The fastest way out is one focused effort.
Add your debts, decide how much extra you can throw at them each month, and pick a strategy. The calculator shows your debt-free date, total interest, and which debt to focus on first under each approach.
Payoff order
Each debt's payoff month under the selected strategy.Estimates only. Monthly compounding at the APR you enter; assumes you make every minimum payment, the APR holds steady, and any extra goes to one focused debt at a time. Real cards and loans have variable rates, fees, and promotional periods that change the math. Use this as a planning tool, not a contract.
Two legitimate strategies, different strengths.
Both methods pay every minimum every month. The difference is where the extra dollar goes. Both work — the right one is the one you'll actually finish.
- Snowball. Smallest balance first, regardless of APR. You knock out a debt fast, the momentum carries, and you have one fewer minimum payment to track. Behaviorally optimal.
- Avalanche. Highest APR first, regardless of balance. Mathematically optimal — you stop the worst interest leak first, paying less total. Best when the gap between APRs is large.
Snowball wins on motivation. Avalanche wins on dollars. If both look winnable to you, avalanche saves more interest. If you've stalled on debt before, snowball wins because finishing matters more than optimizing.
Every debt costs interest every month.
Each month, every balance accrues interest at APR ÷ 12.
You pay every minimum on every debt. Whatever you can put on top — the
"extra" — goes to one focused debt at a time. When that debt is paid,
its old minimum rolls into the focused payment for the next debt. That's
the snowball.
- Roll the minimums. The reason this accelerates is each finished debt frees up its minimum payment to put toward the next one. Don't redirect freed-up minimums elsewhere — keep them in the plan.
- The "extra" matters more than you think. Even $50/mo extra can shave years off the schedule, because most of an early-month minimum payment is just covering interest. Extra dollars hit principal directly.
- Don't skip the 401(k) match while paying off debt. The match is a 50%–100% one-time return. Even a 22% credit card can't beat that. Pay the match contribution and the debt — don't trade one for the other.
Step 3 in the order of operations.
In our Money Order of Operations, high-interest debt payoff comes after capturing the employer match and stashing a $1,000 starter buffer — and before the full 3–6 month emergency fund.
- Step 1. Capture the full 401(k) employer match.
- Step 2. Build a $1,000 starter buffer.
- Step 3. Pay off high-interest debt (this calculator) — usually anything above ~7% APR.
- Step 4. Fully fund your 3–6 month emergency fund.
- Step 5. Open a Roth IRA (and HSA, if eligible).
Where this estimate is rough.
- APRs change. Credit card rates float; promotional periods end; some loans are variable. Re-check when a rate moves.
- Minimum payments are usually a percentage. Most cards calculate the minimum as a percentage of the balance — so as the balance drops, the minimum drops too. This calculator holds the minimum constant for simplicity, which is a slightly conservative assumption.
- Fees aren't modeled. Late fees, annual fees, balance transfer fees — those add to the real cost.
- Don't add debt while paying it off. The biggest reason payoff plans fail isn't the math — it's that the credit card kept getting used. Cut up, freeze, or remove the card from your wallet during payoff.
- Consolidation may help. A balance transfer card with 0% intro APR or a low-rate personal loan can compress your timeline — if (and only if) you don't add new debt during the runway.