What is the difference between debt snowball and avalanche?

Both pay every minimum and put the rest of the monthly amount on one debt at a time. Snowball picks the smallest balance first. Avalanche picks the highest APR first (ties go to the smaller balance). Freed-up minimums roll on to the next debt in both.

Debt snowball vs avalanche: which is better?

This page does not choose for you. It shows the months and the interest for each order on your own figures. Other things matter that it cannot see, such as secured debts, promotional rates and fees. For help with your own situation, talk to a qualified professional or a non-profit credit counsellor.

How is the debt-free date worked out?

Month by month: interest is the balance x APR / 12, to the cent; every debt gets its minimum or what it owes if less; what is left of the monthly total goes to the first debt in the order, then the next. The debt-free month is the first month every balance reaches 0.00, counting your first month as month 1.

What if my minimum payment doesn't cover the interest?

The page names that debt: when the first month's interest is the same as or more than the minimum, paying only the minimum never brings it down. Under snowball or avalanche it can still clear once other debts are paid and their minimums roll over. If nothing clears in 360 months, the page says More than 30 years.

Is there a debt snowball vs avalanche spreadsheet for Excel?

The Debt Payoff Plan runs these same rules for up to 12 debts over 360 months, adds your own order, a month-by-month schedule and a payment log, for Excel and Google Sheets.

Does it work out interest by the day, like my lender?

No. It uses balance x APR / 12 each month. Lenders often work interest out by the day, minimums can change as balances fall, and fees and new charges are not included, so treat the dates as estimates and read your statements for exact amounts.

Is what I type here saved?

No. The page runs on your device. Nothing you type is sent or saved.

Free tools / Debt snowball vs avalanche

Debt snowball vs avalanche

With the sample's five debts (30,406.52 in all) and 250.00 a month on top of the minimums, the snowball order is debt-free in 40 months and the avalanche order in 40 months, paying 3,896.38 and 3,609.57 of interest. Paying only the minimums takes 115 months and 9,952.48 of interest.

Type your own debts below. The page runs the same month-by-month rules as the Debt Payoff Plan spreadsheet.

Mar 2030 snowball

Mar 2030 avalanche

Debt-free month for 5 debts, 865.00 a month in all, starting Dec 2026.

DebtsUp to 6 here; the sheet takes 12

Your debts
	Debt	Balance	APR %	Minimum
2
3
4
5
6
7

Your plan
9	Extra per month, on top of the minimums
10	First month

The orders compared
Order	Debt-free	Months	Interest	Total paid
Snowball	Mar 2030	40	3,896.38	34,302.90
Avalanche	Mar 2030	40	3,609.57	34,016.09
Minimums only	Jun 2036	115	9,952.48	40,359.00

Snowball order (smallest balance first): Store card, Family loan, Travel card, Car loan, Student loan.

Avalanche order (highest APR first): Store card, Travel card, Car loan, Student loan, Family loan.

