Use this calculator to plan your debt snowball strategy. Enter your starting extra payment amount and then list all your debts from smallest balance to largest. The calculator will show you how quickly you can become debt-free and how much interest you'll save!
This is the extra amount you can consistently pay towards your smallest debt each month, in addition to all minimum payments.
Your Debts:
Understanding the Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball Method
The Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball is a debt reduction strategy where you pay off debts in order from smallest balance to largest, regardless of the interest rate. The core idea is to build momentum and motivation by achieving quick wins.
How it Works:
List Your Debts: Gather all your debts (credit cards, personal loans, car loans, student loans, etc.) and list them from the smallest outstanding balance to the largest.
Minimum Payments: Make the minimum required payment on all your debts except for the smallest one.
Attack the Smallest Debt: Take any extra money you have available (your "snowball payment") and apply it to the smallest debt. Pay as much as you possibly can on this debt until it's completely paid off.
Roll the Payment: Once the smallest debt is paid off, take the money you were paying on that debt (its minimum payment plus the extra snowball amount) and add it to the minimum payment of the *next* smallest debt. This creates a larger payment for the second debt, helping you pay it off faster.
Repeat: Continue this process, "snowballing" the payments from paid-off debts into the next smallest debt, until all your debts are gone.
Why it's Effective:
Psychological Momentum: Paying off the smallest debt quickly provides a psychological win, motivating you to continue the process. This momentum is key to staying disciplined.
Simplicity: It's easy to understand and implement, reducing decision fatigue.
Behavioral Change: It focuses on changing behavior and building habits of aggressive debt repayment, which is often more impactful than purely mathematical optimization (like the debt avalanche method, which prioritizes highest interest rates).
Using the Calculator:
Our Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball Calculator helps you visualize this process. Enter your starting extra payment and then list all your debts. The calculator will sort them by balance and simulate the snowball effect month by month, showing you:
The total time it will take to become debt-free.
The total interest you will pay over that period.
A detailed payment schedule for each debt, illustrating how the snowball grows.
This tool is designed to empower you with a clear plan and the motivation to tackle your debt head-on!
.debt-snowball-calculator-container {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
max-width: 800px;
margin: 20px auto;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 8px;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
}
.debt-snowball-calculator-container h2,
.debt-snowball-calculator-container h3 {
color: #333;
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
.calculator-inputs .input-group {
margin-bottom: 20px;
padding: 15px;
border: 1px solid #eee;
border-radius: 5px;
background-color: #fff;
}
.calculator-inputs label {
display: block;
margin-bottom: 8px;
font-weight: bold;
color: #555;
}
.calculator-inputs input[type="number"],
.calculator-inputs input[type="text"] {
width: calc(100% – 22px);
padding: 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 4px;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.calculator-inputs .input-description {
font-size: 0.9em;
color: #777;
margin-top: -5px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.debt-row {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
gap: 10px;
margin-bottom: 15px;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #e0e0e0;
border-radius: 5px;
background-color: #fff;
align-items: center;
}
.debt-row input[type="text"] {
flex: 2;
min-width: 150px;
margin-bottom: 0;
}
.debt-row input[type="number"] {
flex: 1;
min-width: 100px;
margin-bottom: 0;
}
.debt-row button {
flex-shrink: 0;
padding: 8px 12px;
background-color: #dc3545;
color: white;
border: none;
border-radius: 4px;
cursor: pointer;
