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Avalanche throws every spare dollar at the most expensive debt, and the maths agrees: no other order costs less, because interest is the only thing you are actually fighting. What nobody quotes is the margin. On a common Canadian mix it saves about $132 against the snowball and finishes in the same month — a real win, and a small one. The gap worth caring about is against paying only the minimums, and this shows you all three.
Owing $19,700.00 · minimums $445.00 · interest this month $213.61
31 months
2 years, 7 months of payments
$3,093
Interest paid
$22,793
Paid altogether
$745
Every month but the last
An estimate, not advice, and not a quote from a lender. Interest compounds monthly at the rate you type. Minimums are treated as a fixed dollar amount: a real card minimum is usually the greater of about 3% of the balance and $10, so it falls as the balance does — which makes the minimums-only figure the optimistic one, often by years. The avalanche and snowball runs hold the total going out flat, so there a shrinking minimum changes only which debt the money lands on. All of it assumes nothing new goes on the cards, every payment lands, and no rate moves.
Head to head
Avalanche saves $132.25 over snowball here and finishes in the same month. That is a small number spread over 2 years, 7 months — small enough that the plan you will actually finish is worth more than the optimal one. Snowball is not the wrong answer.
Paying only the minimums — no extra, and nothing rolled over when a debt clears — takes 127 months and costs $10,647.11 in interest. This plan saves $7,553.97 and 96 months against it. That comparison, not the choice of order, is where the money is.
Avalanche and snowball run on identical balances, rates, minimums and extra — the only thing that changes between them is the order the money lands in. Minimums only changes two more things: no extra, and no roll.
This is arithmetic, not advice from a licensed advisor, and it cannot see your circumstances. Consolidation, a balance transfer, a lower rate or a conversation with a non-profit credit counsellor may all beat every line above — none of which a payoff calculator can tell you. Nothing you type here leaves the tab.
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