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How to use the Snowball vs Avalanche calculator
This calculator runs your real debts through both payoff strategies on the same monthly budget, so you can see which clears them cheaper and which clears the first one soonest. List what you owe, add whatever you can pay on top of the minimums, and it does the rest.
Both methods pay every minimum and throw all your spare cash at one debt, then roll that whole payment onto the next as each clears. They differ only in the order. Avalanche targets the highest interest rate first; snowball targets the smallest balance first. The tool runs both on one budget and shows the trade-off in rands and months.
Avalanche always costs less interest, because it kills your most expensive debt first. Snowball clears a whole account sooner, which is the win that keeps people going. The maths favours one; the motivation can favour the other. The worst choice is the default most people run: minimums everywhere, spare cash scattered.
What you'll need
- Each debt: its current balance, interest rate, and the minimum you must pay every month.
- The extra you can put in on top of all the minimums.
How to use it
List every debt except your home loan, which has its own tools under Bonds. Add store cards, credit cards, personal and car loans, each with its balance, rate and minimum.
Set the extra per month. Both strategies put it all on one target, then roll it forward as debts clear. The more you add, the faster the whole plan moves. The tool shows your total monthly budget, the minimums plus your extra.
Reading your result
The headline tells you the cheaper order and what it saves, or flags an honest problem: a single debt, where the two are identical; a budget too small to cover the minimums; or a debt whose minimum cannot cover its interest, which never clears at this budget.
The two cards compare total interest and time for each order. The pay-in-this-order lists are the actionable part: the exact sequence to attack your debts, with each one's payoff month. The debt-over-time chart draws both paths to zero.
A worked example
Three debts on the tool's starting figures: an R8,000 store card at 22.25%, an R25,000 credit card at 18.5%, and an R60,000 personal loan at 24.5%, with R1,500 extra a month on top of the R2,800 in minimums.
| Method | Total interest | Debt-free in | First debt cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | R26,714 | 28 months | month 23 |
| Snowball | R28,900 | 29 months | month 5 |
Avalanche saves R2,186 in interest and finishes a month sooner, because it clears the 24.5% personal loan first. Snowball clears your first whole debt in month 5 against month 23, eighteen months of visible progress sooner. Both spend the same R4,300 a month. Only the order changes.
What it does not do
It assumes the rates and minimums you enter hold steady, and some accounts charge interest daily rather than monthly, so treat the totals as close estimates. If your minimums alone already exceed what you can pay, that is a different problem, and a registered debt counsellor is the right call. It is information, not debt-counselling advice.
For the thinking behind the two methods, read snowball vs avalanche: which clears your debt faster. When you are ready, open Snowball vs Avalanche.
Money Cat is an information tool, not financial or debt-counselling advice. Confirm balances and rates with your providers.