Numbers from this site's public API on a 5-card $60,000 portfolio at 15-25% APR. Open the calculator with your own balances and rates and the same numbers come out in real time.
The example portfolio
$60,000 is the size where the minimum payments alone cross $1,500 a month, and where a six-month deadline stops looking like a repayment schedule. This page uses five US credit cards — the same five-card shape as the $50K in 6 months and $50K in 12 months case studies, scaled up by a fifth, so the three pages can be read side by side. Card A carries $18,000 at 25% APR with a $450 minimum; Card B $13,200 at 22% with a $330 minimum; Card C $12,000 at 20% with a $300 minimum; Card D $10,200 at 17% with a $255 minimum; Card E $6,600 at 15% with a $165 minimum. Every minimum is exactly 2.5% of its balance, and the five of them add up to $1,500 a month.
The rates run from 25% down to 15%, and the largest balance carries the highest rate. Weighted by balance, the portfolio's rate is 20.88% a year: $18,000 × 25%, $13,200 × 22%, $12,000 × 20%, $10,200 × 17% and $6,600 × 15% come to $12,528.00 of annual interest on a $60,000 balance. One twelfth of that is 1.74%, which on the opening balance is $1,044.00 for the first month.
To clear all five in six months, the snowball method needs $11,166 a month, which is $9,666 above the minimums. Avalanche needs less — $11,023 — because it goes straight at the 25% card. Every figure on this page is for the snowball plan unless it says otherwise.
Twenty percent more debt, the same 87 months
Here is the part that surprises people. Take this portfolio and pay only the minimums: $1,500 a month clears it in 87 months — a bit over seven years — for $47,341.20 in interest. Now scale the same five cards down by a fifth, to $50,000, and pay only those minimums: $1,250 a month, also 87 months, for $39,456.55 in interest. The months are identical. The debt is 20% smaller and the clock has not moved by a single month.
That is not a coincidence, and it is not a quirk of these numbers. A card minimum is a share of the balance — 2.5% here — so a balance that is 20% larger carries a minimum that is 20% larger, and the two grow together forever. Scaling the debt up or down leaves the minimums-only clock exactly where it was. The only thing that moves it is the gap between what you send and what the minimum asks for: at $1,500 a month the gap is zero and the answer is 87 months; add $9,666 and the same balance is gone in six.
| Measure | $50,000 | $60,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum a month | $1,250 | $1,500 |
| Months on minimums only | 87 | 87 |
| Interest on minimums only | $39,456.55 | $47,341.20 |
| Six-month payment | $9,305 | $11,166 |
So the size of the debt tells you almost nothing about how long the minimums will take. It tells you how much you pay while you wait — 20% more every month — and how much the waiting costs, because the interest scales too: $47,341.20 against $39,456.55 is 20% more, for the same 87 months. If you want a different finish line, the finish line is the thing to change.
What the six-month plan costs
The six months cost $3,920.79 of interest, and the total that leaves your account is $63,920.79 — the $60,000 balance plus that interest. The interest is 6.53% of the balance you started with and 6.13% of everything you send.
The payment is $11,166 in month 1 and it never falls below $10,000: $11,166, $11,001, $10,746, $10,446, $10,446 and $10,115.79. The last one is still $115.79 clear of the line. That happens because only part of the payment is fixed. The $9,666 of new money never moves; the $1,500 of minimums inside it does, because it is the sum of the minimums still owed on cards that carry a balance, and that sum drops every time a card is cleared — $1,500, then $1,335, $1,080, $780, $780 and finally $450, with only Card A still open. The six payments add to $63,920.79, which is $3,075.21 less than six flat $11,166 payments would cost.
The interest inside the payment falls faster than the payment does: $1,044.00 in month 1, then $910.49, $759.20, $590.77, $409.89 and $206.44 in month 6. The balance falls by roughly $10,000 a month — $49,878.00, $39,787.49, $29,800.69, $19,945.46, $9,909.35, zero — so the second half of the plan is carrying a pile less than half the size of the first, and the payment barely notices.
Snowball is not the cheapest way to spend those six months. Avalanche, run at the same $11,166 a month, is charged $3,335.29 — $585.50 less, which is 14.93% of the snowball interest bill. Avalanche can also clear the balance at its own lower threshold of $11,023, and at that smaller payment the same six months cost $3,371.89; the $3,335.29 above is the equal-payment figure, so the two numbers differ by the payment they are measured at, not by the method. What the method changes is the order the cards leave in: snowball clears Card E in month 1, Card D in month 2, Card C in month 3, Card B in month 5 and Card A in month 6, while avalanche clears Card A in month 2, Card B in month 4, Card C in month 5, and finishes Card D and Card E together in month 6.
The same six months, on minimums only
Sending $1,500 a month clears this portfolio in 87 months — more than seven years — and costs $47,341.20 in interest, a total bill of $107,341.20. The six-month plan's $3,920.79 is a saving of $43,420.41.
The same-term comparison is the sharper one, because both plans are spending the same six months. The minimums move $9,000 out of your account, of which $6,149.88 is interest and only $2,850.12 reaches principal, leaving $57,149.88 still owed. Six months of minimums therefore charge $2,229.09 more interest than the entire six-month plan — you can pay more interest in half a year than a working plan charges from start to finish, and the variable that decides which happens is the size of the payment. In month 1 the two paths are furthest apart in what they buy: the same $1,500 that retires $456.00 of principal on minimums retires $10,122.00 of it on the plan.
