Numbers from this site's public API on a 5-card $80,000 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
$80,000 is the size where the minimum payments alone cross $2,000 a month. This page uses five US credit cards — the same five-card shape and the same 25 / 22 / 20 / 17 / 15 APR ladder as the $60K and $70K twelve-month case studies, scaled to $80,000. Card A carries $25,000 at 25% APR with a $625 minimum; Card B $18,000 at 22% with a $450 minimum; Card C $16,000 at 20% with a $400 minimum; Card D $13,000 at 17% with a $325 minimum; Card E $8,000 at 15% with a $200 minimum. Every minimum is exactly 2.5% of its balance, and the five of them add up to $2,000 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 21.025% a year: $25,000 × 25%, $18,000 × 22%, $16,000 × 20%, $13,000 × 17% and $8,000 × 15% come to $16,820.00 of annual interest on an $80,000 balance. One twelfth of that is 1.7521%, which on the opening balance is $1,401.67 for the first month — $520.83 on Card A, $330.00 on Card B, $266.67 on Card C, $184.17 on Card D and $100.00 on Card E.
To clear all five in twelve months, the snowball method needs $8,178 a month, which is $6,178 above the minimums. Avalanche needs less — $8,057 — because it goes straight at the 25% card. Every figure on this page is for the snowball plan unless it says otherwise.
Five cards, two orders
Twelve months is enough time for both methods to finish, so the twelve-month clock is where the choice of method shows up as an order rather than as a deadline. Snowball pays the smallest balance first and avalanche pays the highest rate first, and on this portfolio those two rules point in opposite directions from the very first card: the smallest balance is also the lowest rate (Card E, $8,000 at 15%) and the biggest balance is also the highest rate (Card A, $25,000 at 25%).
So the two orders come out as mirror images. Snowball clears Card E in month 2, Card D in month 4, Card C in month 6, Card B in month 9 and Card A in month 12. Avalanche clears Card A in month 4, Card B in month 7, Card C in month 9, Card D in month 11 and Card E in month 12. The card that snowball leaves for the very last month is the card avalanche takes first; the card avalanche leaves for the last month is the one snowball takes first. Card A is 8 months apart and Card E is 10 months apart — the two ends of the portfolio are exactly swapped.
That swap is not cosmetic, because the two ends are not the same size in interest. Card A is 31.25% of the balance ($25,000 of $80,000) but it carries 55.51% of the interest bill — $5,426.54 of the $9,774.99 — because it is both the biggest balance and the highest rate. Leaving it to month 12 is the single most expensive decision on the page. Avalanche takes it in month 4 instead, and Card A's interest falls from $5,426.54 to $1,287.10: $4,139.44 saved on that one card. Avalanche gives some of that back on the other four — the cards it now leaves to the end — and the net difference between the two methods is $1,597.34. Sixteen percent of the snowball bill is not the ceiling: across the twelve portfolios we ran, the same ten-point rate spread produced gaps from $123.69 to $8,822.67 — decided by how long the expensive card stays open, not by how much is owed.
| The card | Balance · APR | Snowball | Avalanche | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card A | $25,000 · 25% | Month 12 | Month 4 | 8 months |
| Card B | $18,000 · 22% | Month 9 | Month 7 | 2 months |
| Card C | $16,000 · 20% | Month 6 | Month 9 | 3 months |
| Card D | $13,000 · 17% | Month 4 | Month 11 | 7 months |
| Card E | $8,000 · 15% | Month 2 | Month 12 | 10 months |
| All five cards | $80,000 · 21.025% | Month 12 | Month 12 | $1,597.34 in interest |
Read the top row against the bottom row and the mirror is the whole story: the biggest card moves eight months earlier under avalanche, the smallest card moves ten months later, and both methods still finish in month 12. What changes is not the deadline — it is which balance your extra money is sitting against while you wait.
What the twelve months cost
The twelve months cost $9,774.99 of interest, and the total that leaves your account is $89,774.99 — the $80,000 balance plus that interest. The interest is 12.22% of the balance you started with and 10.89% of everything you send. That is what paying this fast buys: the whole year of interest is 4.89 of the $2,000 minimum payments, and the monthly charge falls from $1,401.67 in month 1 to $138.61 in month 12.
Snowball is not the cheapest way to spend those twelve months. Avalanche, run at the same $8,178 a month, is charged $8,177.65 — $1,597.34 less, which is 16.34% of the snowball interest bill — and it also finishes in twelve months. Avalanche can also clear the balance at its own lower threshold of $8,057, and at that smaller payment it costs $8,303.85; the $8,177.65 above is the equal-payment figure, so the two numbers differ by the payment they are measured at, not by the method.
The deadline itself is exact. $8,178 a month lands the payoff in twelve months; $8,177 leaves a thirteenth month on the books and costs $9,776.36 in interest. Avalanche's own deadline sits lower: $8,057 finishes in twelve months, and $8,056 pushes it to thirteen at $8,305.10. The balance path is $73,223.67, $66,360.27, $59,600.96, $52,744.30, $46,101.92, $39,348.16, $32,877.39, $26,287.70, $19,576.90, $13,181.76, $6,653.38 and zero. The payments are $8,178, $8,178, $7,978, $7,978, $7,653, $7,653, $7,253, $7,253, $7,253, $6,803, $6,803 and $6,791.99 — a $1,386.01 drop from first to last. $1,375.00 of that drop — 99.21% — is the minimums you have stopped owing (Card E at month 2, Card D at month 4, Card C at month 6, Card B at month 9); the last $11.01 is the balance running out. In month 1, 82.86% of what you send reaches principal; in month 12 it is 97.96%, because there is so little interest left to charge.
