Debt Payoff Calculator
Enter up to 10 debts, set your monthly budget, and watch your personal sunrise: the exact month you become debt-free under the snowball, avalanche, or your own custom payoff order.
Your debts
Up to 10 debts — credit cards, loans, medical bills. Everything stays in your browser.
Top = paid first. Use ↑ ↓ to reorder.
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Payoff order
Estimate, not a promise. Assumes fixed APRs, fixed minimums, payments on time every month, and no new borrowing. Real payoff dates vary — see methodology & FAQ.
Snowball vs Avalanche vs Custom
The same debts, the same budget — three different payoff orders, simulated month by month. Edit your debts in the Payoff Plan tab; this comparison updates live.
How to read this
Avalanche attacks the highest interest rate first, so it mathematically minimizes total interest. Snowball clears the smallest balance first for quick psychological wins. The best strategy is the one you will actually finish — if the dollar gap is small, pick the one that keeps you motivated.
Payoff timeline
Watch every balance melt month by month under your chosen strategy. Export the full schedule as CSV for your spreadsheet.
Balance over time
Stacked balances per debt, using the strategy selected in the Payoff Plan tab.
Milestones — when each debt hits zero
Month-by-month schedule
Scroll inside the table.
| Month | Date | Payment | Interest | Principal | Balance |
|---|
What-if simulator
What if you found an extra $100 a month — or dropped a tax refund onto your highest-APR card? Drag, and watch your debt-free date move.
Scenario
Compared against your base plan from the Payoff Plan tab (same debts, same strategy).
Credit card payoff calculator
One balance, one APR, one monthly payment — how many months until it is gone, and what it really costs. Includes the infamous minimum-payment trap comparison.
Your card
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⚠️ The minimum-payment trap
Most issuers only require about 2% of the balance (min $25) — and the minimum shrinks as your balance shrinks, so you are never forced to pay aggressively:
| Strategy | Months | Interest | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimums only (2%/$25) | — | — | — |
| Your fixed payment | — | — | — |
Worked examples
Real numbers, computed by the same engine running above — verify them yourself.
Example 1 — Two cards, $300/month budget
Card A: $5,000 at 19.99% APR ($100 minimum). Card B: $2,000 at 24.99% APR ($50 minimum). Budget: $300/month. The avalanche strategy attacks Card B (24.99%) first — Card B is gone in month 12, Card A in month 31.
Same debts, same budget — paying only minimums costs 4× the interest and takes 3.5× as long. The plan is the product.
Example 2 — The $5,000 / 22% APR trap
Balance $5,000 at 22% APR. Month-one interest alone is $91.67 — so a $100 payment shrinks the balance by barely $8.33 at first.
Declining minimums (2% of balance, $25 floor) can stretch a $5,000 balance past 80 years. Doubling a fixed payment more than halves both time and interest — the math heavily rewards aggression.
Example 3 — When snowball and avalanche disagree
Card A: $5,000 at 19.99% ($100 min). Card B: $2,000 at 12.99% ($50 min). Budget $300/month. Here the smallest balance is not the highest rate, so the strategies truly diverge.
Avalanche wins by $230.36 — but snowball kills a whole debt by month 11. If that early win keeps you on plan for 30 months, it is worth far more than $230.
Methodology — exactly how the numbers are computed
Educational estimates — not financial advice. Every figure on this page comes from the month-by-month simulation described below. Nothing is guessed or rounded behind your back.
Monthly simulation
Each simulated month, for every unpaid debt:
Then your budget is allocated: minimums first on every debt, then every remaining dollar attacks the target debt (the highest-priority unpaid debt in your chosen order), cascading to the next when one is cleared. A payment never exceeds what a debt is owed. Simulation stops when all balances reach zero (or at 1,200 months as a safety cap).
Strategy orders
- Avalanche: highest APR first; ties broken by smaller balance.
- Snowball: smallest balance first; ties broken by higher APR.
- Custom: your exact order from the Payoff Plan tab.
- Minimums-only baseline: each debt gets exactly its minimum, nothing rolls over — the honest cost of treading water.
Closed-form check (single debt, fixed payment)
The single-card tab shows this formula's result next to the simulation — they agree (the simulation rounds the final partial payment). If your payment does not cover one month's interest (P ≤ r·B), the debt mathematically never shrinks, and the calculator tells you so.
Assumptions & limits
- Interest compounds monthly at APR ÷ 12. Real issuers may compound daily — close, not identical.
- Minimum payments are treated as fixed amounts you enter. Real card minimums often decline as the balance falls (see the trap comparison, which models 2%/$25 minimums).
- APRs, minimums, and your budget never change; payments are on time every month; no new borrowing, no fees, no penalty rates.
- All math runs locally in your browser — your numbers never leave this page.
Not financial advice. These are planning estimates. For decisions about consolidation, settlement, or hardship, consider a qualified financial professional or a nonprofit credit counseling agency.