Where the $9,666 comes from
This is the part that decides whether the plan happens, so it is worth stating plainly: you need $9,666 a month above the $1,500 you already pay — 6.44 times the minimums — and over the six months the new money alone is $57,996, which is 96.66% of the balance. At $25 an hour after tax that is roughly 89 extra hours a week, which is a second job rather than overtime.
Two things soften it. The floor narrows on its own, so the payment is under $11,000 from month 3 without you changing anything, and the last payment is $10,115.79. And the balance is down to $29,800.69 by month 3, so the second half of the plan is carrying a much smaller pile than the first.
Reproduce these numbers
Every figure on this page comes from this site's public API. Post the five balances, their rates, their minimums and extra: 9666 to /api/payoff and you get the same months, the same $3,920.79 and the same per-card breakdown. Two things that trip people up: APR goes in as a percentage (25, not 0.25), and extra is the amount above your total minimums, not your total payment — $9,666 here, which is what turns the $1,500 in minimums into $11,166 a month. Or just open the calculator and type your balances in — same engine, no payload.
If your target is a different size or a different deadline, the same analysis is in the $50K in 6 months, $50K in 12 months, $50K in 2 years, $40K in 6 months, $40K in 1 year, $30K in 6 months, $20K in 6 months, $15K in 6 months, $10K in 6 months, $5K in 6 months, $5K in 1 year, $10K, $15K, $20K, $25K, $30K and $100K case studies, plus a 36-second walkthrough of the $25K case on YouTube. Shorter answers to the most common payoff questions live in the payoff questions hub.
Frequently asked
How much do I have to pay a month to clear $60,000 in six months?
On the five-card example here, $11,166 a month clears the $60,000 in six months on the snowball method, which is $9,666 above the $1,500 in minimums. Avalanche needs less — $11,023 — because it goes at the 25% card first.
How much interest do I pay on $60,000 over six months?
The snowball plan is charged $3,920.79 and the total that leaves your account is $63,920.79 — the $60,000 balance plus that interest. The interest is 6.53% of the balance you started with and 6.13% of everything you send. Run at the same $11,166 a month, avalanche is charged $3,335.29, which is $585.50 less — 14.93% of the snowball interest bill.
Why does $60,000 on minimums take the same 87 months as $50,000?
Because a card minimum is a percentage of the balance — 2.5% here — so a bigger balance brings a bigger minimum in the same proportion, and the clock never moves. The $60,000 portfolio pays $1,500 a month and clears in 87 months for $47,341.20. A $50,000 version of the same five cards pays $1,250 a month and also clears in 87 months, for $39,456.55. Twenty percent more debt buys no extra month; it only adds 20% to the interest. The clock is set by the gap between your payment and the minimum, not by the size of the balance.
Why is the payment $11,166 in month 1 and less later on?
Because only part of it is fixed. The $9,666 of new money never moves, but the $1,500 of minimums bundled inside the payment is the sum of the minimums still owed on cards that carry a balance, and that sum drops every time a card is cleared — $1,500 in month 1, then $1,335, $1,080, $780, $780 and finally $450, with only Card A still open. The six actual payments run $11,166, $11,001, $10,746, $10,446, $10,446 and $10,115.79, which adds to $63,920.79 — $3,075.21 below the $66,996 that six flat $11,166 payments would total.
Does snowball versus avalanche matter on $60,000 over six months?
It is worth $585.50 over the six months, which is 14.93% of the snowball interest bill. Both figures are for the same $11,166 a month: snowball pays $3,920.79 and avalanche pays $3,335.29. Avalanche can also clear the balance at its own lower threshold of $11,023, and at that smaller payment the same six months cost $3,371.89 — a different payment, not a different answer. The payoff orders differ — snowball clears Card E, then Card D, then Card C, then Card B and finally Card A, while avalanche clears Card A first and finishes on Card D and Card E together in month 6 — but both methods reach zero in month 6.
What if I only pay the minimums on $60,000?
The $1,500 in minimums clears the balance in 87 months — more than seven years — and costs $47,341.20 in interest, a total bill of $107,341.20. That is a saving of $43,420.41 against the six-month plan's $3,920.79. Over the same six months the minimums move $9,000 out of your account, pay $6,149.88 of interest and retire only $2,850.12 of principal, leaving $57,149.88 still owed — $2,229.09 more interest than the whole six-month plan charges from start to finish.
What is the blended interest rate on this portfolio?
20.88% a year, weighted by balance: $18,000 at 25%, $13,200 at 22%, $12,000 at 20%, $10,200 at 17% and $6,600 at 15% work out to $12,528.00 of annual interest on $60,000. One twelfth of that is 1.74%, which is $1,044.00 on the opening balance — and $1,044.00 divided by $60,000 is exactly 20.88% divided by twelve. By month 6, under the plan, the monthly interest is down to $206.44.
How much new money do I have to find each month for a six-month $60,000 payoff?
$9,666 a month above the $1,500 you are already paying — 6.44 times the minimums — which over the six months is $57,996 of new money, 96.66% of the balance. At $25 an hour after tax that is roughly 89 extra hours a week. A budget rarely absorbs that, so at this size a six-month payoff is normally funded by a liquidity event: a property sold, an inheritance, a contract paid out, or retirement contributions paused for the year, and often two of those at once.