Add every debt below, pick how much extra you can put toward them each period, and this compares three paths: paying them down smallest-first (snowball), highest-rate-first (avalanche), or rolling them into one consolidation loan. Generic payoff math — not financial advice.
| Creditor | Balance | Rate (% APR) | Min payment / month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | $0.00 | 0.0% | $0.00 |
| Creditor | Starting balance | Rate | Cleared |
|---|
Both pay every debt's minimum and throw all extra money at one target debt, then roll that payment onto the next once it's cleared. Snowball targets the smallest balance first — you clear debts sooner, which keeps momentum going. Avalanche targets the highest interest rate first — it minimizes total interest paid, usually at the cost of a longer wait before the first debt disappears.
No. A consolidation loan only helps if its rate is meaningfully lower than the weighted average rate across your current debts, and the term isn't stretched out so far that the extra time cancels the rate savings. This calculator compares the consolidation loan's own payment and total interest directly against the snowball/avalanche totals so you can see which is actually cheaper for the numbers you entered.
It doesn't know about consolidation loan fees or origination costs, prepayment penalties on your existing debts, promotional or introductory rates that expire, variable rates that can change, or tax effects. It's generic payoff math based on the numbers you type in — not a lender quote and not financial advice.
Because a consolidation loan's required payment can end up higher than what you're currently paying across all your debts plus your extra amount — especially over a short term. That warning is there because this is a common way people get misled shopping for consolidation loans: a lower rate doesn't always mean a lower payment.
With no extra payment, every debt is just paid down by its own minimum on its own schedule — snowball and avalanche give the same result, since there's no extra amount to redirect between debts. Add an extra amount to see the two strategies diverge.
