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Debt snowball worksheet: free template and filled-in example
A debt snowball worksheet lists your debts from the smallest balance to the largest, with each one's minimum payment, so you can pay minimums on all of them and put every extra dollar on the smallest. When it's gone, its payment rolls onto the next. Below is a worksheet and a monthly tracker to copy, a filled-in four-debt example with interest counted (debt-free in 26 months instead of 54), and the spreadsheet formulas to build your own.
How the debt snowball works, in one paragraph
List every debt by balance, smallest first. Pay the minimum on all of them. Add whatever extra you can find each month to the smallest. When the smallest is paid off, add its whole payment (minimum plus extra) to the next smallest. Each payoff makes the next payment bigger, which is the "snowball." The method doesn't look at interest rates; that's the avalanche method, which pays the highest rate first. Our comparison of debt snowball vs avalanche works the same debts both ways if you're deciding between them.
The debt snowball worksheet
Copy this into a notebook, a document or a spreadsheet. One row per debt.
| Order | Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum | Due day | Snowball payment | Paid off (month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 4 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 6 |
Under the table, write two numbers:
- Total minimums: the sum of the Minimum column.
- Total monthly debt payment: total minimums plus your extra. This number stays the same until the last debt is gone. That's the whole trick.
How to fill in each column
- Debt: every balance you owe except your mortgage (most snowball plans leave the mortgage out until the rest is gone). Credit cards, store cards, car loans, personal loans, medical bills, student loans, buy-now-pay-later plans, money owed to family if you've agreed to pay it back.
- Balance: today's payoff balance from the latest statement or the lender's website, not the original loan amount.
- APR: the annual interest rate on the statement. A 0% medical plan or promotional rate is 0, but write the date the promotion ends.
- Minimum: the minimum payment on the latest statement. Credit card minimums usually fall as the balance falls; write the current one and update it monthly.
- Due day: so you can place each payment on a paycheck. Our bill calendar template helps here.
- Order: number them by balance, smallest first. If two are close in size, the one with the higher rate goes first.
- Snowball payment: the amount you'll pay on that debt once it's the target. Debt 1's is its minimum plus your extra. Each next one's is its own minimum plus the previous snowball payment.
- Paid off: fill this in when it happens. It's the part people come back to the sheet for.
A filled-in example: four debts, $100 extra a month
Four debts with $364 of minimums. The household finds $100 a month extra, so the total debt payment is $464 every month.
| Order | Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum | Snowball payment | Paid off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Store card | $420 | 26.99% | $30 | $130 | Month 4 |
| 2 | Medical bill (payment plan) | $900 | 0% | $50 | $180 | Month 8 |
| 3 | Credit card | $2,300 | 22.9% | $69 | $249 | Month 17 |
| 4 | Car loan | $6,800 | 7.5% | $215 | $464 | Month 26 |
| Total | $10,420 | $364 | $464 a month |
How the snowball payment column builds: the store card gets $30 + $100 = $130. Once it's gone, the medical bill gets its $50 + $130 = $180. Then the credit card gets $69 + $180 = $249. Then the car loan gets $215 + $249 = $464, the full amount.
Interest is counted monthly (balance × APR ÷ 12), and the minimums are held at their starting amounts. Here's what it does:
| Minimums only ($364 a month) | Snowball ($464 a month) | |
|---|---|---|
| Debt-free in | 54 months | 26 months |
| Interest paid | About $2,280 | About $1,224 |
| First debt gone | Month 18 | Month 4 |
$100 extra a month, about $2,600 over the 26 months, cuts 28 months and about $1,056 of interest. The real numbers on your cards will differ (minimums drop as balances fall, which slows a minimums-only plan even more), so treat this as a picture of how the roll-over works, not a forecast.
The monthly tracker
The worksheet is the plan. The tracker is where you write what actually happened. Once a month, after the payments clear, add a row.
| Month | Store card | Medical | Credit card | Car loan | Total owed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $420 | $900 | $2,300 | $6,800 | $10,420 |
| 1 | $299 | $850 | $2,275 | $6,628 | $10,052 |
| 2 | $176 | $800 | $2,249 | $6,454 | $9,679 |
| 3 | $50 | $750 | $2,223 | $6,279 | $9,303 |
| 4 | Paid ✓ | $621 | $2,197 | $6,104 | $8,921 |
| 8 | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | $1,986 | $5,389 | $7,376 |
| 12 | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | $1,118 | $4,657 | $5,775 |
| 17 | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | $3,651 | $3,651 |
| 24 | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | $504 | $504 |
| 26 | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | Paid ✓ | $0 |
The "Total owed" column is the one to watch. Some months it barely moves because interest eats part of each payment; over a year the drop is plain to see. Many people colour in a bar or a thermometer drawing next to it. It sounds childish and it works, because the snowball's whole point is to keep you going.
