Compare snowball vs avalanche: $5,000 budget $400/mo (A 1000 @ 22% min $30, B 4000 @ 29.99% 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: $996.51
Months: 15
Avalanche (highest APR first)
Payoff order: Card B → Card A
Total interest: $966.65
Months: 16
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.
Avalanche (highest APR first) saves about $29.86 in interest versus snowball here. Timelines are 16 months (avalanche) vs 15 months (snowball).
Snowball finishes about 1 month(s) sooner in this setup because clearing a smaller balance sooner can free up minimum payments earlier.
Payoff order (snowball): Card A → Card B. Payoff order (avalanche): Card B → Card A.