Debt Snowball Calculator
See how fast you'll be debt-free by paying off your smallest balance first and rolling payments forward.
How the calculation works
The snowball method targets your smallest balance first regardless of its interest rate, so you clear individual debts faster and build momentum. Once a debt hits zero, its minimum payment rolls into the extra payment being thrown at the next-smallest debt, so the amount you're piling on grows, like a snowball, as each debt disappears. It usually costs a bit more in total interest than the avalanche method (which targets the highest interest rate first), in exchange for faster early wins.
Formula
Each month, every debt accrues interest and gets its minimum payment. All extra money, your extra payment plus the minimum payments freed up from already-paid-off debts, goes to the debt with the smallest remaining balance.
Examples
$5,000 @ 22%, $3,000 @ 18%, $8,000 @ 15%, $200 extra/month
Debt-free in 42 months, $5,336.77 total interest paid
$2,000 @ 10% and $6,000 @ 25%, $100 extra/month
Debt-free in 39 months, $3,487.28 total interest paid