font-size: 0.9em;
}
.debt-row button:hover {
background-color: #c82333;
}
.calculator-inputs button[type="button"] {
display: block;
width: auto;
padding: 10px 20px;
margin: 15px auto;
background-color: #007bff;
color: white;
border: none;
border-radius: 5px;
font-size: 1em;
cursor: pointer;
transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
}
.calculator-inputs button[type="button"]:hover {
background-color: #0056b3;
}
.calculator-results {
margin-top: 30px;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 8px;
background-color: #fff;
}
.calculator-results h3 {
color: #333;
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.calculator-results p {
font-size: 1.1em;
line-height: 1.6;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.calculator-results strong {
color: #007bff;
}
.calculator-results table {
width: 100%;
border-collapse: collapse;
margin-top: 20px;
}
.calculator-results table th,
.calculator-results table td {
border: 1px solid #eee;
padding: 8px;
text-align: left;
}
.calculator-results table th {
background-color: #f2f2f2;
font-weight: bold;
color: #333;
}
.calculator-results table tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color: #f9f9f9;
}
.calculator-results table tr:hover {
background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
.calculator-article {
margin-top: 40px;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 8px;
background-color: #fff;
}
.calculator-article h3 {
color: #333;
text-align: left;
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
.calculator-article h4 {
color: #555;
margin-top: 25px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.calculator-article p,
.calculator-article ul,
.calculator-article ol {
line-height: 1.6;
color: #444;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.calculator-article ul,
.calculator-article ol {
margin-left: 20px;
}
.calculator-article li {
margin-bottom: 5px;
}
@media (max-width: 600px) {
.debt-row {
flex-direction: column;
align-items: stretch;
}
.debt-row input {
width: 100%;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.debt-row button {
width: 100%;
}
}
var debtCounter = 3; // Start with 3 pre-filled debts
function addDebtRow() {
debtCounter++;
var debtInputsDiv = document.getElementById('debtInputs');
var newDebtRow = document.createElement('div');
newDebtRow.className = 'debt-row';
newDebtRow.id = 'debtRow_' + debtCounter;
newDebtRow.innerHTML = `
`;
debtInputsDiv.appendChild(newDebtRow);
}
function removeDebtRow(id) {
var debtRow = document.getElementById('debtRow_' + id);
if (debtRow) {
debtRow.remove();
}
}
function calculateDebtSnowball() {
var startingSnowballPayment = parseFloat(document.getElementById('startingSnowballPayment').value);
if (isNaN(startingSnowballPayment) || startingSnowballPayment < 0) {
alert('Please enter a valid positive number for Starting Debt Snowball Payment.');
return;
}
var debts = [];
for (var i = 1; i <= debtCounter; i++) {
var debtRow = document.getElementById('debtRow_' + i);
if (debtRow) {
var name = document.getElementById('debtName_' + i).value;
var balance = parseFloat(document.getElementById('debtBalance_' + i).value);
var minPayment = parseFloat(document.getElementById('debtMinPayment_' + i).value);
var interestRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById('debtInterestRate_' + i).value);
if (!name || isNaN(balance) || balance <= 0 || isNaN(minPayment) || minPayment <= 0 || isNaN(interestRate) || interestRate balance) {
alert('Minimum payment for "' + name + '" cannot be greater than its balance.');
return;
}
debts.push({
id: i,
name: name,
originalBalance: balance,
currentBalance: balance,
minPayment: minPayment,
annualInterestRate: interestRate / 100, // Convert percentage to decimal
payments: [] // To store monthly payment details
});
}
}
if (debts.length === 0) {
alert('Please add at least one debt to calculate.');
return;
}
// Sort debts by current balance (smallest to largest) for the snowball method
debts.sort(function(a, b) {
return a.currentBalance – b.currentBalance;
});
var totalMonths = 0;
var totalInterestPaid = 0;
var totalPrincipalPaid = 0;
var currentSnowballPayment = startingSnowballPayment; // This grows as debts are paid off
var maxMonthsLimit = 1200; // Prevent infinite loops (100 years)
