--- title: "Debt Snowball Calculator: When Will You Be Debt-Free? | Candor" description: "Find your debt-free date paying the smallest balance first (snowball) or the highest rate first (avalanche). Works for a credit card payoff too, with FAQ." url: "https://candor.money/explore/debt-free-date" updated: "2026-11-13" --- # Debt snowball calculator The debt snowball pays the minimum on every debt and puts any extra toward the smallest balance first. When that debt is gone, its payment rolls to the next smallest. The debt avalanche does the same, but starts with the highest interest rate. Enter your cards and loans to see the month you'd be debt-free either way. ## Debt payoff estimate Example numbers. Change them to yours. ### Your debts * Name Balance $ Yearly rate % Monthly minimum $ * Name Balance $ Yearly rate % Monthly minimum $ * Name Balance $ Yearly rate % Monthly minimum $ Extra each month$300 On top of every minimum. It all goes to the first unpaid debt in the order below. Which debt the extra goes to first Smallest balance first is the snowball method. Highest rate first is the avalanche method. Either way, when a debt is paid off, its payment moves to the next one. Debt-free by January 2029 Paying $865 a month, $565 in minimums and $300 extra, your last payment is in January 2029, 26 months from now. Highest rate first would pay $128 less interest and finish the same month. Interest you pay $3,293 Across every debt until the last is paid Months to debt-free 26 At $865 a month Interest the extra saves $4,455 Paying only the minimums takes until Nov 2030 ### Paid off in this order 1. 1Second cardJun 2027$142 interest 2. 2Credit cardAug 2028$2,209 interest 3. 3Car loanJan 2029$942 interest ### What you owe, month by month How it works: each month, every debt gathers interest at its yearly rate ÷ 12 on the balance before the payment, then takes its minimum. The extra goes to the first unpaid debt in your order, and when a debt is paid off, its payment moves to the next. Payments start next month, and new charges are not counted. Many card issuers charge interest daily, so a statement can differ by a little. This is an estimate, not advice. See it with your actual numbers. These are numbers you typed. With Candor, the AI you already use, like Claude or ChatGPT, builds this page from every card and loan you really have, and moves the dates as you pay them down. [Start free→](https://app.candor.money/signup)[Get the prompt↓](#try-prompt) Debt-free byJanuary 2029 ## What you ask your agent, and the page it builds in Candor You When will I be debt-free? Your agent You owe $16,030 across two cards and the car loan. At the $250 a month you have been paying over the minimums, with the extra going to the highest rate first, your last payment is in October 2028, with about $2,292 more in interest. On the minimums alone it would be June 2030\. I saved a page in Candor where you can change the extra amount, and the dates move as your balances do. Today2TransactionsCash flowBudgetRecurringGoalsReportsAccountsInvestments Your agent ActivityPromptsAgents ![](https://candor.money/logos/openai.svg)ChatGPT is connected Your accountCandor member ![](https://candor.money/logos/openai.svg)Written by ChatGPT Debt-free date Live · Figures as of Sep 21, 6:12 AM When each card and the car loan is paid off, and what paying more changes. Debt-free by October 2028 Extra each month$250 Owed today $16,030 Interest still to pay $2,292 Months to go 25 Candor with sample data. What your agent needs Debt balances, rates, and payments. A statement fills in any rate Candor does not have. What you get back A live page with each debt's payoff date and interest left, and an extra amount you can try. When to use it Run it when you need it, or ask your agent to repeat it monthly. ## The prompt: When will I be debt-free? Copy the prompt into the AI agent you use with Candor. It works from your Candor records and asks for anything it's missing. New to Candor? [Connect your agent first.](https://candor.money/connect) Your prompt Show me when I will be debt-free. Use each card and loan balance, rate, and payment in Candor, and ask me for any rate or minimum the records do not have rather than guessing. Build a live page in Candor that shows each debt's payoff date and remaining interest at what I pay now. Let me add an extra monthly amount and choose highest rate first or smallest balance first, and show how the dates and interest change. Mark any promotional rate and when it ends. If something the page depends on is missing, say so on the page instead of counting it as zero. Save the plan I pick as goals and tell me what you saved. Nothing runs until you send the prompt to your agent. ### New to Candor? Set up and start in one message Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT, or the agent you use. It sets up Candor and walks you through approving its access and connecting your accounts, then runs the prompt from your records. Set up Candor from https://candor.money/START.md and walk me through connecting it here. Show me when I will be debt-free. Use each card and loan balance, rate, and payment in Candor, and ask me for any rate or minimum the records do not have rather than guessing. Build a live page in Candor that shows each debt's payoff date and remaining interest at what I pay now. Let me add an extra monthly amount and choose highest rate first or smallest balance first, and show how the dates and interest change. Mark any promotional rate and when it ends. If something the page