Debt Payoff Planner
Runs in your browser — your data is never uploaded.
List your debts, add whatever you can pay above the minimums, and this builds the whole payoff plan month by month — including the part that makes either method work, where the payment freed up by clearing one debt rolls straight into the next. Both strategies are calculated every time, so you can see exactly what choosing the motivating one costs you in interest. Download the schedule as a spreadsheet or PDF to actually follow it.
How to use Debt Payoff Planner
- 1
List each debt on its own line: name, balance, APR, minimum payment. Pasting four columns from a spreadsheet works too.
- 2
Add the extra amount you can pay each month on top of the minimums.
- 3
Switch between snowball and avalanche to compare, then download the schedule.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the snowball and avalanche methods?+
Both pay every minimum and throw everything spare at one target debt. Snowball targets the smallest balance, so you clear whole debts sooner and see progress; avalanche targets the highest interest rate, which always costs less overall. Avalanche wins on arithmetic, snowball wins on the number of people who finish — this tool prices the difference so you can choose knowingly.
Why does the payment stay the same after a debt is paid off?+
Because that is the method. When a card clears, its payment rolls into the next debt instead of returning to your budget, so the amount attacking the remaining balances grows every time one disappears — the snowball rolling downhill. Letting the total fall back to the remaining minimums roughly doubles the time to debt-free.
Should I use my real minimum payment or a fixed amount?+
Enter the current minimum. Credit card minimums are usually a percentage of the balance, so the real one shrinks as you pay down, while this plan holds it steady — which is what you should be doing anyway. Following a declining minimum is the mechanism that keeps a card alive for decades.
What if my minimums are already more than I can pay?+
The planner will tell you if the total does not cover the interest, since the balances would then grow no matter what. That is not a calculator problem — it is the point at which to talk to a nonprofit credit counselling agency (the NFCC is the usual US starting point) rather than to a spreadsheet.
Are my debts sent anywhere?+
No. The whole plan is computed in your browser and the spreadsheet is generated on your own device. Nothing about what you owe reaches a server or is stored anywhere.