Free tool · Debt

Debt Plan — snowball vs avalanche

Enter your debts and a monthly extra, and see both methods at once: snowball clears the smallest balance first for quick wins; avalanche clears the highest interest rate first to pay the least. Same maths as our tested spreadsheet.

Your debts

Add each balance you’re paying off — a card, loan, overdraft or Buy-Now-Pay-Later plan.

DebtBalanceAPR %Min / month
££
££
££
You’ll put toward debt£250.00 / mo

Snowball

Smallest balance first — quick wins
16months to debt-free
October 2027debt-free date
£373.13total interest
Pay off in this order
  1. Store cardOctober 2026 · £0.00 interest
  2. Credit card AMarch 2027 · £131.16 interest
  3. Credit card BOctober 2027 · £241.97 interest

Avalanche

Highest APR first — least interest
16months to debt-free
October 2027debt-free date
£285.52total interest
Pay off in this order
  1. Credit card AJanuary 2027 · £75.66 interest
  2. Credit card BAugust 2027 · £209.86 interest
  3. Store cardOctober 2027 · £0.00 interest
Interest saved by choosing avalanche£87.61

Both clear in the same number of months here — the whole difference is interest. Snowball clears small balances sooner, which some people find easier to stick to. The maths is the same either way — you choose.

Self-directed planning tool, not financial or debt advice. It compares two well-known payoff methods on the figures you enter and makes no recommendation about what you should do. For free, impartial debt help see MoneyHelper or National Debtline.

Want it to remember everything?

Debt Snowball & Avalanche Dual-Method Tracker

This planner shows the outcome. The full Debt Snowball & Avalanche spreadsheet shows the whole month-by-month schedule for both methods, with the automatic rollover you can watch happen.