depends on is missing, say so on the page instead of counting it as zero. Save the plan I pick as goals and tell me what you saved. ## Not on Candor yet? Versions for ChatGPT and Claude. Both versions work from the numbers you type, and the schedule stays in that chat. With Candor, your agent reads each card and loan balance, rate, and payment from your accounts and builds the payoff page in Candor, with the extra amount and the order as choices you can change. As you pay and the balances fall, the page reads them again, so the dates stay current. ### For ChatGPT Help me work out when I'll be debt-free. Here are my debts: \[name, balance, yearly interest rate (APR), minimum monthly payment, and any promotional rate with its end date\]. I can pay $\[amount\] a month on top of the minimums. Work month by month: interest is the yearly rate divided by 12 on the balance before each payment, and when a debt is paid off, its payment rolls to the next. Compare smallest balance first (snowball) with highest rate first (avalanche) at the same payment, and show each debt's payoff month, the total interest, and the debt-free month for both. Then show the same with only the minimums. Don't assume any rate or minimum I didn't give you. [Use ChatGPT with Candor](https://candor.money/connect/chatgpt) ### For Claude I want to know when I'll be debt-free. I've pasted my debts as a table with balance, APR, and minimum payment: \[paste\]. I can put $\[amount\] a month toward them in total. Build a month-by-month payoff schedule for the snowball method (smallest balance first) and the avalanche method (highest rate first), rolling each paid-off debt's payment to the next. Give me the debt-free month, total interest, and the month each debt is paid off for both orders, and say plainly what the difference is. Point out any debt whose minimum doesn't cover its interest, and ask before assuming anything I didn't give you. [Use Claude with Candor](https://candor.money/connect/claude) ## What will the agent ask you? A good agent asks before it answers. Expect questions like these, and answer the ones that matter to you. * What do you owe on each card and loan, at what yearly rate, and with what minimum? * Is any balance on a 0% or promotional rate? When does it end, and is it deferred interest? * How much can you pay each month on top of the minimums, and is that amount steady? * Will anything new go on these cards while you pay them down? * Would you rather pay the least interest, or see one debt gone sooner? * Is there cash set aside that you want to keep where it is? ## What does a good answer look like? A worked example on sample data: one person with $6,500 on a card at 27.49% (minimum $195), $1,600 on a second card at 19.99% (minimum $48), $4,200 left on a personal loan at 11.5% (minimum $140), and $250 a month to pay on top of the minimums. You Should I do the snowball or the avalanche? I keep reading about both. Your agent You owe $12,300 across the two cards and the loan, and the minimums come to $383 a month. With your $250 on top, that's $633 a month. Your agent Smallest balance first clears the second card in month 6, the loan in month 15, and the 27.49% card in month 25, with about $3,263 in interest. Highest rate first puts the extra on the 27.49% card, which is gone in month 18, then the second card in month 21 and the loan in month 24, with about $2,618 in interest. Your agent So highest rate first costs about $645 less and finishes a month sooner. Smallest balance first pays off its first debt a year earlier, in month 6 instead of month 18\. On the minimums alone, it would take 50 months and about $6,700 in interest. Your agent I built the page in Candor with both orders and an extra amount you can change. Tell me which order you want to follow, and I'll save it as your plan with each payoff date. Illustrative example with sample data, not a customer result. ## What does a weak answer look like? > Use the debt snowball: list your debts from smallest to largest, pay the minimum on all of them, and put every extra dollar on the smallest. The momentum gets you out of debt faster. * It never asked for balances, rates, or what you can pay, so there's no date. * It said the snowball is faster without checking. Here, highest rate first finishes a month sooner and costs about $645 less. * It didn't ask about promotional rates, which change the order once they end. * Nothing is saved, so next month you start over. ## Give every debt a date, then try paying more Seeing a payoff date for each card and loan makes an extra payment concrete. Candor holds balances and, where your bank or a statement supplied them, rates and minimums. Your agent should ask for any missing rate instead of guessing, because the rate decides the date. ### Check the answer * Look for promotional rates and their end dates. A balance at 0% today may cost far more after the promotion ends. * Compare highest rate first and smallest balance first at the same extra amount, so the faster plan is not simply the one that pays more. ### Choose a next step Save the plan you choose as goals. Your agent can check each month whether you are ahead of or behind the dates. ## Where Candor fits Your agent works through the question with you, builds the plan, and keeps you on it. Candor gives it your real accounts, exact figures, and the goals, budget, notes, and decisions from earlier sessions, in whichever agent you use. Its review raises what's worth talking through and tells your agent why. Candor is not a licensed advisor