How to start paying off debt, step by step

The 6 steps

1. List every debtWrite down each debt with its balance, APR and minimum payment. All three are usually on your latest statement. Include credit cards, store cards, loans and medical bills.
2. Set one monthly totalAdd up the minimum payments. Then decide how much you can pay toward debt each month in total. Anything above the minimums is your extra. In our example, the minimums add up to $411.
3. Choose which debt goes firstThe debt snowball pays the smallest balance first. The debt avalanche pays the highest APR first. Both roll payments over the same way. Snowball vs avalanche compares them with numbers.
4. Pay every minimum, then the extraPay the minimum on every debt each month, so none falls behind. Put all of your extra on the first debt in your order.
5. Roll the payment overWhen a debt is paid off, keep paying the same monthly total. The payment you no longer need goes to the next debt. It takes no new money, and in our example it saves 16 months.
6. Track each paymentOnce a month, write down what you paid and what you still owe. Update the plan when a balance, a rate or your monthly total changes.

A 4-debt example

Here is one plan with four common debts. The minimum payments add up to $411 a month. Every number below comes from our free debt payoff calculator.

With minimums only, each debt keeps its own payment. Your monthly payment shrinks as debts are paid off, and the credit card takes 53 months. With rollover, the medical bill is paid off in month 9 and its $50 moves to the store card. The store card is then paid off in month 20 instead of 42. Then both payments move on to the credit card, which is paid off in month 37 instead of 53.

The rows with extra money roll payments over too. With the avalanche order, they take the same 28 and 23 months and cost $2,317.89 and $1,848.01 in interest.

Open the example in the calculator

This link opens the four debts above in the free debt payoff calculator, with $200 extra each month. It shows the snowball and the avalanche side by side, with a debt-free date and a payment schedule for every month. Change any number to see your own plan. It needs no sign-up.

Open this example

Where the numbers come from

The credit card rate, 22.15%, is the average interest rate on credit card accounts that paid interest at commercial banks in the second quarter of 2026. It is the series “Accounts assessed interest” in the Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit release of October 7, 2026. The other rates are examples.

The calculator assumes fixed rates, interest charged once a month and no new charges or fees. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes the same rollover for the snowball method. Once a smaller debt is paid in full, it says to put the freed money toward the next smallest debt.

Where to track your payments

Pick one place and update it once a month.

• On paper, with the free debt snowball printable. It lists up to 10 debts and logs 24 months of payments.
• In a spreadsheet, with the free debt snowball spreadsheet for Numbers, Google Sheets and Excel.
• On iPhone, with Debt Payoff Planner: Tracker. You type in your debts, and the app plans the snowball or avalanche and records each payment. It needs no bank link and no account. See it on the App Store.