Debt Payoff Calculator: Payoff Date and Interest for Several Debts

This calculator shows how long it takes to pay off several debts at once and how much interest they cost. Enter each debt’s balance, annual interest rate and minimum payment, add any extra amount you can put toward debt each month, and choose whether the extra goes to the highest rate first (avalanche) or the smallest balance first (snowball). The debt payoff plan covers the steps around it, and the debt strategies hub lists the other guides.

What the calculator does

Each month it adds interest to every balance at the annual rate divided by 12, pays each debt its minimum, then applies the extra amount to the target debt chosen by the strategy: the highest rate for avalanche, the smallest remaining balance for snowball. It repeats until every balance reaches zero and reports:

• Debt-free in: the number of months until the last balance is paid;
• Total interest paid and total amount paid with the extra payment;
• Interest saved and time saved compared with paying the minimums alone;
• Payoff order: the month each debt is cleared.

Two things it doesn’t do. It treats each minimum as a fixed dollar amount, while a credit card’s minimum usually shrinks as the balance falls, which stretches the payoff out; the minimum payment calculator models a card paid that way. And when a debt is paid off, its minimum isn’t moved to the next debt: only the extra amount is. A plan that rolls each freed-up payment into the next target, as described in debt avalanche vs snowball, finishes sooner than the result shown here.

Worked example: the starting values

Because the card is both the smaller balance and the higher rate, avalanche and snowball give the same answer here. Add a small low-rate debt and switch the strategy to see them diverge; the avalanche vs snowball comparison works through a four-debt case.

Getting accurate results

• Use the rate on each statement, not an advertised rate. Card statements show the purchase rate and any separate cash-advance or promotional rates.
• Enter each promotional balance separately if a card has a promotional rate on part of the balance, and recheck once the promotion ends.
• Variable rates change. For a line of credit or HELOC tied to prime, the result holds only while the rate stays where it is.
• Student loans: federal student loans have charged 0% interest since April 1, 2023, while some provincial portions still charge interest. How to pay off student loans explains which part of a loan costs interest and the tax credit on student loan interest.

Lowering the rate instead

The calculator shows how much interest the current rates cost. If one loan at a lower rate would replace several high-rate balances, debt consolidation loans explains when that saves money, and balance transfer credit cards covers moving card balances to a promotional rate. Running the calculator again with the new rate shows the difference.

When the minimums can’t be covered

If the minimum payments alone don’t fit the budget, no payoff order fixes that. The debt relief options guide compares what’s available, from asking lenders for a hardship plan to the formal legal processes.

Other calculators

• Personal loan calculator for a single fixed-term loan
• Line of credit calculator for interest-only and paydown scenarios
• HELOC calculator for borrowing against home equity

Avalanche vs snowball

The debt avalanche and the debt snowball are two ways to decide which debt gets your extra money first. Both pay the minimum on every debt and put everything left over on one target; they differ only in how the target is chosen. This page shows how each orders a list of debts, works through the same four debts both ways, and explains when the choice changes the result. The full plan around it (listing debts, finding extra money, getting help) is in the debt payoff plan, and the debt strategies hub lists the other guides.

How each method picks the target

Avalanche: sort the debts by interest rate, highest first. Extra money goes to the highest-rate debt until it’s gone, then to the next highest. Because each extra dollar removes the most expensive balance available, this order costs the least total interest.

Snowball: sort the debts by balance, smallest first. Extra money goes to the smallest balance until it’s gone, then to the next smallest. Whole accounts disappear sooner, which some people find easier to stick with, at the cost of carrying the expensive balances for longer.

In both, a debt’s payment doesn’t vanish when it’s paid off: it rolls into the next target, so the total going to debt each month stays the same until everything is cleared.

The same debts, both ways

When the choice matters

The gap between the two methods depends on how far apart the interest rates are and how large the low-rate small balances are.

• The methods match when the smallest balance also has the highest rate. Then both pick the same target and the results are identical.
• The gap is small when the rates are close together, or when the small balance that the snowball puts first is small enough to clear in a few months.
• The gap is large when a big balance carries a much higher rate than the small ones, such as a large credit card balance alongside a small low-rate line of credit. The snowball then leaves the expensive balance growing for longer.

Some people use a hybrid: clear one or two very small balances first for the quick result, then switch to rate order. When two debts have nearly the same rate, paying the smaller one first costs almost nothing extra.

Promotional rates and changing rates

A balance on a promotional rate, such as a 0% balance transfer, sits at the bottom of the avalanche order only until the promotion ends. Many people note the end date and move that balance up the list before the regular rate applies. A variable-rate line of credit can also move up or down the order when rates change, so the order is worth rechecking when a rate changes.

Running the numbers on your own debts

The debt payoff calculator takes your own balances, rates and payment and shows the payoff date and interest under either method. For card balances on their own, paying off credit card debt covers card-specific tactics such as asking for a lower rate. If the minimums on the list can’t be covered at all, neither method fixes that; the debt relief options guide compares the other routes, from free non-profit help to the legal processes.

Related pages

• Student Loans in Canada