Debt Payoff Calculators

The payment is the lever

On a $6,000 credit card balance at 24.99%, paying $150 a month takes 7 years 3 months and costs $7,025 in interest — more than the balance itself. Paying $200 takes 4 years and costs $3,512.

An extra $50 a month roughly halves the cost of the debt. No choice of payoff order comes close to that.

Which is why the snowball argument is smaller than it looks

Across $27,000 of realistic debts, choosing avalanche over snowball saves $107 in total interest. Finding $300 a month extra saves $5,882. The method is worth about two per cent of what the extra payment is worth.

So if the momentum of clearing small balances is what keeps you paying $300 instead of $100, snowball is the better choice, not the worse one. And with no extra payment at all, the two methods are mathematically identical.

Where the cost hides in loans

• Personal loans — the origination fee. A 5% fee turns an advertised 11.5% into a true APR of 15.09%, and the monthly payment is identical either way, which is why comparing on the payment tells you nothing.
• Auto loans — the term. Stretching 36 to 72 months cuts the payment $443 and more than doubles the interest. Sales tax is financed too, so a $35,000 car with $5,000 down is a $32,100 loan.
• Credit cards — the minimum. It falls as the balance falls, which is what makes the finish line retreat. Fixing the payment is the single change that gives the debt an end date.

Which tool for which debt

The order that usually makes sense

1. Cut the rate if you can. The same $6,000 paid at $250 a month costs $1,178 at 15% and $3,275 at 29.99%. A balance transfer, a consolidation loan, or simply asking your issuer for a reduction moves more money than any payoff order does.
2. Fix the payment. Card minimums fall as the balance falls, which is what makes the finish line retreat. Choosing an amount and holding it is what turns a card into a debt with an end date.
3. Then pick an order — and do not spend long on it. Avalanche saves $107 across $27,000 of debts where the extra payment saves $5,882.

Where lenders hide the cost

Every product here buries its cost somewhere different, and each calculator surfaces the specific one.

• Credit cards hide it in the shrinking minimum. At $150 a month, a $6,000 balance at 24.99% takes 7 years 3 months and costs $7,025 — more interest than the balance itself.
• Personal loans hide it in the origination fee, which never touches the monthly payment. A 5% fee turns an advertised 11.5% into 15.09% APR.
• Auto loans hide it in the term, because dealers negotiate in monthly payments. Going 36 to 72 months cuts the payment 44% and more than doubles the interest.

The pattern is the same in all three: the number being advertised is not the number that costs you money.