Debt payoff guides

Plain answers to common debt payoff questions. Each one works through an example with the planner’s own math, and can open that example in the free planner.

• How to pay off an $8,000 credit card on $300 a monthA worked example: an $8,000 card at 24% APR, paid at the minimum vs. $300 a month. How long each takes and what it costs in interest, from a free payoff calculator.
• Debt snowball vs. avalanche: what the difference costsSnowball pays the smallest balance first; avalanche pays the highest rate first. One example plan run both ways, with the months and interest each costs.
• How long does it take to pay off $20,000 in debt?An example $20,000 of debt across a card, a personal loan and a car loan: how long it takes at the minimums, and how much sooner $200 or $500 extra a month gets you out.
• Free debt snowball calculatorA free debt snowball calculator: enter balances, rates and minimums, add what you can spare, and see your debt-free month and this month’s payment. No account, no bank connection.
• A debt snowball spreadsheet alternativeKeep the spreadsheet or skip it: what a debt snowball sheet has to calculate every month, and a free planner that does the same math and still exports to CSV and Google Sheets.
• How to pay off multiple credit cardsFour credit cards, one plan: which card to pay first, what to pay on the others, and how long it takes, worked through with real payoff math.
• The debt snowball on a low income: does a small extra payment help?Only $25 or $50 to spare? What a small extra payment does to the debt-free date, and why rolling paid-off minimums forward matters most when money is tight.
• The debt snowball with a car loan and student loansDo car loans and student loans belong in the debt snowball? One example with a credit card, a car loan and a student loan, and what changes when the big loans join the plan.
• A debt snowball example, month by monthA worked debt snowball example: three debts, the payment on each one every month, and the month each one is paid off. Use it as a worksheet to check your own plan.
• What to do when a debt is paid off: the snowball rolloverWhen one debt hits zero, where its payment goes decides how fast the rest go. The same plan run with and without the rollover, with the months and interest each costs.