A debt payoff spreadsheet lists every debt with its balance, APR and minimum payment, then puts one fixed monthly budget toward them: all minimums first, and every spare dollar to one target debt until it is gone. The avalanche tab targets the highest APR; the snowball tab targets the smallest balance. With three debts totalling $13,500 and $520 a month, the plan below is debt-free in 31 months, and the avalanche costs $133.50 less in interest than the snowball.
This page gives you the layout, the four formulas that drive it, and a worked example you can check against your own sheet. It works the same in Google Sheets and Excel.
The layout: three tabs
| Tab | What it holds | Why it is separate |
|---|
| Debts | One row per debt: name, balance, APR, minimum, order | Inputs you update once a month |
| Avalanche | Month-by-month schedule, highest APR first | Shows total interest and payoff month |
| Snowball | Same schedule, smallest balance first | Lets you compare the two side by side |
Put one more cell on the Debts tab: Monthly debt budget. Both schedule tabs read it, so changing it once updates both plans.
Debts tab columns
| Column | Example (row 2) | Notes |
|---|
| A: Debt | Credit card | Any label |
| B: Balance | 4,800 | From your latest statement |
| C: APR | 24.99% | Enter as a percentage |
| D: Minimum | 120 | From the statement, not a guess |
| E: Monthly interest | =B2*C2/12 | 99.96 for this row |
| F: Months at minimum | =NPER(C2/12,-D2,B2) | About 87 months |
Column F is the eye-opener. Paying only $120 a month on a $4,800 card at 24.99% APR takes about 87 months. Raise that one payment to $270 and =NPER(C2/12,-270,B2) drops to about 23 months.
The four formulas
- Monthly interest:
=Balance*APR/12. This is a close estimate; card issuers often charge on the average daily balance, so your statement can differ by a few cents or dollars.
- Months to pay off:
=NPER(APR/12, -Payment, Balance). The payment is negative because it is money leaving you.
- Payment for a target date:
=PMT(APR/12, Months, -Balance). To clear $4,800 at 24.99% in 24 months you need about $256.16 a month.
- Payoff order:
=SORT(A2:D4, 3, FALSE) sorts debts by APR, highest first (avalanche). =SORT(A2:D4, 2, TRUE) sorts by balance, smallest first (snowball).
On each schedule tab, each month gets one block of rows: starting balance, plus interest, minus the minimum, minus any extra payment if this debt is the current target. When a debt hits zero, its minimum joins the extra payment for the next target. That rollover is what makes both methods work.
Worked example: $13,500 across three debts
The debts below are an illustration, not anyone's real account.
| Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum |
|---|
| Store card | $1,200 | 18.00% | $40 |
| Credit card | $4,800 | 24.99% | $120 |
| Car loan | $7,500 | 6.90% | $210 |
| Total | $13,500 | | $370 |
The minimums add up to $370. The monthly debt budget is $520, so there is $150 extra each month. Interest is charged monthly at APR/12, and paid-off minimums roll into the next target.
| Plan | Debt-free in | Total interest | First debt cleared |
|---|
| $370 a month (minimums, rolled over) | Month 51 | $5,355.33 | Month 41 |
| Snowball at $520 | Month 31 | $2,553.55 | Store card, month 7 |
| Avalanche at $520 | Month 31 | $2,420.05 | Credit card, month 23 |
What the table shows:
- The extra $150 matters more than the method. Going from $370 to $520 a month cuts 20 months and about $2,800 of interest. Choosing avalanche over snowball saves another $133.50.
- The snowball gives you an early win. The store card is gone in month 7, against month 23 for the first debt in the avalanche.
- The avalanche wins on cost because the $4,800 card at 24.99% is the most expensive money in the list. Every extra dollar there saves about 2.1% a month.
If your smallest balance also carries your highest APR, the two methods give the same order and the same result. The choice only matters when they disagree.
Snowball or avalanche: how to choose
| If this sounds like you | Use |
|---|
| You want the lowest total cost and can stay patient | Avalanche |
| You have quit plans before and need quick wins | Snowball |
| Your APRs are all within a few points of each other | Snowball (the cost gap is small) |
| One debt has a promotional rate that ends soon | Avalanche, with that debt's post-promo APR |
Your spreadsheet can answer this for your numbers: build both tabs, compare the total-interest cell, and decide whether the gap is worth the wait for the first win.
Fill the extra payment from your bank CSV
The extra payment cell is the one input that changes the outcome most, and it is the one most people guess. A better source is your own spending:
- Export the last three months of transactions from your bank as CSV.
- Import them into a sheet with Date, Description, Amount and Category columns. The spreadsheet expense tracker guide shows the five-column layout.
- Categorize every row. If that is the slow part, auto-categorizing bank transactions in Excel covers the formula and rule options.
- Total each category per month with
SUMIFS, pick the ones you can cut, and put the monthly amount in the extra payment cell.
Keep debt payments themselves out of your spending totals: a card payment moves money between your own accounts, and counting it would double-count the purchases already on the card.
If irregular costs (car registration, annual subscriptions) keep knocking you off plan, a sinking fund spreadsheet sets money aside for them so the debt budget stays fixed.
When a spreadsheet is not enough
A spreadsheet shows the math; it does not change the inputs. If the minimums alone are more than you can pay each month, the schedule will only show the shortfall. In that case, talk to your lenders about hardship options or a lower rate, or contact a nonprofit credit counselling service in your country before you pick a payoff method. Consolidation loans and balance transfers can lower the APR, but check the fees and the rate after any promotional period before entering them in the sheet.
FAQ
What columns does a debt payoff spreadsheet need?
Six inputs per debt are enough: name, balance, APR, minimum payment, payoff order and this month's payment. A monthly schedule tab then adds interest charged and the new balance for each month until every balance reaches zero.
Is the debt snowball or the debt avalanche better?
The avalanche (highest APR first) always costs the same or less in interest. The snowball (smallest balance first) clears a debt sooner, which keeps some people motivated. In the worked example on this page the avalanche saves $133.50 and both finish in month 31.
Which formula tells me how many months until a debt is paid off?
NPER. In Google Sheets or Excel, =NPER(APR/12, -payment, balance) returns the number of months. For $4,800 at 24.99% APR, a $120 payment takes about 87 months and a $270 payment about 23 months.
Can I use the same template in Excel and Google Sheets?
Yes. NPER, PMT, SUMIFS and SORT work in both. Excel 365 and Google Sheets both support SORT; in older Excel versions sort the payoff order by hand instead.
Where does the extra money for debt payments come from?
From your spending data. Export a few months of bank transactions, categorize them, and look at the categories you can cut. The amount you free up goes into the extra payment cell that drives both tabs.
