What is the debt avalanche method?

A payoff strategy that prioritizes debts with the highest APR first, minimizing total interest cost while keeping all other debts at their minimums.

Is avalanche always cheaper than snowball?

Yes, for the same payments and terms, avalanche yields equal or lower total interest than snowball because it targets the highest rates first.

How are minimum payments handled?

Each month the calculator applies the minimum to every open account, then allocates all remaining budget to the current target debt.

Can I add extra payments mid-schedule?

Yes. Adjust your monthly budget amount; the calculator will recompute the schedule and new debt-free date.

Does the calculator consider daily compounding?

It models interest monthly (APR/12). For most consumer debts this closely approximates statements; minor rounding differences may occur.

Debt Avalanche Calculator — Optimize Your Debt Payoff Order & Save Interest

Use our Debt Avalanche Calculator to prioritize high-APR balances, minimize total interest, and estimate your exact debt-free date. Add multiple debts, set minimums, and apply extra payments.

Full original guide (expanded)

Audit: Complete

Formula (LaTeX) + variables + units

This section shows the formulas used by the calculator engine, plus variable definitions and units.

Formula (extracted text)

For a given debt \(i\) with monthly rate \(r_i = \frac{\text{APR}_i}{12}\) and balance \(B_{i,t}\): Monthly interest: \(I_{i,t} = B_{i,t}\, r_i\) Principal reduction: \(P_{i,t} = \max(0,\ \text{payment}_{i,t} - I_{i,t})\) Next balance: \(B_{i,t+1} = \max(0,\ B_{i,t} + I_{i,t} - \text{payment}_{i,t})\) Strategy order each month: Avalanche: sort debts by \( \text{APR}_i \) descending. Snowball: sort by \( B_{i,t} \) ascending.

Variables and units

P = principal (loan amount) (currency)
r = periodic interest rate (annual rate ÷ payments per year) (1)
n = total number of payments (years × payments per year) (count)
M = periodic payment for principal + interest (currency)

Sources (authoritative):

Paying down debt — consumerfinance.gov · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Getting Out of Debt — ftc.gov · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://www.ftc.gov/
Home — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/
Finance — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/finance
Loans & Debt — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/subcategories/finance-loans-debt
Credit Card Payoff — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/credit-card-payoff-calculator
Loan Amortization — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/loan-amortization
APR Calculator — calcdomain.com · Accessed 2026-01-19
https://calcdomain.com/apr

Changelog

Version: 0.1.0-draft
Last code update: 2026-01-19

0.1.0-draft · 2026-01-19

Initial audit spec draft generated from HTML extraction (review required).
Verify formulas match the calculator engine and convert any text-only formulas to LaTeX.
Confirm sources are authoritative and relevant to the calculator methodology.

Verified by Ugo Candido on 2026-01-19
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Formulas

(Formulas preserved from original page content, if present.)

Version 0.1.0-draft

Citations

Add authoritative sources relevant to this calculator (standards bodies, manuals, official docs).

Changelog

0.1.0-draft — 2026-01-19: Initial draft (review required).