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Debt Avalanche Calculator: Payoff Order and Date
Enter balances, APRs, minimums and extra payment to calculate the highest-rate payoff order, debt-free date and estimated interest.
Money decisions, made clearer.
The Debtless Journal
Debtless is a 100% free debt payoff app for iPhone. Practical ways to get out of debt, one decision at a time. Clear examples, useful routines and a free app to put your plan into practice. The Debtless Journal is a free debt blog of practical articles on payoff methods, credit card interest, loans, collections, budgeting and privacy, written for anyone deciding how to pay down what they owe. It turns reading like this into a plan, drawing on 442 articles in this library.
The Debtless Journal articles
442 articles
Budget & cash flow
Selling things to pay debt: what is worth the effort
Decide which items are actually worth selling to pay down debt by weighing your time, marketplace fees, and the one-time nature of the cash.
Credit card debt
Does paying off credit cards help your credit score?
Paying off a card can help a credit score by lowering utilization, one of the CFPB's general score factors, though no specific point change is guaranteed.
Payments & progress
Autopay or manual payments: a practical split
A practical way to split debt payments: automate the minimums so nothing is late, and send extra payments manually so you stay in control.
Loans & bills
Personal loan prepayment penalties: check before paying
How to find out whether your personal loan charges a prepayment penalty, how to weigh the fee against interest saved, and who to ask directly.
Life & debt
A debt plan for single parents
How to build a debt payoff plan around one income and irregular child-related costs, starting with a buffer instead of the balance.
Privacy & habits
Locking money apps on your phone
How to actually lock down money apps on your phone: the device passcode does most of the work, plus notification previews and per-app lock options.
Getting started
Revolving vs. installment debt in a payoff plan
Why a credit card and a car loan behave differently in a payoff plan, and how the open-ended balance changes your strategy.
Payoff methods
How to check whether a consolidation loan saves money
A step-by-step way to compare the real total cost of a consolidation loan against keeping your current debts, including fees and term length.
Free debt apps
Why CSV export matters in a debt app
See why the ability to export your debt data as a CSV file protects your records, and how to keep the exported file private.
Budget & cash flow
Break an overdraft cycle before paying extra on debt
Stop repeat overdraft fees before adding extra debt payments, since the fees themselves function like a high-cost debt eating your cash flow.
Credit card debt
Should you close a credit card after paying it off?
Closing a paid off card removes temptation and any fee, but keeping it open preserves available credit and account age. Weigh the tradeoffs for your situation.
Payments & progress
Paying early vs. on the due date: does it matter?
Whether paying a credit card or loan a few days early actually saves money, and when the timing genuinely makes no difference.
Loans & bills
Federal student loan repayment plans: an overview
A general overview of how federal student loan repayment plans differ in structure, why terms change over time, and where to check current options.
Life & debt
Paying off debt before applying for a mortgage
How debt-to-income ratio affects a mortgage application, which balances to focus on first, and why keeping some cash matters too.
Privacy & habits
Attach a debt check to a habit you already have
How to build a debt check-in habit that sticks by attaching it to something you already do daily or weekly, like payday or your morning coffee.
Getting started
Find every debt you owe using your free credit reports
How to use your free credit reports to find accounts you forgot about, old collections and errors before building a full debt list.
Payoff methods
Balance transfer vs. personal loan for card debt
How a 0% balance transfer and a fixed personal loan actually compare in cost and discipline required, with the arithmetic shown.
Free debt apps
Does a debt app need the internet? What works offline
Find out which parts of a debt payoff app can run entirely offline and which features actually depend on a connection.
Budget & cash flow
Paying off debt while living paycheck to paycheck
A realistic approach to paying down debt when there's little room to spare: minimums first, a tiny buffer, and fixing payment timing.
Give your plan a place to live.
Track balances and compare payoff methods in Debtless. Free, with no account or bank connection.
