What Is a Debt Payoff Planner?

Listing debts in a spreadsheet shows what's owed. A debt payoff planner goes further: it projects when each balance actually hits zero, and how that date moves depending on which debt gets the extra payment first.

The three numbers it needs

A payoff planner works from three inputs per debt: the current balance, the interest rate, and the payment being made now. With those three numbers, it can project forward instead of just showing a static snapshot of what's owed today.

An example of what changes

For example, a $3,000 balance at 22% APR and a $6,000 balance at 12% APR, with $200 extra available each month.

• Avalanche (highest rate first) puts the $200 toward the $3,000 balance at 22% first, since that rate is costing the most in interest.
• Snowball (smallest balance first) also puts the $200 toward the $3,000 balance in this case, since it happens to be the smaller of the two.

The two strategies point to the same debt here, but with a different rate-and-balance mix they'd diverge, and a planner is what shows exactly how much interest and time separates the two paths for the specific numbers involved, not a general rule of thumb.

Why running the comparison matters

Seeing snowball and avalanche side by side, with real payoff dates and real interest totals, turns an abstract debate into a concrete comparison based on actual balances. It's also the right tool for comparing current balances against what debt consolidation would change, instead of guessing whether it helps.

MoneyFlow's debt payoff planner does exactly this: enter debts once, and see projected payoff dates and total interest under different strategies, side by side.

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