Guide

A debt snowball example, month by month

Here is a whole debt snowball, start to finish, one row per month. Use it to see how the method works, or as a worksheet: put the same numbers in your own sheet and check that you get the same payments.

The example (assumptions, not your numbers)
DebtBalanceAPRMinimum
Store card$50026%$25/mo
Credit card$1,80024%$55/mo
Car loan$4,0007%$180/mo

Plus $150 a month on top of the minimums. Minimums held fixed, interest charged monthly at APR ÷ 12, no new charges. Figures below are the planner’s own math on these numbers, rounded to the dollar. Minimums only means paying each debt just its own minimum, nothing extra; when one is paid off, its minimum stops instead of moving to the next debt.

The rules each month

First, add the month’s interest to each balance (balance × APR ÷ 12).

Then pay every debt its minimum, and put the extra on the smallest balance still open.

When a debt is paid off, its minimum joins the extra for the next one. If the last payment on a debt is smaller than what you sent, the rest goes to the next debt that same month.

Every month of this example

MonthStore cardCredit cardCar loanLeft to pay
1$175$55$180$5,960
2$175$55$180$5,615
3$172 ✓$58$180$5,266
4—$230$180$4,911
5—$230$180$4,552
6—$230$180$4,187
7—$230$180$3,818
8—$230$180$3,443
9—$230$180$3,064
10—$230$180$2,679
11—$230$180$2,288
12—$64 ✓$346$1,893
13——$410$1,494
14——$410$1,092
15——$410$689
16——$410$283
17——$285 ✓$0

A ✓ marks the month a debt is paid off. The total sent each month stays at $410 until the very last payment, and the plan finishes in 1 yr 5 mo with about $545 in interest. Dollar figures are rounded, so a row may not add up to the exact cent.

Running your own sheet? The spreadsheet guide covers what it has to get right.

Open this example in the planner

Opens the free planner with this example already typed in. Swap in your own balances, rates and minimums. No signup, no bank connection, and your numbers stay in your browser.

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