Month by month: the balance left after each month

Balance after each month
No.	Month	Snowball	Avalanche	Minimums only
1	Dec 2026	29,757.01	29,757.01	30,007.01
2	Jan 2027	29,099.08	29,099.08	29,605.12
3	Feb 2027	28,432.56	28,432.56	29,200.83
4	Mar 2027	27,761.09	27,758.28	28,794.13
5	Apr 2027	27,087.42	27,076.82	28,384.98
6	May 2027	26,411.53	26,388.08	27,973.36
7	Jun 2027	25,733.42	25,691.96	27,559.26
8	Jul 2027	25,051.13	24,988.33	27,142.63
9	Aug 2027	24,360.73	24,277.11	26,723.47
10	Sep 2027	23,662.09	23,558.17	26,301.75
11	Oct 2027	22,955.07	22,831.38	25,877.44
12	Nov 2027	22,239.56	22,096.64	25,450.51
13	Dec 2027	21,515.42	21,353.82	25,020.94
14	Jan 2028	20,782.53	20,602.81	24,588.72
15	Feb 2028	20,040.75	19,843.48	24,153.80
16	Mar 2028	19,289.95	19,075.72	23,716.17
17	Apr 2028	18,529.99	18,303.25	23,275.79
18	May 2028	17,760.73	17,526.56	22,832.65
19	Jun 2028	16,984.84	16,745.63	22,386.71
20	Jul 2028	16,204.41	15,960.43	21,937.95
21	Aug 2028	15,419.42	15,170.94	21,486.33
22	Sep 2028	14,629.83	14,377.13	21,031.82
23	Oct 2028	13,835.62	13,578.98	20,574.39
24	Nov 2028	13,036.77	12,776.46	20,114.03
25	Dec 2028	12,233.25	11,969.55	19,650.70
26	Jan 2029	11,425.03	11,158.26	19,184.37
27	Feb 2029	10,612.39	10,343.49	18,715.00
28	Mar 2029	9,796.03	9,525.21	18,242.56
29	Apr 2029	8,975.93	8,703.41	17,767.02
30	May 2029	8,152.07	7,878.07	17,288.35
31	Jun 2029	7,324.43	7,049.18	16,856.51
32	Jul 2029	6,493.00	6,216.49	16,421.47
33	Aug 2029	5,657.76	5,379.98	15,983.20
34	Sep 2029	4,818.69	4,539.64	15,541.67
35	Oct 2029	3,975.78	3,695.45	15,096.84
36	Nov 2029	3,129.00	2,847.39	14,648.67
37	Dec 2029	2,278.34	1,995.44	14,197.12
38	Jan 2030	1,423.78	1,139.59	13,742.17
39	Feb 2030	565.31	279.81	13,380.11
40	Mar 2030	0.00	0.00	13,203.80
41	Apr 2030	0.00	0.00	13,040.21
42	May 2030	0.00	0.00	12,885.62
43	Jun 2030	0.00	0.00	12,729.78
44	Jul 2030	0.00	0.00	12,572.68
45	Aug 2030	0.00	0.00	12,414.30
46	Sep 2030	0.00	0.00	12,254.63
47	Oct 2030	0.00	0.00	12,093.66
48	Nov 2030	0.00	0.00	11,931.35
49	Dec 2030	0.00	0.00	11,767.70
50	Jan 2031	0.00	0.00	11,602.69
51	Feb 2031	0.00	0.00	11,436.31
52	Mar 2031	0.00	0.00	11,268.53
53	Apr 2031	0.00	0.00	11,099.35
54	May 2031	0.00	0.00	10,928.74
55	Jun 2031	0.00	0.00	10,756.67
56	Jul 2031	0.00	0.00	10,583.14
57	Aug 2031	0.00	0.00	10,408.12
58	Sep 2031	0.00	0.00	10,231.60
59	Oct 2031	0.00	0.00	10,053.56
60	Nov 2031	0.00	0.00	9,873.97
61	Dec 2031	0.00	0.00	9,692.82
62	Jan 2032	0.00	0.00	9,510.08
63	Feb 2032	0.00	0.00	9,325.74
64	Mar 2032	0.00	0.00	9,139.77
65	Apr 2032	0.00	0.00	8,952.15
66	May 2032	0.00	0.00	8,762.87
67	Jun 2032	0.00	0.00	8,571.90
68	Jul 2032	0.00	0.00	8,379.21
69	Aug 2032	0.00	0.00	8,184.79
70	Sep 2032	0.00	0.00	7,988.61
71	Oct 2032	0.00	0.00	7,790.64
72	Nov 2032	0.00	0.00	7,590.86
73	Dec 2032	0.00	0.00	7,389.25
74	Jan 2033	0.00	0.00	7,185.78
75	Feb 2033	0.00	0.00	6,980.43
76	Mar 2033	0.00	0.00	6,773.18
77	Apr 2033	0.00	0.00	6,563.99
78	May 2033	0.00	0.00	6,352.84
79	Jun 2033	0.00	0.00	6,139.70
80	Jul 2033	0.00	0.00	5,924.55
81	Aug 2033	0.00	0.00	5,707.36
82	Sep 2033	0.00	0.00	5,488.09
83	Oct 2033	0.00	0.00	5,266.73
84	Nov 2033	0.00	0.00	5,043.23
85	Dec 2033	0.00	0.00	4,817.58
86	Jan 2034	0.00	0.00	4,589.74
87	Feb 2034	0.00	0.00	4,359.68
88	Mar 2034	0.00	0.00	4,127.37
89	Apr 2034	0.00	0.00	3,892.78
90	May 2034	0.00	0.00	3,731.45
91	Jun 2034	0.00	0.00	3,588.55
92	Jul 2034	0.00	0.00	3,445.00
93	Aug 2034	0.00	0.00	3,300.79
94	Sep 2034	0.00	0.00	3,155.92
95	Oct 2034	0.00	0.00	3,010.38
96	Nov 2034	0.00	0.00	2,864.18
97	Dec 2034	0.00	0.00	2,717.31
98	Jan 2035	0.00	0.00	2,569.76
99	Feb 2035	0.00	0.00	2,421.54
100	Mar 2035	0.00	0.00	2,272.64
101	Apr 2035	0.00	0.00	2,123.06
102	May 2035	0.00	0.00	1,972.79
103	Jun 2035	0.00	0.00	1,821.83
104	Jul 2035	0.00	0.00	1,670.18
105	Aug 2035	0.00	0.00	1,517.83
106	Sep 2035	0.00	0.00	1,364.79
107	Oct 2035	0.00	0.00	1,211.05
108	Nov 2035	0.00	0.00	1,056.60
109	Dec 2035	0.00	0.00	901.44
110	Jan 2036	0.00	0.00	745.57
111	Feb 2036	0.00	0.00	588.99
112	Mar 2036	0.00	0.00	431.69
113	Apr 2036	0.00	0.00	273.67
114	May 2036	0.00	0.00	114.92
115	Jun 2036	0.00	0.00	0.00