Frequently asked questions
A debt payoff calculator estimates how long it will take you to become debt-free and how much interest you will pay, based on your balances, interest rates (APRs), minimum payments, and how much you can pay each month. This planner goes further: it handles up to 10 debts at once, compares snowball, avalanche, and custom payoff orders side by side, and shows a month-by-month timeline plus what-if scenarios for extra payments.
The avalanche method (highest APR first) always minimizes total interest mathematically, because every extra dollar attacks the most expensive debt. The snowball method (smallest balance first) usually costs a bit more in interest but clears individual debts faster, which many people find more motivating. The strategy that saves the most is the one you will actually stick with — this calculator shows you the exact dollar difference for your debts so you can decide.
List your debts from smallest to largest balance. Pay the minimum on all of them, then throw every extra dollar at the smallest balance. When it is paid off, roll its entire payment (minimum plus the extra) into the next-smallest debt. Repeat until all debts are gone. The quick early wins build momentum, which research suggests helps people stay on plan.
List your debts from highest to lowest interest rate (APR). Pay the minimum on all of them, then throw every extra dollar at the highest-APR debt. When it is paid off, roll that payment into the next-highest-APR debt. Because high-rate balances generate the most interest each month, this order mathematically minimizes total interest paid.
It depends entirely on your APR and monthly payment. At 22% APR with a fixed $100/month payment, $5,000 takes about 137 months (over 11 years) and costs about $8,678 in interest. Paying $200/month instead cuts it to about 34 months and about $1,750 in interest. Try the single-debt mode above with your own numbers — doubling the payment more than halves both the time and the interest.
You fall into the minimum-payment trap. Most issuers set minimums around 2% of the balance (or about $25), so as your balance shrinks your required payment shrinks too — you are never forced to pay aggressively. A $5,000 balance at 22% APR paid with declining 2%/$25 minimums can take 80+ years and cost over $43,000 in interest. Paying even a modest fixed amount above the minimum collapses both the timeline and the interest.
Pay as much extra as your budget safely allows after covering essentials and a small emergency buffer — even $50 to $100 extra per month dramatically shortens payoff on high-rate debt. Use the what-if simulator: drag the extra-payment slider and watch your debt-free date move closer and total interest fall. There is no magic number; consistency matters more than the amount.
Compare your debt's interest rate to your expected investment return. Paying off a 22% credit card is a guaranteed, risk-free 22% return — investments rarely beat that reliably. As a rule of thumb, aggressively pay down high-interest debt (roughly above 7–8%) before investing beyond capturing any employer retirement match, which is an instant 50–100% return. This is an educational estimate, not financial advice; consider talking to a qualified financial professional about your situation.
Yes. A lump sum immediately reduces the principal that future interest is calculated on, so you save all the interest that balance would have generated over the remaining months. Earlier lump sums save more than later ones. Enter any windfall — tax refund, bonus, or savings — in the what-if simulator to see exactly how many months and dollars it saves on your plan.
Mathematically, highest interest rate first (avalanche) minimizes total interest. Psychologically, smallest balance first (snowball) gives faster wins. If neither fits — for example you want a particular card cleared before a trip — use the custom order option. The comparator tab runs all three orders on your actual debts so you can see the trade-off in months and dollars instead of guessing.
Your debt-free date is the calendar month when the simulation shows your last balance hitting zero, given your debts, APRs, minimums, monthly budget, and chosen payoff order. The calculator simulates month by month: each debt accrues interest at APR/12, minimums are paid on all debts, and the remainder of your budget attacks the target debt first. It is an estimate — real payoff dates shift if rates, minimums, or spending change.
Most cards charge monthly interest as: balance × (APR ÷ 12). A $5,000 balance at 22% APR accrues about $91.67 in interest that month. Your payment first covers that interest; only the remainder reduces the principal. That is why a $100 payment on that balance shrinks it by only about $8.33 at first — and why the fixed-payment payoff formula is N = −ln(1 − r×B÷P) ÷ ln(1+r), where r is the monthly rate, B the balance, and P the payment.
Yes. Any debt with a balance, an interest rate, and a minimum payment works — credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, student loans, and medical bills. Enter 0% APR for interest-free debts like many medical bills. Note the calculator assumes fixed minimums and fixed rates; income-driven student loan plans or variable rates will differ in real life.
The calculator will warn you and simulate paying what you can in priority order, but consistently paying less than the minimums means late fees, penalty rates, and credit damage in real life. Treat the warning as a signal to act: contact your lenders about hardship programs, look into nonprofit credit counseling, or speak with a financial professional before balances grow faster than payments.
It is a close estimate for comparing strategies, not an exact payoff date. It assumes interest compounds monthly at APR/12, minimum payments stay fixed, rates never change, payments are on time every month, and no new borrowing is added. Real cards and loans may use daily compounding, declining minimums, fees, or variable rates. Use it to compare plans and build motivation, and confirm exact figures with your lender statements.
No. This tool provides educational estimates for planning and comparison only — not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice, and it makes no promises about results. Everyone's situation is different. If you are struggling with debt, consider speaking with a qualified financial professional or a nonprofit credit counseling agency.