year before seeing anything disappear.
The mechanics are simple and powerful. You make the minimum payment on every debt, then pour every spare dollar onto the smallest one until it's gone. The moment it's paid off, you take the entire payment you were making on it and roll it onto the next-smallest debt. That payment keeps growing like a snowball rolling downhill — debt three gets attacked with its own minimum plus everything freed from debts one and two plus your extra. By the final debt you're hurling a massive monthly payment at it, and balances that once felt permanent vanish in months.
This calculator runs the full month-by-month simulation for you, including the rolling payments, and compares it against the lazy path of only ever paying minimums. The difference in both time and interest is usually eye-opening — often years and thousands of dollars. The single biggest lever is the extra payment: even $100 or $150 a month dramatically shortens the timeline. If the smallest-balance ordering bothers your inner optimizer, run the numbers in the avalanche version too and pick whichever plan you'll actually stick with, because the best debt strategy is the one you finish.
Clearing a small balance fast gives the motivation that keeps most people on track to the finish.
Each paid-off debt's payment stacks onto the next, growing your firepower month after month.
The bigger your extra monthly payment, the sooner you're free. Even a small amount changes the math.