Snowball or avalanche? See which clears your debt faster
A new free tool: add your debts, pick an extra payment, and compare the snowball and avalanche methods side by side, including how much interest each one saves.
If you've got a couple of debts on the go, the order you pay them off in genuinely changes how much it costs you. So here's a free tool to settle the snowball-vs-avalanche question with your actual numbers.
The Debt Payoff Calculator lets you add all your debts (balance, interest rate, minimum payment), set how much extra you can pay each month, and see both plans at once:
- Avalanche pays the highest interest rate first, which always costs the least interest. The tool shows you exactly how much you'd save.
- Snowball pays the smallest balance first, so you clear a whole debt early for a motivation boost. The tool tells you when that first win lands.
You get a debt-free date for each method, the total interest, the payoff order, and a chart of your balance falling. As each debt clears, its payment rolls into the next one, so the plan speeds up over time.
The honest truth from the calculator: the method matters less than the extra payment. The real lever is finding more to put in each month, which is exactly what a budget is for. Track it, free, with KeaBudget.
Built in the open, as always. Tell us what you think at hello@keabudget.co.nz.