Debt Payoff Calculator

How to use this calculator

1. Enter debt 1 — balance — The calculator loads with a worked example already filled in, so you can see what a realistic set of figures looks like before replacing them with your own.
2. Fill in the remaining fields — Every field has a sensible default. Change the ones that apply to you and leave the rest.
3. Read the result — The answer updates as you type — there is nothing to submit. The rows beneath the headline show how it breaks down.
4. Expand the schedule — Where a year-by-year table is offered, open it. The breakdown over time usually shows something the single headline figure does not.
5. Share or print — Use the share button to copy a link with your figures already filled in, or print the result — the print stylesheet strips the navigation and adverts.

What this calculator works out

To use the US Debt Payoff Calculator, enter your debt 1 — balance, debt 1 — interest rate and debt 1 — minimum payment. The result — debt-free in — updates as you type, with no button to press and nothing to submit. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, so the figures you enter are never sent anywhere.

How this is calculated

Minimum payments are made on every debt, and whatever is left over goes to a single target — the highest rate under the avalanche method, the smallest balance under snowball. As each debt clears, its payment rolls onto the next, which is what makes the later debts fall so much faster than the first.

A worked example

Take the values this page loads with:

• Debt 1 — balance: $2,500.00
• Debt 1 — interest rate: 22.9%
• Debt 1 — minimum payment: $75.00
• Debt 2 — balance: $8,000.00
• Debt 2 — interest rate: 14.5%

On those figures the debt-free in is 2 years, 1 months. Broken down:

• Total debt: 15,000.00
• Total interest paid: 1,982.32
• Total paid: 16,982.32
• Monthly payment: 695.00
• The other strategy: 25 months, 2,204.38 interest

Change any field above and every figure here recalculates — these numbers are produced by the same formula the calculator runs, so they cannot drift apart from it.

What the figures mean

The headline figure answers the immediate question. These are the ones worth paying attention to:

• Total interest paid — the figure worth watching when you change your inputs.
• Monthly payment — the figure worth watching when you change your inputs.
• The other strategy — the figure worth watching when you change your inputs.

Where a schedule is shown, expand it: the year-by-year breakdown usually reveals something the single headline number hides.

What this calculator assumes

Minimum payments continue on every debt; the extra goes to the target debt, and rolls onto the next one as each clears. Avalanche always pays less interest — the gap here is 222.06. Snowball clears individual debts sooner, which for many people is what makes the plan survivable.

Why it runs in your browser

Every calculation on this page is arithmetic, and arithmetic does not need a server. Running it locally means the result is instant, it keeps working if your connection drops, and — the part that matters — your salary, your debts and your medical measurements are never transmitted to us. There is no figure on our side to store, log or lose.

Where this calculator stops

A calculator applies the rules it is given to the figures you enter. It cannot see the rest of your circumstances, and real financial decisions are rarely decided by a single number.

Treat the result as a starting point for a conversation — with a lender, an accountant or an adviser — rather than as an answer. Where an institution will quote you a real figure, that figure is the one that counts: it will include fees, your credit profile and terms this page knows nothing about.

Keeping the figures current

The formula behind this page does not change, but the assumptions you should bring to it do — interest rates, inflation and market returns all move. Revisit the inputs rather than trusting a figure you calculated a year ago.