Debt Calculator Hub · Version 1.0
Your free complete debt payoff planner
Free download. This complete workbook and guide are provided at no charge. No purchase, email signup or account connection is required to get them.
Plan a monthly repayment path, adjust extra payments when your income changes, and compare your statements with the forecast.
Open the workbook
Use Debt-Payoff-Planner-Pro.xlsx. Keep a clean backup before editing. It contains a hypothetical $6,000 example; replace the sample with your own figures. No account connection or macros are required.
To use Google Sheets, upload the XLSX to your own Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The sample calculations, strategy selector, zero extra-payment override and zero actual-payment input were checked after import. Native Excel and Excel for iPhone have not been independently tested. Use automatic calculation, and verify the sample results below before replacing them.
Start in five steps
- Inputs: edit the amber cells for up to six balances. Enter an 18 percent rate as 18%. Keep the ID column and formula cells unchanged. Set unused balances, rates and minimums to zero.
- Choose Snowball or Avalanche: the selected strategy recalculates one forecast. Record the Overview results before switching if you want to compare them. There are no simultaneous strategy forecasts in this workbook.
- Monthly budget: set your default extra amount on Inputs, then add month-specific extra overrides when needed. Blank means use the default. A numeric 0 means no extra that month. The original minimum-payment budget still applies.
- Overview and Schedule: review the payoff month, interest, total payments and debt clearance. Detail for each debt continues to the right on Schedule. The horizon is 120 months; a remaining balance means the final payoff month is unavailable.
- Payment log: enter actual aggregate payments and statement closing balances. Differences are actual minus planned. The log does not change the forecast. Save a dated copy before resetting starting balances; old comparisons would then refer to a different baseline.
Check the built-in example
| Strategy | Payoff | Interest | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowball | 26 months | $1,655.95 | $7,655.95 |
| Avalanche | 25 months | $1,447.26 | $7,447.26 |
The example uses $1,000 at 8% with a $35 minimum, $5,000 at 24% with a $150 minimum, and $115 extra each month. Total budget remains $300. Figures are hypothetical and use the assumptions below.
What the model assumes
- One fixed annual interest rate per debt, applied monthly to the opening balance before payment.
- Fixed starting minimum payments, with money from cleared debts rolled forward in the same month.
- No new purchases, additional fees, rate changes or missed minimum payments. The original minimum budget remains even when extra is set to zero.
- Full internal precision, with currency displayed to cents. A final payment may be smaller.
- Starting minimums must exceed the first month’s interest. Extra amounts must be nonnegative.
Snowball priority uses smaller starting balances, then higher rates and lower ID. Avalanche uses higher rates, then smaller starting balances and lower ID. Extra-payment priority is different from the first debt actually cleared by its own minimum.
If a result looks wrong
- Check that rates are percentages: 18%, not 18.
- Check every active minimum and remove unintended budget overrides.
- Check the forecast status, the 120-month remaining balance and whether calculation is automatic.
- Compare statement periods consistently. Fees, new spending and daily interest can explain differences.
Privacy and limits
Keep your workbook private. Do not enter account numbers, passwords or bank credentials. The workbook itself contains no account integration; a cloud storage or spreadsheet service can upload files under its own settings.
This is an educational planning tool, not personalized financial advice, a guarantee of savings or a lender payoff quote. Many credit card issuers calculate interest daily. Request a dated payoff amount from the lender for the final settlement.
Sources and free alternatives
Debt Calculator Hub methodology and limitations
Free fixed-budget strategy comparison
CFPB: how credit card interest is calculated
The workbook is an original Debt Calculator Hub product. CFPB is a primary information source, not an endorser. The included personal-use license explains permitted use.