Debt Avalanche Calculator
Pay off debt faster by targeting the highest interest rates first. See total interest saved vs. minimum-only payments.
How to Use This Debt Avalanche Calculator
1. Enter Your First Debt. Fill in the Balance, Rate, and Min. Payment for your first debt — a credit card, personal loan, or any other kind of debt you're carrying.
2. Click "+ Add Debt" for Each Additional One. Repeat the same process for every debt you have to get an accurate payoff order.
3. Enter Your Extra Monthly Payment. Fill in how much extra you can put toward debt beyond your combined minimums.
4. Click Calculate. The calculator ranks debts from highest rate to lowest and simulates month-by-month payments.
5. Read Your Results. Check the bar chart and the "Interest Saved" figure comparing avalanche against minimum-only payments.
Marcus is carrying three debts: a $4,000 credit card at 24% interest ($120 minimum), an $8,000 personal loan at 12% interest ($180 minimum), and a $15,000 car loan at 7% interest ($320 minimum). He has an extra $200 a month to put toward debt. The calculator directs all of that extra money toward the credit card first — the highest rate of the three — clearing it in about 15 months. Once the credit card is gone, its full payment (minimum plus extra, $320 total) flows straight into the personal loan, speeding its payoff up to around month 29. From there, the personal loan's now-larger payment (grown to $500) rolls into the car loan, clearing it around month 39 — roughly 3 years and 3 months total to be free of all three debts. What catches Marcus off guard is comparing this to what would happen if he just paid the minimum on all three with no strategy at all: the slowest of the three wouldn't clear until around month 59, nearly 5 years out. The difference isn't just time — it's roughly $3,500 in interest avoided, and close to two years shaved off, simply by pointing the same extra payment in the right direction from the start.
Key Terms
Balance
The remaining amount owed on each individual debt you enter.
Rate
The annual interest rate (APR) for each debt. The highest rate always gets attacked first in avalanche.
Min. Payment
The required monthly minimum for each debt, which stays due regardless of your avalanche strategy.
Extra Monthly Payment
The amount you're putting toward debt beyond all combined minimums, directed at the highest-rate debt first.
Payment Rolling
Once a debt is paid off, its full former payment shifts immediately to the next debt in line by rate.
Interest Saved
The difference in total interest between the avalanche strategy and paying minimums only.
What Debt Avalanche Actually Looks Like With Three Real Debts
The idea behind debt avalanche sounds simple on paper: pay the minimums, send everything else toward the highest rate. But it only really clicks once you see the actual numbers play out across a few debts at once.
The Order Comes From Rate, Not Balance Size
Take a credit card at $4,000 (24%), a personal loan at $8,000 (12%), and a car loan at $15,000 (7%). The attack order has nothing to do with which balance is biggest or smallest — it's purely about rate.
The Rolling Effect Keeps Getting Bigger
Once the credit card clears around month 15, the $320 that had been going toward it shifts over to the personal loan, pushing its payoff up to month 29. The same thing happens again once the personal loan is gone.
The Gap That Only Shows Up Once You Compare
With this strategy, all three debts are gone by around month 39 compared to month 59 for minimum-only payments — saving roughly $3,500 in interest.