Build it in Google Sheets or Excel
A spreadsheet does the maths for you. Set up columns A to F: Debt, Balance, APR, Minimum, Snowball payment, Months to pay off.
- Sort by balance: select the rows, then Data › Sort range by column B, A to Z.
- Snowball payment for the first debt (row 2), with your extra in cell H1:
=D2+$H$1. For each next row:=D3+E2, filled down. - Interest this month on one debt:
=B2*C2/12. On a $2,300 card at 22.9%, that's about $44 a month. - Months to pay off one debt at a set payment:
=NPER(C2/12,-E2,B2). For the store card at $130 a month that gives about 3.4 months. For later debts this is only rough, because they were already shrinking from their minimums while they waited. - Total owed on the tracker sheet:
=SUM(B2:E2)per month row.
If you'd rather not build it, the same worksheet on paper works fine. The maths only matters when you want a finish date; the plan itself is one rule: minimums on all, everything extra on the smallest.
Running the snowball on biweekly or weekly pay
Debts are billed monthly, but you may be paid every week or two. Two ways to line them up:
- Pay each debt from the check before its due date, using a bill calendar so the minimums are spread across checks.
- Set aside a fixed amount per check. The monthly total × 12 ÷ 26 for biweekly pay, or ÷ 52 for weekly. In the example, $464 a month is about $214 per biweekly check or $107 per weekly check. Move it to a separate "debt" balance on payday and pay from there.
The months with an extra paycheck are a good source of one-off snowball money: two a year on biweekly pay, four or five on weekly. See how to budget biweekly paychecks for when they fall.
Where the extra money comes from
The worksheet only works if there's an extra number to put in it, even $25. Places people usually find it:
- A subscription or two you no longer use.
- Calling the phone, internet and insurance companies at renewal for a lower rate.
- Planning groceries for the week before shopping.
- Overdraft and late fees, which stop once bills are timed to paydays.
- One-off money (a tax refund, a sold item, extra shifts) sent straight to the target debt.
Not sure where yours is leaking? The free money leak quiz takes two minutes and needs no bank login. Our guide on paying off debt fast with a low income has more on lowering the cost of the debt itself.
Problems you'll hit, and what to do
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| A month with no extra money | Pay all minimums and nothing more. Write "minimums only" on the tracker and carry on next month. One skipped month doesn't break the plan. |
| A surprise bill | Pause the extra and use it for the bill, rather than putting the bill on a card. A small emergency fund first stops this happening often. |
| A minimum payment drops | Keep paying the old amount and count the difference as extra. Your total monthly debt payment should never shrink. |
| A promotional 0% rate is ending | Consider moving that debt to the top of the list so it's gone before the rate jumps. |
| A debt in collections | Ask for a written statement of what's owed before paying. Collection debts often need a different approach; see our low-income debt guide above. |
| New charges on a paid-off card | Take the card out of your wallet and phone. The snowball only works if the paid balances stay at zero. |
Should you save or snowball first?
Most plans start with a small emergency fund, often $500 to $1,000, before putting extra on debt. Without it, the next car repair goes on a card and the worksheet goes backwards. Our guide on building an emergency fund on a tight budget shows how long that takes per paycheck.
If you're behind on payments, being sued, or the minimums are more than you can pay, talk to a nonprofit credit counselor before starting a snowball. The CFPB and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling explain how to find one.
Debt snowball worksheet questions
How do you fill out a debt snowball worksheet?
List each debt with its balance, rate, minimum and due day. Sort smallest balance first. Add your extra to the first debt's minimum, and each next debt's snowball payment is its minimum plus the one before it.
Do you include your mortgage in the debt snowball?
Most snowball plans leave the mortgage out and pay it normally until every other debt is gone.
Does the debt snowball include car loans?
Yes. A car loan is listed by its balance like any other debt, and usually ends up near the bottom because it's large.
How much extra do I need for the snowball to work?
Any amount helps. In the example above, $100 a month cut the time from 54 months to 26. Even $25 speeds up the first payoff.
Is there a free debt snowball worksheet?
Yes: copy the worksheet and tracker on this page onto paper or into a spreadsheet; the formulas above do the maths.
Get your latest statements, fill in the worksheet tonight, and write down one extra amount you can send to the smallest debt this month. If you need to find that amount first, try the free 2-minute money leak quiz. More guides are on the Ahead Again guides page.
Budgeting help only. This guide isn't financial, credit or legal advice. If you're facing collection lawsuits, wage garnishment or bankruptcy, talk to a nonprofit credit counselor or a lawyer.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, guides on credit cards, debt collection and choosing a credit counselor. consumerfinance.gov
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling, find a nonprofit credit counselor. nfcc.org
- Microsoft Support and Google Docs Editors Help, "NPER function." support.microsoft.com, support.google.com