A useful comparison starts with the same cash budget. This calculator separates your entered debts, the order in which extra cash is applied, and the resulting monthly ledger. It compares the modeled costs and milestones without assuming that a single method is best for every household. Check the allocation for the next payment month before relying on a distant payoff date.
Read the next payment before the headline
Enter balances and minimums from your statements. The calculator holds the sum of the original active minimums plus your recurring extra constant. Every month, minimum cash is applied first and the remaining budget follows the selected priority. Cash can cascade to another debt as soon as one closes; a zero-balance row does not create an extra budget. Initial lump cash is applied before the first interest charge. The retained reserve is limited to that initial cash and does not reduce later monthly payments. One-off payments entered for a payment month become available after that month’s interest and before allocation.
Compare cost, milestones and constraints
Pure avalanche ranks the current note APR. Snowball ranks either original balances or current balances, as you select. The hybrid splits extra cash between those priorities; it is a preference illustration rather than a new claim of optimality. Entry order resolves equal priorities. The comparison includes the first debt closure, total interest, cash paid and debt remaining. A cost or time difference is a lifetime comparison only when both methods repay all debts. Under changing rates or unusual contract constraints, a simple current-rate ordering need not be the best possible forward-looking strategy.
Interest and promotions need explicit conventions
The monthly convention uses the note APR divided by 12. The preserved daily illustration compounds for 365.25/12 days per monthly period and is not a transaction-level average-daily-balance statement. The simple actual-day option uses calendar days/365 on unpaid principal and does not charge interest on carried unpaid interest. APR changes apply at the start of their entered payment month. A zero APR is valid without any promotion. An ordinary later APR change does not model retroactive deferred interest, fees, new purchases, late charges or servicer-specific payment rules. Confirm those terms separately before treating a projection as a payoff instruction.
Keep hypothetical tax and investment assumptions separate
An optional tax-ranking result applies only your entered eligible-ranking percentage. It does not determine whether interest is deductible, reduce the interest charged by a lender or add a tax refund to payment cash. The pure note-rate comparison stays visible. The wealth illustration begins after the selected strategy pays off and contributes its fixed budget at each following month-end. The selected nominal annual return is divided by 12. Negative and zero returns are allowed. Initial cash, retained reserves and final-payment leftovers are not invested automatically, and the result is not an investment forecast.
Use a complete receipt and limit shared details
The goal solver finds recurring extra above the original minimum budget, not a replacement for it. It verifies the selected cent amount against the preceding cent and the same rate and cash events. A target outside the supported input domain is described as a limit, not mathematical impossibility. Screen ledgers are paginated; CSV and paper retain the modeled rows. Names are unnecessary: use neutral labels. Edits remain in the tab unless you save or enable Remember. Shared links omit figures by default, and included figures should be reviewed before copying. A saved or shared plan needs a fresh review when dates, balances or contract terms change.