Compare snowball vs avalanche: $5,000 budget $400/mo (A 1000 @ 18% min $150, B 4000 @ 22% min $30)
Budget $400.00/mo • Total balance $5,000.00
Prefilled calculator
This embeds the multi-debt payoff tool with your scenario prefilled.
Snowball (smallest first)
Payoff order: Card A → Card B
Total interest: $708.50
Months: 15
Avalanche (highest APR first)
Payoff order: Card A → Card B
Total interest: $733.37
Months: 15
Explanation
This two-card scenario has $5,000.00 total balance with a $400.00/month payoff budget. Snowball and avalanche use the same budget — the only difference is which debt gets the extra payment.
Snowball saves about $24.87 in interest versus avalanche here. Timelines are 15 months (snowball) vs 15 months (avalanche).
Time to payoff is essentially the same in months. Avalanche is still a strong default if your main goal is minimizing interest, while snowball can be easier to stick with.
Payoff order (snowball): Card A → Card B. Payoff order (avalanche): Card A → Card B.