Debt Snowball Calculator
Use this calculator to plan your debt repayment using the Debt Snowball method. Enter your debts, their balances, minimum payments, and interest rates, along with any extra amount you can pay each month. The calculator will show you how quickly you can become debt-free and how much interest you'll save.
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Understanding the Debt Snowball Method
The Debt Snowball method is a debt reduction strategy where you pay off debts in order from smallest balance to largest. The core idea is to gain psychological momentum as you eliminate smaller debts quickly, "snowballing" the minimum payments from paid-off debts into the next smallest debt.
How it Works:
- List all your debts: Include credit cards, personal loans, car loans, student loans, etc.
- Sort them by balance: Arrange your debts from the smallest outstanding balance to the largest. Ignore interest rates for this sorting step.
- Pay minimums on all but the smallest: Make only the minimum required payments on all debts except for the one with the smallest balance.
- Attack the smallest debt: Throw every extra dollar you can find at the debt with the smallest balance. This includes any "additional payment" you can afford.
- Snowball the payment: Once the smallest debt is completely paid off, take the money you were paying on that debt (its minimum payment plus any extra you were adding) and add it to the minimum payment of the *next* smallest debt.
- Repeat: Continue this process, rolling the payments from paid-off debts into the next one, until all your debts are gone.
Why Choose the Debt Snowball?
- Psychological Boost: Paying off debts quickly, even small ones, provides a sense of accomplishment and motivates you to keep going. This is its primary advantage over the Debt Avalanche method (which prioritizes highest interest rates).
- Simplicity: The method is straightforward and easy to understand and implement.
- Momentum: As you pay off more debts, the amount you're able to apply to the next debt grows, creating a "snowball" effect that accelerates your repayment.
Example Scenario:
Let's say you have three debts:
- Credit Card A: Balance $1,000, Min. Payment $30, 18% APR
- Personal Loan: Balance $3,000, Min. Payment $75, 10% APR
- Car Loan: Balance $10,000, Min. Payment $200, 5% APR
And you can afford an extra $50 per month.
- Sort: Credit Card A ($1,000), Personal Loan ($3,000), Car Loan ($10,000).
- Month 1:
- Credit Card A: Pay $30 (min) + $50 (extra) = $80
- Personal Loan: Pay $75 (min)
- Car Loan: Pay $200 (min)
- After Credit Card A is paid off: Let's say it took 12 months. Now you have an extra $80 available.
- Next Target (Personal Loan):
- Personal Loan: Pay $75 (min) + $80 (snowball from CC A) = $155
- Car Loan: Pay $200 (min)
- After Personal Loan is paid off: Now you have an extra $155 available.
- Final Target (Car Loan):
- Car Loan: Pay $200 (min) + $155 (snowball from PL) = $355
This calculator will automate this process for you, showing the exact timeline and total interest paid.
Debt ${i}
`; container.appendChild(debtGroup); } } function calculateDebtSnowball() { var numDebts = parseInt(document.getElementById('numDebts').value); var additionalPayment = parseFloat(document.getElementById('additionalPayment').value); var resultDiv = document.getElementById('result'); resultDiv.innerHTML = "; if (isNaN(additionalPayment) || additionalPayment < 0) { resultDiv.innerHTML = 'Please enter a valid extra monthly payment.'; return; } var debts = []; for (var i = 1; i <= numDebts; i++) { var debtName = document.getElementById('debtName_' + i).value; var balance = parseFloat(document.getElementById('balance_' + i).value); var minPayment = parseFloat(document.getElementById('minPayment_' + i).value); var interestRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById('interestRate_' + i).value); if (isNaN(balance) || balance < 0 || isNaN(minPayment) || minPayment < 0 || isNaN(interestRate) || interestRate 0; }); // Safety break for infinite loops (e.g., if min payments don't cover interest) var maxIterations = 1200; // 100 years * 12 months var iterationCount = 0; while (activeDebts.length > 0 && iterationCount < maxIterations) { totalMonths++; iterationCount++; var monthDetails = { month: totalMonths, payments: [], snowballAmount: currentSnowballPayment }; var monthInterestAccrued = 0; var monthPrincipalPaid = 0; var monthTotalPayment = 0; for (var i = 0; i < activeDebts.length; i++) { var debt = activeDebts[i]; // Calculate interest for the month var monthlyInterest = debt.balance * (debt.interestRate / 12); debt.totalInterestPaid += monthlyInterest; totalInterestPaidOverall += monthlyInterest; monthInterestAccrued += monthlyInterest; // Add interest to balance debt.balance += monthlyInterest; var paymentForThisDebt = 0; if (i === 0) { // This is the current target debt for the snowball paymentForThisDebt = Math.min(debt.balance, debt.minPayment + currentSnowballPayment); } else { // Other debts just pay minimum paymentForThisDebt = Math.min(debt.balance, debt.minPayment); } // Ensure payment doesn't exceed balance paymentForThisDebt = Math.max(0, paymentForThisDebt); // Payment can't be negative paymentForThisDebt = Math.min(paymentForThisDebt, debt.balance); // Payment can't exceed balance debt.balance -= paymentForThisDebt; monthTotalPayment += paymentForThisDebt; monthPrincipalPaid += (paymentForThisDebt – monthlyInterest); monthDetails.payments.push({ name: debt.name, payment: paymentForThisDebt, balanceRemaining: debt.balance }); if (debt.balance 0; }); // Re-sort active debts in case new smallest debt emerged due to payments activeDebts.sort(function(a, b) { return a.balance – b.balance; }); } if (iterationCount >= maxIterations) { resultDiv.innerHTML += 'Calculation stopped after ' + maxIterations + ' months. It seems some debts might not be paid off with the current payments (minimum payments might not cover interest, or additional payment is too low).'; } var finalOutput = 'Debt Snowball Results
'; finalOutput += 'Total Time to Debt Freedom: ' + totalMonths + ' months'; finalOutput += 'Total Interest Paid: $' + totalInterestPaidOverall.toFixed(2) + "; finalOutput += 'Debt Payoff Order:
'; finalOutput += '- ';
// Sort original debts by their paidOffMonth to show payoff order
var paidOffDebts = debts.filter(function(debt) { return debt.paidOffMonth !== null; });
paidOffDebts.sort(function(a, b) { return a.paidOffMonth – b.paidOffMonth; });
if (paidOffDebts.length > 0) {
for (var k = 0; k < paidOffDebts.length; k++) {
var debt = paidOffDebts[k];
finalOutput += '
- ' + debt.name + ' paid off in month ' + debt.paidOffMonth + '. Total interest paid on this debt: $' + debt.totalInterestPaid.toFixed(2) + ' '; } } else { finalOutput += '
- No debts were paid off within the simulation limit. '; } finalOutput += '
Monthly Repayment Schedule:
'; finalOutput += '| Month | Debt | Payment | Remaining Balance | Snowball Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ' + monthData.month + ' | '; finalOutput += '' + paymentData.name + ' | '; finalOutput += '$' + paymentData.payment.toFixed(2) + ' | '; finalOutput += '$' + paymentData.balanceRemaining.toFixed(2) + ' | '; finalOutput += (p === 0) ? '$' + monthData.snowballAmount.toFixed(2) + ' | ' : ''; finalOutput += ' |