Debt Payoff Calculator Widget

Add a debt payoff planner that compares the avalanche and snowball methods. Readers enter up to five debts and an extra monthly budget and see how long each method takes, the interest each costs and the month each debt is cleared.

Finance Calculator Runs in your browser Free · no ads

Customize your widget

Theme
Auto follows the visitor's light/dark setting.
Style
Attribution on your page
Optional and entirely your choice. The exact line is shown in the code below; it links to the tool with rel="nofollow".
More options
Starting values
Leave blank to use the widget's defaults. Visitors can still change every value.

Live preview

Exactly what your visitors will see

Embed code

<iframe src="https://a2z.tools/embed/w/debt-payoff-calculator" title="Debt Payoff Calculator by A2Z Tools" width="100%" height="1090" style="border:0;width:100%" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>

A plain iframe. Works everywhere, including site builders that strip scripts. Adjust height if your content needs more room.

Works with

How it works

The widget runs the same month-by-month engine as the A2Z Debt Avalanche and Debt Snowball calculators. Every month each debt is charged interest and paid its minimum; the rest of the fixed budget, including minimums freed up by debts already cleared (the roll-over), goes to one target debt - the highest APR for avalanche or the smallest balance for snowball. It also shows what paying only the minimums would cost, with no roll-over, which is usually the most striking line on the page.

Calculation method

  • Budget = sum of minimum payments + extra
  • Each month: interest = balance x APR / 100 / 12; every open debt gets its minimum
  • Avalanche: leftover budget to the highest APR first
  • Snowball: leftover budget to the smallest balance first
  • Minimums only: no extra and no roll-over of freed payments; money displayed to 2 decimals

Worked examples

Three debts with 200 extra a month

Inputs: 4,000 at 22.9% (min 120); 1,500 at 18% (min 45); 9,000 at 7.5% (min 180); extra 200 - a 545 monthly budget

Result: Avalanche: debt-free in 31 months, interest 2,108.33. Snowball: 31 months, interest 2,190.57. Minimums only: 61 months, interest 4,837.55

Snowball clears the 1,500 card in month 7 instead of month 18, at a cost of 82.24 more interest.

Limitations

  • Fixed APRs and minimum payments; real card minimums fall as the balance falls.
  • No new borrowing, fees, promotional 0% periods or balance-transfer charges.
  • Five debts at most.

Where publishers use it

  • Debt-free journey and frugal-living blogs
  • Credit counsellors showing clients two plans side by side
  • Money-coaching course pages on the snowball method
  • Employee financial-wellbeing portals
  • Debt-management-plan and consolidation-loan comparison pages
  • Church, community and nonprofit budgeting classes teaching a debt-free plan

Questions

Which is better, avalanche or snowball?

Avalanche always costs the same or less interest. Snowball clears small debts sooner, which some people find easier to stick to. The widget shows both so the trade-off is clear.

Why can the total months be the same for both?

When the budget is fixed, both methods pay the same total each month; they differ in which debt is cleared first and how much interest builds up meanwhile, so the finish date is often identical or close.

What if my minimums do not cover the interest?

The minimums-only row then reports that the debts would not be cleared within 50 years. An extra payment usually fixes that.

Can I preset the debts?

Yes, with v_b1..v_b5 (balances), v_r1..v_r5 (APRs), v_m1..v_m5 (minimums) and v_extra.

How much does the roll-over matter?

In the three-debt example, keeping the whole 545 budget going to debts after each one is cleared finishes in 31 months with about 2,108 of interest; paying only the minimums and letting freed payments go takes 61 months and 4,837.55.

Which debts should I enter?

Revolving and instalment debts with a fixed minimum: credit and store cards, overdrafts, buy-now-pay-later plans, personal and car loans. Mortgages are usually left out because their long terms and low rates would sit last in either order anyway.

What is a hybrid approach?

Some people clear one or two tiny balances first for a quick win, then switch to avalanche order. Run both methods here to see how many months and how much interest the quick wins cost; in the three-debt example the gap is 82.24.

Cite or recommend this tool

If you reference this tool in an article, course or documentation, these formats are ready to copy. They are optional - nothing is added to your site unless you paste it.

A2Z Tools Debt Payoff Calculator
https://a2z.tools/debt-avalanche-calculator

Related widgets

More Finance widgets →

Preview

CustomizeGet code