Guide

How to pay off multiple credit cards

With several cards, the hard part is deciding where the extra money goes. Spreading it across all of them feels fair, but it means no card closes for a long time. The snowball puts every spare dollar on one card at a time and keeps the rest at their minimums.

The example (assumptions, not your numbers)
DebtBalanceAPRMinimum
Store card$70028%$30/mo
Gas card$1,20026%$40/mo
Visa$3,40023%$95/mo
Mastercard$5,20021%$140/mo

Plus $250 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 order, and when each card is gone

Smallest balance first: the Store card gets the minimum plus the whole $250 extra. Every other card gets its minimum. When a card hits zero, its old minimum joins the extra on the next card.

  1. Store card: paid off in month 3
  2. Gas card: paid off in month 7
  3. Visa: paid off in month 15
  4. Mastercard: paid off in month 24

All four are gone in 2 yr, paying $555 a month, with about $2,494 in interest. Paying only each card’s minimum would take 5 yr 1 mo and about $6,730 in interest.

What about the card with the highest rate?

In this example the smaller cards also carry the higher rates, so paying the highest rate first (avalanche) picks the same order and costs the same: 2 yr, about $2,494. When a big balance has the highest rate, the two methods split apart. Snowball vs. avalanche walks through that case.

While you pay them down

Keep the same total payment every month, even when a card’s statement minimum drops. The example holds the minimums fixed.

Stop putting new charges on the cards you’re paying off. The example assumes no new charges.

Open these four cards 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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