Minimums keep you stuck.
One extra payment gets you free.
Two strategies. Same budget. Different math. Pick the one you'll actually run for 24 months and we'll show you the exact month you walk into closing.
Edit your debts.
Watch the runway shrink.
Defaults match the average American revolving + installment stack. Swap in your real numbers.
- 1. Capital One Visa · 26.9%
- 2. Discover · 24.4%
- 3. Auto loan · 7.9%
- 4. Student loan · 6.5%
- 1. Discover · $2,200
- 2. Capital One Visa · $6,500
- 3. Auto loan · $14,000
- 4. Student loan · $22,000
Math says avalanche wins. Psychology says snowball wins. The right plan is the one you'll actually stick to for 24 months. Both beat the minimum-only path by years.
Compounds monthly · Minimums held flat · Not investment advice
Avalanche or Snowball.
Both beat waiting.
Avalanche
Wins: Mathematically cheapest — saves the most money and finishes fastest for most debt stacks.
Watch-out: The first debt can take a long time to knock out. If you need an early win to stay motivated, this isn't it.
Snowball
Wins: Fast psychological wins. Closing out a debt in month 3 makes you believe the plan works.
Watch-out: You pay more interest along the way. The gap is usually $500–$3,000 depending on how lopsided your APRs are.
Neither. Both. Better.
The textbook answer is Avalanche. The human answer is Snowball. Here's the version we actually run with clients:
- 01Knock out any debt under $500 first (usually a medical or collection) — it clears a tradeline fast.
- 02Then avalanche the rest (highest APR wins).
- 03When you hit 30% utilization on any card, pause and drop it to under 10% for the mortgage pull.
- 04Never close the card after paying it off.
Four rules before you start.
Pay the minimum on every debt. Every month. No exceptions.
One 30-day-late drops your score 60–110 points and makes every other move on this page pointless. Autopay the minimums before you do anything else.
Pick one debt to attack. Only one.
Split $200 four ways and nothing gets paid off. $200 on one debt — it disappears. Then you cascade the freed-up payment into the next one. That's the whole trick.
Keep credit cards OPEN after you pay them off.
Closing a zero-balance card drops your score and spikes utilization on everything else. Charge Netflix. Autopay. Done. The card stays open, your score stays up, your file stays thick.
Stop transferring balances unless you have a plan.
0% balance transfer only works if you'll pay it off before the teaser expires. Otherwise you just added a new tradeline, tanked your age of accounts, and set up a 25% APR trap for month 19.
Got your plan. Now what.
Paying down debt lifts your credit score AND your DTI at the same time. Two gates, one move. The DTI Reducer shows you which debt unlocks which program.