Enter each balance, annual interest rate, and required minimum payment. Then add up how much you can afford to put toward all debts each month. The results show what happens if you tackle the smallest balance first or start with the highest interest rate. For each order, you get the payoff time, estimated interest, closure month for each debt, and a schedule to print.

Call them "Card 1" and "Loan A" if you prefer not to name the lenders. The tool does not need creditor names, account numbers, names, or contact details. Entries remain in page memory and are cleared when you reset or leave.

Use the statement figures, not your memory

For every debt, find the current balance, current annual interest rate, and current required minimum. Promotional periods, overdue amounts, variable rates, and fees can make an old number wrong.

The monthly debt-payment amount must cover all entered minimums. It should come from money available after housing, food, utilities, medicine, essential care, and the costs that keep income coming in. If required payments no longer fit, a payoff-order calculator is not the first problem to solve. Contact the lender or a qualified debt adviser where you live. Ask which missed payment would cause the most harm.

The couples debt-management guide helps build that needs-first inventory before you optimize the extra payment.

What the two sequences do

Both scenarios pay every entered minimum first. Any money left in the monthly debt amount becomes the extra payment.

In the smallest-balance-first sequence, the extra goes to the lowest remaining balance. Ties go to the higher rate, then the debt's internal label.

In the highest-interest-rate-first sequence, the extra goes to the highest annual rate. Ties go to the smaller balance, then the debt's internal label.

When a debt reaches zero, its payment capacity stays in the monthly pool for the remaining debts.

After required minimum payments, smallest-balance-first may close accounts sooner, while highest-interest-rate-first targets the costliest debt and can reduce total cost. The CFPB's debt action plan lays out that choice with its trade-offs.

The calculation assumptions

At the start of each modeled month, the calculator adds interest to each balance using:

monthly interest = balance × annual rate ÷ 100 ÷ 12

It rounds each debt's monthly interest and balance to two decimal places, pays the entered minimum or the remaining balance when that is lower, then applies the rest of the payment pool in the selected order. It stops when every balance reaches zero or the chosen projection ends.

The calculator assumes interest is added monthly before payment, annual rates are divided by 12, and each entered minimum is capped at the balance after that month's interest before extra money is applied.

That cap matters near closure. If the balance after monthly interest is 30 and the entered minimum is 90, the model needs 30, not 90. The unused 60 stays in the month's payment pool and moves to the next debt.

Read the comparison before choosing an order

The headline figures show the difference between the two sequences in payoff months, estimated interest, and total paid. A zero difference is still an answer: the two rules can produce the same result for a particular debt set.

Each result also identifies the month when every debt closes and includes a month-by-month schedule of interest, payments, ending balances, and closures. You can expand the schedule on the page, print it, or download both scenarios as a CSV file.

Use the closure months to see what changes between strategies. Use the schedule to check that the first few modeled payments follow the rule you intended. The file is a local copy of the projection, so avoid a shared download folder if the labels or amounts are private.

Worked comparison

Kai and Jules enter three debts and a total monthly debt amount of 500:

Debt       Balance    Annual rate    Minimum
Card         2,800          21%           90
Loan         6,500           8%          180
Medical        900           0%           50
Total minimum payments                   320
Extra available                          180

Under the calculator's assumptions, both sequences finish in month 23. Smallest-balance-first closes Medical in month 4, Card in month 13, and Loan in month 23, with 1,077.68 of estimated interest. Highest-interest-rate-first closes Card in month 12, Medical in month 18, and Loan in month 23, with 958.59 of estimated interest.

The payoff order differs:

Smallest balance first: Medical, Card, Loan
Highest interest first: Card, Medical, Loan

The payoff month difference is zero, while the highest-interest-rate-first result uses 119.09 less estimated interest and pays 119.09 less overall. One sequence removes the smallest balance in month 4. The other closes the high-rate card one month sooner and the medical balance much later. The calculator does not know which change would help this couple follow through.

Turn the output into a plan for two people

Choose the sequence together, but assign tasks individually. You could split the work: one person schedules payments and the other updates balances. If you manage separate debts, each person should work only with accounts they are allowed to access. Passwords and access codes stay with the account holder.

Use this short review:

  1. Which output matters to each of us: earlier account closure, lower modelled interest, or a simpler routine?
  2. Can the monthly amount survive a difficult month without missing essentials?
  3. Who will do each task, and what information can they safely access?
  4. Which statement change makes us rerun the calculator?

Try this opener:

"The two plans finish at the same time in this example, but one costs less and one closes a balance sooner. Which difference would help us keep going?"

When not to trust the projection

A lender may calculate interest daily, apply payments in a different order, change a rate or minimum, or add late fees, annual fees, or new charges. The model also excludes promotional expiry, settlement terms, tax, and legal priority. A secured debt, overdue priority bill, court action, expiring promotion, or formal repayment arrangement can make rate or balance order the wrong decision rule.

Treat the output as a repeatable comparison of two simplified sequences, not a quote or promised debt-free date. Rerun it when a statement balance, rate, minimum, fee, monthly payment amount, or household income changes. If the arithmetic works but the conversation does not, use the guide to discussing money without fighting before the next debt meeting.