Two proven methods, one decision. Here's the honest trade-off between saving the most money and staying motivated.
Pay minimums everywhere, then throw every extra dollar at your highest-APR debt. Repeat as each clears. Mathematically optimal: the least total interest and the fastest debt-free date.
Best if: you're motivated by saving money and can stay patient through a large first balance.
Pay minimums everywhere, then attack your smallest balance first. You clear whole debts quickly, and each win frees up its payment to roll into the next. Slightly more interest, far more momentum.
Best if: you need visible wins early to stay in the game.
Imagine $24,000 across a 24.99% card, a 6.9% car loan, and a 0% Klarna plan, with $150 extra each month. Avalanche hits the card first and typically finishes sooner while saving the most interest. Snowball wipes the small Klarna balance first — a fast, satisfying win — then rolls that payment forward, usually finishing close behind at modestly higher total interest.
The gap between them is real but rarely enormous. The bigger risk is picking a method you won't stick to. The best strategy is the one you'll actually finish.
Smart Debt Flow also supports a Custom Blend — for example, clear BNPL payment cliffs first to dodge retroactive interest, then switch to Avalanche for everything else. Run all of them on your real balances in the calculator.
The free calculator shows your date and interest for each method side by side.
Open the calculator