Glossary term
Debt Avalanche
The debt avalanche is a payoff strategy where you pay the minimum on every debt and put all extra money toward the balance with the highest interest rate first. When that debt is gone, its payment rolls to the next-highest rate. Mathematically, it usually minimizes total interest and often finishes as fast or faster than other orders.
Updated October 17, 2026 · Editorial Team
How Debt Avalanche works in practice
List your debts by APR from highest to lowest. Each month, cover every minimum, then send whatever is left in your payoff budget to the top of the list. As each debt is cleared, the money freed up joins the extra payment on the next one, so the amount aimed at the target grows over time.
Take three debts: $2,000 at 25% (minimum $60), $6,000 at 18% (minimum $150) and $900 at 9% (minimum $30), with $450 a month to spend. Assuming monthly interest and no new charges, the avalanche clears everything in 24 months with $1,676.02 in interest. The snowball order on the same debts also takes 24 months but costs $1,834.40, so the avalanche saves $158.38.
The avalanche rewards discipline: the first win may take a while if your highest-rate debt is also large. People who need quick progress to stay motivated sometimes prefer the snowball. Either way, the biggest factor is the total amount you put toward debt each month.
Debt Avalanche: quick questions
Is the avalanche always cheaper than the snowball?
It usually costs the same or less interest, because it attacks the most expensive debt first. The gap depends on how different your rates are.
What if two debts have the same rate?
Either order costs about the same. Many people then pay the smaller balance first for a quicker win.
Do I stop paying the other debts?
No. Keep making every minimum payment on time; only the extra money goes to the target debt.
Sources
- Credit cards — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Accessed October 17, 2026.
- Debt collection — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Accessed October 17, 2026.
We cite primary sources: regulators, central-bank data and federal agencies. Worked examples on this page are our own calculations. See our methodology.
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