Compare snowball vs avalanche: $5,000 budget $250/mo (A 1000 @ 18% min $150, B 4000 @ 22% min $60)
Budget $250.00/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: $1,267.82
Months: 26
Avalanche (highest APR first)
Payoff order: Card A → Card B
Total interest: $1,318.50
Months: 26
Explanation
This two-card scenario has $5,000.00 total balance with a $250.00/month payoff budget. Snowball and avalanche use the same budget — the only difference is which debt gets the extra payment.
Snowball saves about $50.69 in interest versus avalanche here. Timelines are 26 months (snowball) vs 26 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.