Debt-free date calculator
List up to five debts with their balances, rates and minimum payments, choose avalanche (highest rate first) or snowball (smallest balance first), and add any extra you can pay each month. The calculator shows your debt-free date and total interest.
Educational estimate based on the numbers you enter and common rules of thumb. Not a loan offer, rate quote, approval or financial advice. A licensed loan officer can run your real numbers.
How this calculator works
This calculator pays down up to five debts together, one month at a time. Each month, interest is added to every debt at one twelfth of its yearly rate. Enter each rate from your own statements. Your monthly budget is the sum of all the minimums plus the extra amount you enter. The tool pays every minimum first, then sends whatever is left to one target debt. With avalanche, the target is the highest-rate debt. With snowball, it is the smallest balance. When a debt is paid off, its minimum stays in the budget and rolls to the next target.
Assumptions: your total monthly budget stays the same until everything is paid off, minimum payments do not shrink as balances fall, rates stay the same, and you add no new charges. Fees and promotional rates are not modeled. If the payments are too low to keep ahead of interest, the tool says so. The table lists the month each debt is paid off.
How this affects buying a home: lenders add the monthly payment on each debt to your housing payment to get your debt-to-income ratio. Paying a debt off entirely removes its payment from that ratio, which can matter more than lowering several balances a little. Lower card balances can also help your credit scores. Lenders look at savings too, so a loan officer can help you balance debt payoff against your down payment.
Example: enter a $3,000 card balance and a $10,000 car loan with their rates and minimums from your statements, add $200 extra, and compare avalanche with snowball.
Related: Debt-to-income calculator · Credit card payoff calculator · Credit utilization what-if · Student loan extra payment calculator
Common questions
Avalanche or snowball?
Avalanche pays the highest-rate debt first and usually costs the least interest. Snowball pays the smallest balance first, which some people find easier to stick with. Both work if you keep going.
What happens when a debt is paid off?
Its minimum payment rolls into the next debt in line, so your payoff speeds up over time. This calculator does that automatically.
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