Where the $6,178 comes from
This is the part that decides whether the plan happens, so it is worth stating plainly: you need $6,178 a month above the $2,000 you already pay — 3.089 times the minimums — and over the twelve months the new money alone is $74,136, which is 92.67% of the balance. The plan pays 4.089 times the minimums and finishes the job in 12 months instead of 87 — 7.25 times faster.
Two comparisons make the size of the ask concrete. The whole twelve-month plan, at $89,774.99, is 62.33% of the $144,021.79 the minimums-only path would cost over 87 months: about three-fifths of the money, in a seventh of the time. And what the minimums do in those same twelve months is worth reading against the plan. They move $24,000 out of your account, of which $16,132.63 is interest and only $7,867.37 reaches principal — 32.78% of what you sent — and they leave $72,132.63 still owed, which is 90.17% of the original balance. The plan, over the same twelve months, sends $89,774.99 and ends at zero. Month 1 of the minimums is charged the same $1,401.67 the plan is, but of that $2,000 only $598.33 reaches principal — 29.92%, against 82.86% for the plan's first payment.
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: 6178 to /api/payoff and you get the same months, the same $9,774.99 and the same per-card breakdown — including the clearedMonth on each card that the table above is built from. 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 — $6,178 here, which is what turns the $2,000 in minimums into $8,178 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 $80K in 6 months, $70K in 12 months, $70K in 6 months, $60K in 12 months, $60K in 6 months, $60K in 2 years, $50K in 6 months, $50K in 12 months, $50K in 2 years, $40K in 1 year, $40K in 6 months, $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 $80,000 in twelve months?
On the five-card example here, $8,178 a month clears the $80,000 in twelve months on the snowball method, which is $6,178 above the $2,000 in minimums. Avalanche needs less — $8,057 — because it goes at the 25% card first.
How much interest do I pay on $80,000 over twelve months?
The snowball plan is charged $9,774.99 and the total that leaves your account is $89,774.99 — the $80,000 balance plus that interest. The interest is 12.22% of the balance you started with and 10.89% of everything you send, and it is 4.89 of the $2,000 minimum payments. Run at the same $8,178 a month, avalanche is charged $8,177.65, which is $1,597.34 less — 16.34% of the snowball interest bill.
Does it matter which card I pay off first?
It is worth $1,597.34, which is 16.34% of the snowball interest bill. Both figures are for the same $8,178 a month: snowball takes 12 months and pays $9,774.99, avalanche takes 12 months and pays $8,177.65. What the method changes is the order the cards leave in, and the two orders are mirrors: snowball clears Card E in month 2, Card D in month 4, Card C in month 6, Card B in month 9 and Card A in month 12, while avalanche clears Card A in month 4, Card B in month 7, Card C in month 9, Card D in month 11 and Card E in month 12. The biggest card leaves last under snowball and first under avalanche.
Why does the 25% card leave last under the snowball method?
Because snowball orders the cards by balance, and Card A is the biggest balance at $25,000, so it is the last to receive the extra money. That is expensive: Card A is 31.25% of the $80,000 but 55.51% of the $9,774.99 interest bill — $5,426.54 of it. Avalanche takes Card A in month 4 instead and its interest falls to $1,287.10, a saving of $4,139.44 on that card alone; the rest of the $1,597.34 gap is what avalanche gives back on the other four.
Which card does each method clear first and last?
Snowball clears Card E — the $8,000 card at 15% — in month 2 and Card A — the $25,000 card at 25% — in month 12. Avalanche clears Card A in month 4 and Card E in month 12. So the two ends swap: Card A is 8 months apart and Card E is 10 months apart. In between, Card B goes month 9 under snowball against month 7 under avalanche, Card C month 6 against month 9, and Card D month 4 against month 11.
What if I only pay the minimums on $80,000?
The $2,000 in minimums clears the balance in 87 months — more than seven years — and costs $64,021.79 in interest, a total bill of $144,021.79. The twelve-month plan is charged $9,774.99, a saving of $54,246.80. The plan also finishes 7.25 times faster: 12 months against 87. Month 1 of the minimums is charged the same $1,401.67 the plan is, but only $598.33 of that $2,000 reaches principal, against $6,776.33 of the plan's first payment.
What do twelve months of the minimums actually retire?
Twelve months of minimums moves $24,000 out of your account. Of that, $16,132.63 is interest and only $7,867.37 reaches principal — 32.78% of what you sent — so after twelve months you still owe $72,132.63, which is 90.17% of the balance you started with. The plan, over the same twelve months, sends $89,774.99 and ends at zero.
What is the blended interest rate on this portfolio?
21.025% a year, weighted by balance: $25,000 at 25%, $18,000 at 22%, $16,000 at 20%, $13,000 at 17% and $8,000 at 15% work out to $16,820.00 of annual interest on $80,000. One twelfth of that is 1.7521%, which is $1,401.67 on the opening balance — and $1,401.67 divided by $80,000 is exactly 21.025% divided by twelve. By month 12, under the plan, the monthly interest is down to $138.61.