Debt Payoff Planner (Snowball vs Avalanche)
Your debt-free date, the order to pay, and what each method saves.
Payoff order
Compare the options
What you owe, month by month
Month-by-month schedule
What to pay on each debt every month in your plan, the interest charged and what is left.
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
About the Debt Payoff Planner (Snowball vs Avalanche)
List every debt — credit cards, personal loans, car and education loans, buy-now-pay-later — with what you owe, its interest rate and its minimum payment, then add what extra you can pay each month. The planner works out when you will be debt-free, the order your debts are cleared in and the total interest, for the avalanche method (highest interest rate first), the snowball method (smallest balance first) or your own order.
It compares each plan with paying only the minimums, shows a month-by-month schedule of what to pay on each debt, and checks whether a consolidation loan would cost less. Everything is calculated in your browser.
How to use it
- For each debt, enter what you still owe, its interest rate a year (a card that charges 3.5% a month is 42% a year) and the minimum payment or EMI — 0 for a debt with no fixed payment, such as a loan from family.
- Enter the extra you can pay each month on top of all the minimums, and the month of your first payment.
- Choose what to pay off first: the highest rate (avalanche), the smallest balance (snowball), or your order — move debts up and down with the arrows.
- Optional: open Compare with a consolidation loan and enter a loan offer’s rate, tenure and processing fee.
- Read your debt-free date, the payoff order and the comparison; follow the monthly schedule, copy the plan or download it as CSV.
Examples
Card ₹60,000 at 42% (min ₹3,000) · personal loan ₹40,000 at 14% (₹2,000) · car loan ₹2,00,000 at 9% (₹6,000)
Avalanche: debt-free in 21 months, ₹35,835 interest · snowball: 22 months, ₹41,980 · minimums only: 39 months, ₹81,822
Avalanche clears the card in month 9, the personal loan in month 12 and the car loan in month 21 — and saves ₹45,987 against paying only the minimums.
EMI ₹10,547 · interest ₹79,696 + ₹6,000 fee — paying the full ₹16,000 a month into it instead: 22 months, ₹47,536 interest
Here the avalanche plan costs less than consolidating: 16% is more than the personal loan (14%) and the car loan (9%) cost now.
Common uses
- Decide which loan or card to prepay first.
- See how much an extra ₹2,000 or ₹5,000 a month brings your debt-free date forward.
- Compare a personal-loan or balance-transfer offer with paying off the debts yourself.
- Follow a month-by-month plan for each debt.
How the plan works
Every month the planner:
- adds interest to each debt: balance × annual rate ÷ 12;
- pays the minimum on every debt;
- puts the rest of your budget — the extra amount, plus the minimums of debts already paid off — on the first debt in the chosen order, then the next.
Your monthly budget stays the same: all the minimums plus the extra. When a debt is cleared, its minimum “rolls over” to the next one, which is why the payoff speeds up towards the end.
Avalanche or snowball?
The avalanche pays the highest interest rate first, so each extra rupee stops the most expensive interest — it keeps the total interest lowest. The snowball pays the smallest balance first, so you clear whole debts sooner and have fewer payments to keep track of; it can cost more interest. In the example above the difference is ₹6,144 and one month. The comparison table shows the difference for your debts, so you can decide whether quick wins are worth it.
Is a consolidation loan worth it?
A consolidation loan pays off your debts and leaves you with one EMI. It helps when its rate is clearly lower than the rates you pay now (credit cards in particular) and the fee is small. Two things to check in the comparison:
- At its EMI, a long tenure lowers the monthly payment but can add interest.
- At your full budget, paying everything you pay now into the new loan shows the real saving.
The fee is counted as a cost. Stop using the cards you consolidated, or the debt comes back.
Limitations
- Interest is worked out monthly at the annual rate ÷ 12. Credit cards charge interest daily and add 18% GST on it in India — for a single card, the credit card interest calculator models that exactly.
- Minimum payments are taken as fixed amounts, like EMIs. A card’s minimum due falls as its balance falls; using today’s minimum for the whole plan clears it faster than paying only the shrinking minimum would.
- Late fees, penalties, prepayment charges and new borrowing are not included.
- Floating-rate loans can change rate; the plan keeps today’s rates.
Privacy
Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded or stored.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the debt snowball and the debt avalanche?
Both pay the minimum on every debt and put all the extra money on one debt at a time. The avalanche targets the highest interest rate first, which keeps the total interest lowest; the snowball targets the smallest balance first, so the first debts are gone sooner. The planner shows both for your debts.
Which debt should I pay off first?
To pay the least interest, the one with the highest interest rate — usually a credit card. If a small debt can be cleared in a month or two, clearing it first frees its minimum payment for the others. Compare Highest rate and Smallest balance to see what each costs.
How do I convert a monthly interest rate to a yearly one?
Multiply it by 12: a card that charges 3.5% a month is 42% a year, and 3.75% a month is 45% a year — SBI Card’s most important terms and conditions, for example, quote 3.75% a month as 45% a year. Interest charged every month on interest makes the true yearly cost higher still.
What if my minimum payment does not cover the interest?
Then that debt grows on minimum payments alone, and the planner warns you. Any plan with enough extra money still clears it; if your total payments do not cover even the first month’s interest, it asks you to pay more.
Should I take a personal loan to pay off my credit cards?
It can save a lot if the loan’s rate is far below the cards’ rates and you stop using the cards. Enter the offer under Compare with a consolidation loan: the comparison shows the interest and fee against your current plan.