Avalanche vs snowball: killing debt the smart way

If you carry several debts, the order you pay them off in changes how much interest you pay and how likely you are to finish. The avalanche method pays minimums on everything and throws every spare dollar at the highest-interest debt first. Mathematically it is always optimal: you kill the most expensive balance first and pay the least total interest.

The snowball method targets the smallest balance first regardless of rate. You pay slightly more interest overall, but you get an early win — an account closed, a payment gone — and research on behavior shows that momentum keeps many people going where pure math would not. The best method is the one you will actually stick with for twelve to thirty-six months.

The numbers are not small. A $6,000 credit card balance at 24% APR costs about $120 a month in interest alone — money that buys nothing. Moving that balance to a 0% transfer card or a lower-rate consolidation loan can cut the payoff time in half, though transfer fees of 3–5% and the temptation to re-spend on the cleared card are real risks.

The practical move: list every debt with its balance, rate and minimum payment. If the highest-rate debt is also within reach, avalanche and snowball agree — start there. Otherwise pick avalanche if you are disciplined, snowball if you need motivation, and automate more than the minimum so progress does not depend on willpower.