Debt payoff calculator
Both plans pay every minimum and put whatever is left on one target debt. The only difference is which debt gets targeted first.
On top of every minimum. This is what the plan puts on the target debt.
Two orders compared
Highest rate first costs less
$306.07
Interest saved by targeting the highest rate first, over 0 months of difference.
- Total owed
- $22,400
- Minimums each month
- $620.00
- Plus $200.00 extra
Highest rate first
- Debt free in
- 2 years 8 months
- Interest paid
- $3,349.36
- Total paid
- $25,749
Order targeted: Credit card, then Line of credit, then Car loan.
Smallest balance first
- Debt free in
- 2 years 8 months
- Interest paid
- $3,655.43
- Total paid
- $26,055
Order targeted: Line of credit, then Credit card, then Car loan.
Assumptions
- Interest is charged monthly at the annual rate divided by twelve, then the minimums are paid, then the extra payment goes to the target debt.
- When a debt clears, its minimum joins the extra payment. That rolling amount is what makes either plan speed up as it goes.
- Minimum payments stay flat. Card issuers usually set a minimum as a percentage of the balance, so a real minimum falls as the balance does, which makes a real payoff slower than this one.
- Balances and rates hold steady. New spending on a card, a promotional rate ending, or a missed payment fee would all change the result.
- The plan runs for 50 years at most. If a balance grows faster than it is repaid, the calculator says so rather than looping.
- Nothing here weighs a consolidation loan, a balance transfer offer or a negotiated settlement against carrying the debts as they are.
Sources
- What is the best way to pay off multiple credit cards, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, checked 30 August 2026
- Choosing a mortgage that is right for you, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, checked 30 August 2026
How this works
Once you are paying more than the minimums, the extra money has to go somewhere, and there are two sensible places to send it. The highest rate order, often called the avalanche, targets whichever debt charges the most. Every dollar removes the most expensive interest available, so this order always pays the least in total.
The smallest balance order, the snowball, targets whichever debt is closest to zero. It costs more interest because it ignores the rate, but it clears individual accounts sooner, and that visible progress is why some people stick with it when the arithmetic alone would not keep them going.
The gap between the two is worth measuring rather than assuming. When your highest rate debt also happens to be your smallest, the two orders are identical and the choice is empty. When a large balance carries the highest rate, the difference can run into hundreds of dollars and several months. Enter your own figures and the comparison above tells you which case you are in.
One thing neither order changes is the size of the extra payment, and that is the number that moves the result most. Adding fifty dollars a month usually pulls the payoff date in further than switching strategies does. If the extra payment is zero, both plans reduce to paying minimums forever on anything with a high rate, which is the situation the warning above is watching for.