debt snowball

A debt snowball is a debt repayment strategy that prioritizes paying off your debt with the smallest balance, moving to the next smallest once the first one is paid off, gaining momentum as each debt is paid off. It may give a sense of accomplishment to see individual debts drop off quicker, but it probably will cost you more (depends size of debts/ interest rates) in interest overall than other strategies. You begin by listing all your debts from smallest to largest by balance. Next, you make minimum payments on all debts every month. Then you focus all additional money on your smallest debt. When the smallest debt is paid in full, you roll the money you were paying on that debt into the next smallest balance. This cycle is repeated until every debt is paid off. If you receive any “windfalls” (tax refunds, bonus, selling stuff, side gig, etc), you can use that on the smallest debt to accelerate the process.