Debt snowball vs avalanche: same debts, two plans

Last updated: 15 October 2026 · By Quicksloth

The debt snowball pays off your smallest balance first. The debt avalanche pays off your highest interest rate first. Both pay every minimum and put all the spare money on one debt at a time. Here are both plans worked out month by month on the same three debts, with the same money each month, so you can see what the choice actually changes.

Short version: in this example both plans clear all three debts in 21 months. The avalanche costs $84 less in interest. The snowball pays off the first debt 7 months sooner.

This is a worked example of a calculation, not financial advice. Your own numbers will be different, and your lender's statements are what counts.

The debts

On top of the minimums there is an extra $200 a month, so $540 a month goes to debt in both plans, every month, until everything is paid.

The two plans

• Snowball: order by balance, smallest first: Card A ($1,000), then Card B ($3,000), then the car loan ($6,000).
• Avalanche: order by APR, highest first: Card B (24%), then Card A (12%), then the car loan (6%).

Each month, every debt gets its minimum and the rest of the $540 goes to the first debt in the order that is still open. When a debt is paid off, what's left of that month's payment moves straight to the next debt in the order, and from then on its minimum joins the extra. The monthly total never changes; only where it goes.

Month 1, side by side

Interest for the month is the balance × APR ÷ 12: $10 on Card A, $60 on Card B, $30 on the car loan. Then the $540 is paid.

Same $540, different target. The snowball shrinks the small card fast; the avalanche attacks the 24% card.

Results

So, with these debts: the avalanche saves $84 in interest; the snowball pays off its first debt 7 months sooner. That's also how the Debt Payoff tab of our budget planner puts it: "Avalanche saves 84 in interest. Snowball pays off your first debt 7 months sooner."

Why the numbers come out this way

• The avalanche pays less interest because every spare dollar goes first to the debt that charges the most, 24% here. Each dollar taken off Card B saves twice the interest of a dollar taken off Card A, and four times that of the car loan.
• The snowball has a quicker first win because Card A is small: $250 a month clears it in 5 months. In the avalanche, Card A only gets its $50 minimum until Card B is gone.
• Both finish in the same month here because the car loan is last in both orders and is the biggest debt. With other debts the avalanche can also finish a month or more earlier: the difference depends on how far apart the rates and the balances are.
• The gap is $84 over 21 months with $10,000 of debt. With your debts it can be smaller or larger; and if your smallest debt also has the highest rate, the two plans are the same plan.

Which one fits you is your call. Some people stick with a plan better when they see a debt disappear early; others prefer to pay the least interest. Seeing both for your own debts, with real numbers, makes the trade-off concrete.

What this example assumes

• Rates stay fixed and nothing new is charged to the cards.
• Interest is the balance × APR ÷ 12, added once a month; payments are made at the end of each month. Your lender may calculate interest differently (for example on a daily balance), so your statements will differ a little.
• The same $540 is paid every month, and minimums don't drop as balances shrink.
• Amounts are rounded to the cent each month; the totals above are rounded to the dollar.

We worked the plans out month by month twice: with the formulas of the spreadsheet, recalculated in LibreOffice, and with a separate script. Both give the same payoff months and the same interest to the dollar.

Try it with your own debts

Our Budget Planner has a Debt Payoff tab that does this for up to 15 debts: type each balance, APR and minimum payment and an extra amount per month, and it shows the snowball and the avalanche side by side, with months to debt-free, the debt-free date, total interest and the month each debt is paid off. Then pick your plan; now and then, type each balance from your statement so the plan stays on track. It works in Excel and Google Sheets and is coming soon to our Etsy shop.

Not financial advice. The calculation shows what each plan costs under the assumptions above; it doesn't know your income, your other goals or your lender's terms.