Free debt snowball and avalanche spreadsheet

What is in the file

• Debts. Eight yellow rows for the name, balance, APR and monthly payment of each debt, and a cell for the extra amount. Beside them: the month each debt is paid off under each way of paying, and the order the two methods pay them in. Below: months to debt-free and interest paid for the three ways.
• Highest rate first and Smallest balance first. Every month of the payoff, up to 600: what is left on each debt, the total, the interest added and what was paid. The columns marked + hold the workings and open with a click.
• Scheduled payments only. Each debt on its own payment, alone: nothing rolls from a debt that is paid off to the next one.
• Read me. How to use it, and the rules it follows.

How to use it

1. Open the file. If it looks empty in Excel, click Enable Editing: the formulas calculate when you do.
2. On the Debts sheet, replace the example with your debts, one a row: its name, balance, APR and the monthly payment you make. Type the APR as a number — 24 for 24%, not 0.24.
3. Type the extra amount you can put on top of the payments each month, or 0.
4. Read the results under the debts. The other sheets show every month.

Leave unused rows empty. There is room for eight debts; for more, use the debt payoff calculator.

How the spreadsheet counts

Highest rate first (avalanche). Every debt gets its scheduled payment. The money left over — your extra amount, plus the payment of any debt that has been cleared — goes to the debt with the highest interest rate. When that debt is cleared, the one with the next-highest rate takes over. On a tie, the smaller balance goes first.

Smallest balance first (snowball). The same payments, but the money left over goes to the debt with the smallest balance, whatever its rate. When that debt is cleared, the one with the next-smallest balance takes over, and so on. On a tie, the higher APR goes first.

Month by month: interest at the APR divided by twelve is added to every open debt, every debt gets its scheduled payment, and the rest goes to the debt the order points at. A balance under 50 cents counts as paid, and a debt still open after 600 months — 50 years — is shown as not paid off. The result then says which it is: "Not paid off in 50 years at these payments." when the balance falls, only too slowly, and "Not paid off: the payments do not cover the interest." when it does not fall at all.

Fees, a rate that changes and a lender's day-by-day interest are not counted, so a lender's own schedule can differ from this one. The snowball vs avalanche calculator shows what each order gives for your debts and does not pick one; neither does the spreadsheet.

How it was checked

The formulas follow the calculation engine of the Pennyjar iPhone app step by step. They were checked against that engine itself: the spreadsheet's own formulas, read out of the file you download, were run on more than 700 sets of debts that the engine had worked out, and gave the same months to debt-free, the same interest, the same order of payment and the same month for each debt to be paid off, including debts that are never paid off, ties, eight debts at once and balances that end a few cents either side of the 50-cent line. Microsoft Excel recalculated 138 of them from the file and agreed. Numbers gave the same answers on the two examples it was tried with. The file has not been checked in Google Sheets.

This is a calculation from the numbers you type, not financial advice.

Questions

Is the spreadsheet free?

The file is free to download, with no sign-up.

Does it work in Google Sheets or Numbers?

Numbers opens .xlsx files. In Google Sheets choose File → Import and upload the file. The formulas are plain ones — IF, MIN, MAX, SUM, AND, OR, COUNTIF, INDEX and MATCH — with no macros and no add-ins.

Which is better, snowball or avalanche?

That depends on the debts and on what matters to you. The spreadsheet shows the months and the interest for each, side by side, and which debt is cleared first; it does not choose.

Why does a result say "Not paid off"?

A debt still open after 600 months is shown as not paid off. If its payment does not cover a month of its interest, the balance never falls and that debt needs a larger payment before anything else moves.

Can I get a chart?

The Total left column of each schedule sheet is the total debt by month; select it and insert a line chart in your spreadsheet program. For a chart to color in by hand, see the printable debt payoff tracker.

A calculation from numbers you type, not financial advice.

More calculators

• Debt payoff calculatorthree ways to pay, month by month
• Snowball vs avalanchemonths and interest for each
• Printable debt payoff trackera debt list and a payoff log, as PDFs
• Which debt first, or save first?the whole ladder for your numbers

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