Guide
A debt snowball spreadsheet alternative
A spreadsheet is a perfectly good way to run the debt snowball, and if yours works, keep it. This page covers what the sheet has to get right every month, and when a planner that does the same math is less work.
What a snowball sheet has to calculate
Each month it has to add interest to every balance (APR ÷ 12) before taking payments off.
It pays every minimum, and sends the extra to the smallest balance that’s still open.
When a debt hits zero mid-month, the leftover from that payment rolls to the next debt that same month.
It also has to handle promo rates that end on a date, one-time payments, and balances you correct from real statements.
Most homemade sheets get the first two right. The rollover and the leftover are where formulas quietly drift.
| Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex | $4,300 | 24% | $110/mo |
| Citi card | $2,050 | 26% | $55/mo |
| Car loan | $12,700 | 5.4% | $295/mo |
Plus $600 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 same example in the planner
Run through the planner, these debts are gone in 1 yr 8 mo at $1,060 a month, with about $1,421 in interest. Citi card is cleared first, in month 4. That’s a good check for your own sheet: put these numbers in and see if it agrees.
You don’t have to give up the sheet
The planner exports a Google Sheet (.xlsx) workbook and a CSV backup, both free, and can read balances back from a published Sheet. You can use it to check your sheet, or let it do the math and keep the sheet as your record.
Prefer to build your own? The do-it-yourself page has copy-paste prompts to build the sheet with an AI assistant.
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.
More guides
- Pay off an $8K credit card on $300 a month
- Debt snowball vs. avalanche
- How long to pay off $20K in debt
- Free debt snowball calculator
- Pay off multiple credit cards
- The debt snowball on a low income
- Snowball with a car loan and student loans
- A debt snowball example, month by month
- The snowball rollover: what to do when a debt is paid off