Enter every debt you owe. Choose snowball or avalanche. Get a month-by-month plan showing exactly when each debt disappears and how much interest you save.
The avalanche method (highest interest rate first) always saves more money on paper. The snowball method (smallest balance first) gets you to your first "paid off" moment faster, which research shows keeps more people on track. The best method is the one you'll actually stick to.
If you have a $800 credit card balance alongside a $15,000 student loan and a $12,000 car loan — snowball hits that $800 balance in 1–2 months. That early win releases its minimum payment to attack the next debt. Psychologically, seeing a balance hit zero is powerful. Studies on debt repayment behavior show higher completion rates with snowball, even when avalanche is mathematically superior.
If your highest-rate debt is also one of your smaller balances, avalanche and snowball produce nearly identical timelines — pick avalanche for the interest savings. Also, if you're disciplined and motivated by math rather than milestones, the hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest savings over 3–5 years justify avalanche every time.
The single most powerful variable in debt payoff isn't which method you use. It is how much extra you put toward your debts every month. Change the extra payment above and watch the debt-free date and the interest total move.