Question

Any advice on whether I should do the snowball or avalanche method? Snowball- pay lowest to highest debt adding minimum payments Avalanche- pay by interest rate

Answer 1

Snowball. Your interest rates are all very close and high. Avalanche will only save you a couple bucks but snowball will knock out things quicker and keep you motivated.  

Comments

@hauteur Dave Ramsey says that when debt amounts are close together, pay the higher interest rate debt first.  

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They are all high interest though so they are all costing her about the same amount of money. Paying off her $300 CC vs $300 on a CC with 2% higher interest isn’t going to save her much money at all. Snowball will give her quicker wins and not cost her much extra in interest.  

Answer 2

I do the snowball method, personally. I like to see things being crossed off. Side note- how do you get your handwriting on the iPad to look so neat? Mine looks like a toddler wrote it. ‍♀️

Comments

@bootless thank you! i think that’s what i’m going to do. and i rewrite it a million times until it’s perfect  if you use good notes, i use the little magnifier to write as small and steady as possible lol

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@bootless i use text  I’m OCD and i hateee my writing on it

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@hyde1851 I definitely need to mess with it more. I downloaded it and got frustrated and haven't looked at it again. I'm a pen and paper girl, but thought this would be good to have if I need to take it with me.  

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@bootless i was the same! Pen and paper all the time. I downloaded fonts to the iPad and just use the text to put stuff in. I love it cause i can change numbers and adjust when needed. No white out marks for me to be OCD about lol

Answer 3

Personally snowball I like to see them vanish little by little.  

Answer 4

I used a free online calculator to see how much money it would cost me (in interest) by doing each. I save MUCH MORE money doing the avalanche way so that's what I chose to do.  

Comments

@instinctive thank you!  

Answer 5

I'm all about the avalanche!  

Answer 6

Your interest rates are fairly similar and debts 1-4 are also very similar in dollar amounts. Because of this, I don't think it really matters which you choose in terms of how you pay those first four debts off. I would recommend doing whatever you feel will help you feel the most accomplished and motivated to keep going. Is it going to be saving a few dollars on interest (avalanche method) or seeing a zero balance very fast (snowball)? Once you get the first four paid off, I would take a look at debts 5-8 and reevaluate to see where your motivation is again.  

Comments

@dominoes260 exactly what I was going to say

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I came to say this as well

Answer 7

I kind of do a combo. I snowballed to get all the little balances done but once the larger balances started I did avalanche. But first I called every company to ask for lower interest rates. Some gave them some didn’t, but it helped.  

Answer 8

Call the companies and ask for lower interest rates. Can you do a 0% or low interest balance transfer? If not, can you get a lower interest personal loan from a credit union or small local bank? With interest rates that high, your best bet is avalanche method.  

Comments

@fredericksburg thank you, i will look into these things!  

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@chantress It's hard to pay off debt with high interest rates. Getting lower interest rates will help. You can do this.  

Answer 9

You can plug all the numbers into undebt. it and compare methods.  

Comments

@bui110 thank you!  

Answer 10

Use Vertex debt calculator. You'll be able to see how long it'll take to pay off for each one.  

Answer 11

I would snowball. The interest rates are so close, it isn’t going to make much of a difference. If there was a huge gap in interest rates then maybe avalanche, but they’re mostly the same. So I would do snowball.  

Answer 12

Undebt. it You enter both methods and the program tells you what’s most beneficial for you.  

Answer 13

I would snowball just because your interest rates are so similar. It would be more rewarding to me and then you could be applying those payments towards the next once they’re gone.  

Answer 14

We are doing the snowball method so that we can pay things off and add that money to the next thing.