Question 1

What is the difference between snowball and avalanche?

Accepted Answer

Snowball targets the smallest balance first for quick psychological wins. Avalanche targets the highest interest rate first to minimize total interest paid. Avalanche usually saves more money, while snowball provides motivation through faster individual payoffs.

Question 2

What is the extra monthly budget?

Accepted Answer

This is the amount above your minimum payments that you can put toward debt each month. The calculator applies this extra amount to your target debt (highest rate for avalanche, lowest balance for snowball) to accelerate payoff.

Question 3

Why are the payoff dates different for each strategy?

Accepted Answer

Each strategy prioritizes debts in a different order. As debts are paid off, their minimum payments are redirected to the next target (debt snowball effect), creating different timelines for each individual debt.

Debt	Months	Interest	Payoff
Credit Card	17	$851.20	Aug 2027
Car Loan	33	$1,625.53	Dec 2028
Student Loan	53	$3,806.89	Aug 2030

Debt	Months	Interest	Payoff
Credit Card	17	$851.20	Aug 2027
Car Loan	33	$1,625.53	Dec 2028
Student Loan	53	$3,806.89	Aug 2030

Debt Payoff Calculator

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Total Remaining Debt Over Time

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