Guides › Debt Snowball Spreadsheet for Excel (vs. Avalanche) – Free Formula · Updated 26-10-2026

Debt snowball spreadsheet in Excel: how it works, with a free formula

The debt snowball pays off your smallest balance first, then rolls that payment into the next debt. A spreadsheet makes the plan visible and shows your debt-free date.

Set up the debt list

One row per debt: name, balance, interest rate (APR) and minimum payment. Add one cell for the extra amount you can pay each month on top of all minimums.

Snowball or avalanche?

• Snowball: sort by balance, smallest first. You clear your first debt quickly, which keeps many people going.
• Avalanche: sort by interest rate, highest first. This usually costs less interest overall.

Both work. The best method is the one you will actually stick with, so it helps to see both side by side.

A formula for months to payoff

For a single debt with balance in B2, APR in C2 and monthly payment in D2, the number of months is:

=NPER(C2/12, -D2, B2)

Wrap it in ROUNDUP to get whole months, and use =EDATE(TODAY(), months) to turn it into a date. For the snowball, the payment for the next debt is its own minimum plus everything that was going to the debts already paid off.

Where spreadsheets get tricky

Rolling payments forward across several debts, month by month, is where hand-built sheets usually break. You either build a month-by-month schedule or simplify. That is the part a template saves you.

Ready-made snowball and avalanche

The Paycheck Budget & Debt Payoff Planner shows, for snowball, avalanche and minimums only, your debt-free date, number of months, total interest and the interest you save, plus the payoff month of every debt. It also connects to your paycheck budget, so the extra payment is money you really have. Reading Dutch? See our sneeuwbalmethode guide.

FAQ

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