📌 How long will it take to pay off your debt?

You make $850 a week and owe $25,000. Between dual rent, childcare, and daily living, cutting expenses alone will not dig you out. You need a debt strategy. The math usually points to the avalanche method (highest interest first), while human psychology favors the snowball method (smallest balance first). This calculator runs your numbers through both to show exactly how much time and money you save by doing the math.

The avalanche method targets your most expensive debt first. This stops high interest rates from eating your payments. Enter your highest-rate debt here. For many young parents, this is a credit card charging 20% or more.

Enter your largest single debt balance here. This one takes the longest to clear. To keep the comparison clean, we assume your interest rates stay fixed, you make a steady monthly payment, and you put a 2% minimum payment toward debts you are not actively attacking.

The snowball method targets your smallest balance first. You get a quick win, wipe out a monthly minimum payment, and roll that cash into the next debt. Enter your smallest debt here to see how fast you can cross it off.

Your monthly debt budget has to cover all your minimums, plus extra to attack your target debt. If you bring home $3,400 a month and spend $2,883 on rent, childcare, food, and other bills, you have about $500 left. Pushing that to $800 with overtime gives you real traction.

This view was inspired by:

• debt-avalanche-vs-snowball

For further related reading, check out:

• Reddit