Sample debts, made up. With scripts off this is a worked example starting Dec 2026; with scripts on it starts the month after your device's date and updates as you type. Nothing you type is sent or saved.

Not financial advice. These are estimates from the figures you type; nothing here is a recommendation.

The sample, worked

Month 1, by hand: each balance x APR / 12, to the cent, is that month's interest (215.49 in all). Every debt gets its minimum (615.00 in all). The monthly total is the minimums plus the extra: 615.00 + 250.00 = 865.00. What is left after the minimums, 250.00, goes to the first debt in the order. For the snowball that is Store card, the smallest balance: it gets its 25.00 minimum plus 250.00. When a debt is cleared, its minimum stays in the monthly total and moves on to the next debt.

Each debt in the sample
Debt	Balance	APR	Minimum	Month 1 interest	Snowball place	Cleared in month	Avalanche place	Cleared in month
Store card	640.50	28.99%	25.00	15.47	1	3	1	3
Travel card	4,215.77	21.49%	95.00	75.50	3	18	2	16
Car loan	9,800.00	7.25%	285.00	59.21	4	26	3	25
Student loan	14,250.25	5.5%	160.00	65.31	5	40	4	40
Family loan	1,500.00	0%	50.00	0.00	2	7	5	30

Against paying only the minimums (115 months, 9,952.48 of interest), the snowball order pays 6,056.10 less interest and the avalanche order 6,342.91 less, on these figures.

All 12 debts, every month, in a spreadsheet

The Debt Payoff Plan adds your own order, a 360-month schedule for the order you choose, a payment log and a progress sheet. Formulas only.

Debt Payoff Plan: US$5.99, one time. One .xlsx file for Excel and Google Sheets.

See it on Etsy

Or all six money sheets in one download, this one included: Money Spreadsheets 6-Pack, US$24.99 (US$37.94 bought one by one).

Questions people search for

What is the difference between debt snowball and avalanche?: Both pay every minimum and put the rest of the monthly amount on one debt at a time. Snowball picks the smallest balance first. Avalanche picks the highest APR first (ties go to the smaller balance). Freed-up minimums roll on to the next debt in both.
Debt snowball vs avalanche: which is better?: This page does not choose for you. It shows the months and the interest for each order on your own figures. Other things matter that it cannot see, such as secured debts, promotional rates and fees. For help with your own situation, talk to a qualified professional or a non-profit credit counsellor.
How is the debt-free date worked out?: Month by month: interest is the balance x APR / 12, to the cent; every debt gets its minimum or what it owes if less; what is left of the monthly total goes to the first debt in the order, then the next. The debt-free month is the first month every balance reaches 0.00, counting your first month as month 1.
What if my minimum payment doesn't cover the interest?: The page names that debt: when the first month's interest is the same as or more than the minimum, paying only the minimum never brings it down. Under snowball or avalanche it can still clear once other debts are paid and their minimums roll over. If nothing clears in 360 months, the page says More than 30 years.
Is there a debt snowball vs avalanche spreadsheet for Excel?: The Debt Payoff Plan runs these same rules for up to 12 debts over 360 months, adds your own order, a month-by-month schedule and a payment log, for Excel and Google Sheets.
Does it work out interest by the day, like my lender?: No. It uses balance x APR / 12 each month. Lenders often work interest out by the day, minimums can change as balances fall, and fees and new charges are not included, so treat the dates as estimates and read your statements for exact amounts.
Is what I type here saved?: No. The page runs on your device. Nothing you type is sent or saved.

Where the rules come from

The month-by-month rules are the Debt Payoff Plan's own, word for word from its Start here sheet. This page's figures are tested against that workbook's formulas to the cent, and the sample is the one its 5-minute check pastes into Google Sheets and Excel for the web (snowball 40 months, 3,896.38 of interest; avalanche 3,609.57 of interest). There is no government source for snowball or avalanche: they are orders of payment, not rules.

Last updated 10 Nov 2026.