How the debt payoff calculator works
Checked Oct 24, 2026
Month by month, each debt gathers a month of interest and gets its minimum, the rest of your budget goes to one target debt, and each paid-off debt’s minimum rolls into the next.
Open the debt payoff calculator
Step by step
1. Interest
Each month a debt’s balance grows by its yearly rate over 12, rounded to the cent.
2. Payments
Your monthly budget is every minimum plus your extra. Minimums are paid first; the rest goes to the target: the highest rate (avalanche) or the smallest balance (snowball). When a debt is gone, its share keeps going to the others.
3. Minimums only
For comparison, the same debts with no extra and no rollover: a paid-off debt’s minimum stops.
4. Never
If the total owed is no lower than it was a year earlier, payments aren’t keeping up with interest and the calculator says so instead of a date.
Assumed
- Rates and minimum payments stay the same until each debt is paid off.
- No new charges are added.
- Payments are made on time each month.
Not modeled
- Minimum payments that shrink with the balance, as card minimums often do.
- Promotional rates, fees and balance transfers.
- Student loan income-driven plans and forgiveness.
Sources
These are estimates for education, not tax or investment advice. If a number looks wrong, report a problem with this calculation and say what you entered.