var simulationLog = []; // To store month-by-month details
// Calculate total original principal
for (var d = 0; d 0; }) && totalMonths < maxMonthsLimit) {
totalMonths++;
var monthLog = { month: totalMonths, debts: [] };
var totalPaymentsThisMonth = 0;
var extraPaymentAvailable = currentSnowballPayment; // This is the snowball amount to apply to the smallest debt
// First, pay minimums on all debts and calculate interest
for (var d = 0; d 0) {
var monthlyInterest = debt.currentBalance * (debt.annualInterestRate / 12);
totalInterestPaid += monthlyInterest;
debt.currentBalance += monthlyInterest; // Interest accrues before payment
var paymentAmount = debt.minPayment;
totalPaymentsThisMonth += paymentAmount;
debt.payments.push({
month: totalMonths,
payment: paymentAmount,
interest: monthlyInterest,
balanceBefore: debt.currentBalance – monthlyInterest, // Balance before interest
balanceAfter: debt.currentBalance – paymentAmount // Balance after payment
});
monthLog.debts.push({
name: debt.name,
payment: paymentAmount,
interest: monthlyInterest,
balance: debt.currentBalance – paymentAmount
});
}
}
// Now, apply the snowball to the smallest remaining debt
var smallestDebtIndex = -1;
for (var d = 0; d 0) {
if (smallestDebtIndex === -1 || debts[d].currentBalance = 0) {
var originalMinPayment = smallestDebt.payments[lastPaymentIndex].payment;
var newPayment = originalMinPayment + paymentToSmallest;
// Ensure newPayment doesn't exceed current balance
newPayment = Math.min(newPayment, smallestDebt.currentBalance + originalMinPayment); // Add original min payment back to balance to get true current balance before this payment adjustment
smallestDebt.currentBalance -= (newPayment – originalMinPayment);
totalPaymentsThisMonth += (newPayment – originalMinPayment);
smallestDebt.payments[lastPaymentIndex].payment = newPayment;
smallestDebt.payments[lastPaymentIndex].balanceAfter = smallestDebt.currentBalance;
// Update monthLog for the smallest debt
for(var ml = 0; ml < monthLog.debts.length; ml++) {
if (monthLog.debts[ml].name === smallestDebt.name) {
monthLog.debts[ml].payment = newPayment;
monthLog.debts[ml].balance = smallestDebt.currentBalance;
break;
}
}
}
}
// Check for paid-off debts and roll their minimum payments into the snowball
for (var d = 0; d < debts.length; d++) {
var debt = debts[d];
if (debt.currentBalance 0) {
currentSnowballPayment += debt.minPayment;
debt.minPayment = 0; // Prevent adding it again
}
}
simulationLog.push(monthLog);
}
var resultsDiv = document.getElementById('debtSnowballResults');
var totalPaid = totalPrincipalPaid + totalInterestPaid;
var years = Math.floor(totalMonths / 12);
var months = totalMonths % 12;
var resultsHTML = '
Debt Snowball Results
';
if (totalMonths >= maxMonthsLimit) {
resultsHTML += 'Calculation stopped after ' + maxMonthsLimit + ' months. This might indicate an issue with inputs (e.g., minimum payments too low or starting snowball payment too small to ever pay off debt).';
}
resultsHTML += 'Congratulations! Following the Debt Snowball method, you will be debt-free in approximately ' + years + ' years and ' + months + ' months.';
resultsHTML += 'Total Principal Paid: $' + totalPrincipalPaid.toFixed(2) + '';
resultsHTML += 'Total Interest Paid: $' + totalInterestPaid.toFixed(2) + '';
resultsHTML += 'Total Amount Paid: $' + totalPaid.toFixed(2) + '';
resultsHTML += '
Detailed Payment Schedule
';
resultsHTML += '
'; // Scrollable container for the table
resultsHTML += '
';
resultsHTML += '
Month
';
for (var d = 0; d < debts.length; d++) {
resultsHTML += '
' + debts[d].name + ' Payment
' + debts[d].name + ' Balance
';
}
resultsHTML += '
Total Monthly Payment
';
resultsHTML += '';
for (var m = 0; m < simulationLog.length; m++) {
var monthData = simulationLog[m];
var totalMonthPayment = 0;
resultsHTML += '
' + monthData.month + '
';
for (var d = 0; d < debts.length; d++) {
var debtName = debts[d].name;
var payment = 0;
var balance = debts[d].originalBalance; // Default to original if no payment yet
// Find the payment data for this specific debt in this month
for(var md = 0; md < monthData.debts.length; md++) {
if (monthData.debts[md].name === debtName) {
payment = monthData.debts[md].payment;
balance = monthData.debts[md].balance;
break;
}
}
totalMonthPayment += payment;
resultsHTML += '