and gives no advice; your agent does the advising, and the decisions are yours. * Candor connects to banks read-only and cannot move money. * Candor never sells your financial data or trains models on it, and you can export or delete it. * Every agent read and change is recorded with its reason. [Start free→](https://app.candor.money/signup)[Connect your agent](https://candor.money/connect) ## Common questions What is the debt snowball method? The debt snowball pays the minimum on every debt and puts any extra toward the smallest balance. When that debt is paid off, its payment moves to the next smallest, so the amount aimed at one debt grows as each is cleared. The CFPB describes it as an approach that focuses on your smallest debt. Debt snowball vs avalanche: which saves more? At the same monthly payment, highest rate first (the avalanche) usually pays less interest, because each extra dollar goes where interest costs the most. Smallest balance first (the snowball) usually clears a first debt sooner. When your smallest balance also has the highest rate, the two orders are the same. In the example above, the avalanche saves about $645 and one month, and the snowball clears its first debt a year sooner. The calculator shows both for your numbers. How is a credit card payoff calculated? Each month, the balance gathers interest at the yearly rate (APR) divided by 12, and the payment covers that interest before it lowers the balance. $5,000 at 22.36%, the average rate on card accounts charged interest in the Federal Reserve's data for the third quarter of 2026, gathers about $93 of interest in its first month. Many card issuers calculate interest daily on your average daily balance, so a statement can differ a little from a monthly estimate. What if I only pay the minimum? It takes longer and costs more. Paying a fixed $100 a month on $5,000 at 22.36% takes 146 months, over 12 years, and about $9,535 in interest. Your card statement must show how long paying only the minimum would take and the monthly payment that clears the balance in three years. When the minimum doesn't cover the interest, the statement must warn that you would never pay off the balance, and the calculator says the same. Does a 0% promotional rate change the payoff? Yes. While the rate is 0%, all of each payment lowers the balance. When the promotion ends, whatever is left gathers interest at the regular rate. The calculator holds one rate per debt, so try the debt at both rates to see the range. A deferred-interest offer, such as no interest if paid in full within 12 months, works differently: if any balance is left at the end, you can owe the interest back to the date of the purchase. Does Candor do this from my accounts? Your agent does, from your records in Candor. It reads each card and loan balance, rate, and payment, asks for any rate or minimum the records don't have, and builds this page in Candor with both orders. Candor gives no advice; your agent works through it with you. Candor connects to banks read-only and cannot move money. ## Sources 1. [How to reduce your debt](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/blog/how-reduce-your-debt/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, June 25, 2026 2. [Consumer Credit, G.19: Interest rates on credit card plans](https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/default.htm) Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 6, 2026 3. [How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe?](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-does-my-credit-card-company-calculate-the-amount-of-interest-i-owe-en-51/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, January 22, 2024 4. [A box on my credit card bill says that I will pay off the balance in three years if I pay a certain amount. What does that mean?](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/a-box-on-my-credit-card-bill-says-that-i-will-pay-off-the-balance-in-three-years-if-i-pay-a-certain-amount-what-does-that-mean-do-i-have-to-pay-that-much-if-i-pay-that-much-and-make-new-purchases-will-i-still-owe-nothing-after-three-years-en-36/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, February 2, 2024 5. [Regulation Z, § 1026.7 Periodic statement](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/7/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 6. [I got a credit card promising no interest for a purchase if I pay in full within 12 months. How does this work?](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/i-got-a-credit-card-promising-no-interest-for-a-purchase-if-i-pay-in-full-within-12-months-how-does-this-work-en-40/) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, February 2, 2024 ## Keep exploring. [Cash and debtWhen does my 0% rate run out?Know when promotional rates end and whether the balance will be gone by then.One-time review](https://candor.money/explore/promo-rate-end)[Cash and debtHow do I get out from under this debt?Compare payoff approaches against what you can realistically afford.One-time reviewFull guide](https://candor.money/explore/debt-plan)[Big decisionsCan I afford this car?Check the full monthly cost of a car, not just the payment, against your budget and goals.One-time review](https://candor.money/explore/car-purchase) ## Ask it with your own numbers. Set up Candor, then send this to the agent you already use. It answers from your real records and keeps the plan for next time. [Start free→](https://app.candor.money/signup)[Connect your agent](https://candor.money/connect)