Debt Payoff Calculator

When you owe money on several things at once, the question is not what each costs — it is which to clear first. There are two established answers. Paying the highest interest rate first saves the most money. Paying the smallest balance first clears whole debts sooner, which is what keeps people going. This runs both against the same budget so you can see exactly what choosing the second one costs you, and decide with the number in front of you.

How to use it

1. Enter each debt: what you owe, its rate, and the minimum payment.
2. Enter the total you can put towards all of them each month.
3. Compare the two orders side by side.
4. Pick the one you will actually stick to.

Examples

• A 36% card of 80,000 and a 14% loan of 35,000, cleared with 12,000 a month
• Highest-rate-first finishes a month sooner and saves about 4,000 in interest

Frequently asked questions

Snowball or avalanche — which should I use?

Highest-rate-first, the avalanche, always costs less in interest; that is arithmetic, not opinion. Smallest-balance-first, the snowball, clears individual debts sooner, and the encouragement of seeing one disappear is why many people finish at all. Run both here and look at the gap. If it is small, take the snowball with a clear conscience — the plan you finish beats the optimal one you abandon. If it is large, the avalanche is worth the patience.

Why does clearing one debt speed up the rest?

Because its minimum payment does not disappear, it gets redirected. Once a debt is gone, everything you were paying towards it goes to the next one, on top of that one's own minimum. Each payoff makes the next one faster, which is why both strategies accelerate towards the end and why either one comfortably beats paying minimums on everything forever.

What if I can only afford the minimum payments?

Then nothing clears in any useful timeframe, and this tool will tell you so rather than pretend otherwise. Minimum payments on a high-rate card are calculated to cover interest plus a sliver of principal, so the balance barely moves. The lever is not the order in that case; it is finding any amount above the minimums, or moving the balance somewhere cheaper. Even a small amount above the minimum changes the picture dramatically, which you can see by nudging the budget up here.

Should I take a consolidation loan instead?

It can help if the new rate is genuinely below the weighted average of what you are paying now, and if you do not then use the freed-up card limit again — which is the failure mode. Work out the consolidated loan on the personal loan calculator and compare its total interest against the avalanche figure here. A consolidation that lowers the monthly payment by extending the term often costs more overall, even at a lower rate.