Get a real read on your debt in about five minutes. Enter what you owe, what you bring home and your monthly bills. The audit grades your situation, builds a month-by-month payoff plan at three payment levels your budget can cover, and explains which way out of debt fits your numbers.
Example results
This is an example household. Replace the numbers above with yours, or clear the example, then press See my results.
Your minimum payments take 13% of your take-home pay, leaving $655 a month after bills and minimums.
Two ways to pay it off
Both plans pay every minimum and put your whole $655 surplus toward one debt at a time. When a debt is paid off, its payment rolls to the next.
Snowball
Smallest balance first
- Debt-free in
- 18 months
- Total interest
- $2,334
Payoff order: Medical bill, Store card, Visa card, Personal loan
Avalanche Less interest
Highest interest rate first
- Debt-free in
- 17 months
- Total interest
- $2,007
Payoff order: Visa card, Store card, Personal loan, Medical bill
- Snowball
- Avalanche
- Minimums only
Paying only the minimums, you'd still owe $10,391 after 2 years.
Show these numbers as a table
| When | Snowball | Avalanche | Minimums only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now | $18,300 | $18,300 | $18,300 |
| Month 3 | $15,440 | $15,402 | $17,408 |
| Month 6 | $12,475 | $12,351 | $16,491 |
| Month 9 | $9,352 | $9,136 | $15,547 |
| Month 12 | $6,051 | $5,766 | $14,576 |
| Month 15 | $2,593 | $2,283 | $13,575 |
| Month 18 | $0 | $0 | $12,545 |
| Month 21 | $0 | $0 | $11,484 |
| Month 24 | $0 | $0 | $10,391 |
Move the slider to see what an extra payment each month would change.
Your payoff plan
After your bills and minimum payments, about $655 a month is left. Each plan pays every minimum and puts part or all of that toward one debt at a time. Choose one to see it month by month.
Money left over each month gives room for irregular costs. Putting more toward debt finishes sooner and costs less interest.
Balanced: $1,036 a month, highest rate first
- First debt paid off Visa card, month 11
- Halfway there Half of the $18,300 paid off, month 11
- Debt-free month 21
Step by step
- Months 1–11 $646 a month to Visa card (its $155 minimum plus $491 extra), and the minimum on everything else. Paid off: Visa card (month 11).
- Months 12–14 $706 a month to Store card (its $60 minimum plus $646 extra), and the minimum on everything else. Paid off: Store card (month 14).
- Months 15–20 $986 a month to Personal loan (its $280 minimum plus $706 extra), and the minimum on everything else. Paid off: Personal loan (month 20).
- Month 21 The final payment on Medical bill.
Month-by-month schedule (21 months)
| Month | Paid | Extra goes to | Paid off | Left to pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,036 | Visa card | $17,515 | |
| 2 | $1,036 | Visa card | $16,716 | |
| 3 | $1,036 | Visa card | $15,904 | |
| 4 | $1,036 | Visa card | $15,079 | |
| 5 | $1,036 | Visa card | $14,240 | |
| 6 | $1,036 | Visa card | $13,387 | |
| 7 | $1,036 | Visa card | $12,520 | |
| 8 | $1,036 | Visa card | $11,638 | |
| 9 | $1,036 | Visa card | $10,742 | |
| 10 | $1,036 | Visa card | $9,830 | |
| 11 | $1,036 | Visa card | Visa card | $8,902 |
| 12 | $1,036 | Store card | $7,960 | |
| 13 | $1,036 | Store card | $7,004 | |
| 14 | $1,036 | Store card | Store card | $6,035 |
| 15 | $1,036 | Personal loan | $5,052 | |
| 16 | $1,036 | Personal loan | $4,060 | |
| 17 | $1,036 | Personal loan | $3,059 | |
| 18 | $1,036 | Personal loan | $2,049 | |
| 19 | $1,036 | Personal loan | $1,030 | |
| 20 | $1,036 | Personal loan | Personal loan | $1 |
| 21 | $1 | — | Medical bill | $0 |
What fits your numbers
You can likely pay this off yourself
Putting your $655 monthly surplus toward your debts clears them in 17 months with the avalanche method (18 months with snowball). A payoff within 3 years is usually workable without outside help.
Paying the highest-rate debt first costs $327 less in interest than paying the smallest balance first. Snowball's quick early wins keep some people going, so both are real options.
This audit explains options based only on the numbers you entered. It isn't financial, legal or credit advice, and it can't see everything about your situation. Real rates, fees and eligibility vary. How the audit works.
What the audit tells you
- A grade: Manageable, Stretched or Underwater. It’s based on how much of your take-home pay goes to minimum payments and how much you have left each month.
- Your scorecard: total debt, your average interest rate, and what paying only the minimums would cost you in interest.
- Two payoff plans side by side. Snowball pays the smallest balance first. Avalanche pays the highest interest rate first. You’ll see how many months each takes and the interest each costs.
- A what-if slider that shows how much sooner you’d finish with an extra payment each month.
- A payoff plan you can afford. Three levels side by side, each putting part or all of what’s left after your bills toward debt, with a debt-free date for each. Choose one to see milestones, a step-by-step plan and a month-by-month schedule, and print it or save it as a PDF on your own device.
- What fits your numbers: paying it off yourself, a consolidation loan,[6] nonprofit credit counseling,[5] or, in the hardest cases, a note that bankruptcy may be worth understanding. Each links to a plain-English guide to that option.
What you’ll need
- For each debt: the balance, the APR and the minimum monthly payment. All three are on your latest statement or in your online account.
- Your monthly take-home pay: what actually lands in your account after taxes and deductions. If it varies, use a typical month.
- Your monthly bills and spending, not counting the debt payments above: rent or mortgage, utilities, phone, insurance, groceries, gas and the rest. You can enter one total or fill in each bill and let the audit add them up.
Rough numbers are fine for a first look. You can change anything and see the results update.
A worked example
The example the audit opens with is a household that takes home $4,200 a month, spends $3,000 on everything except debt, and owes on 4 debts:
| Debt | Balance | APR | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa card | $6,200 | 24.99% | $155 |
| Store card | $2,400 | 19.99% | $60 |
| Personal loan | $8,500 | 11.5% | $280 |
| Medical bill | $1,200 | 0% | $50 |
| Total | $18,300 | 16.4% avg. | $545 |
- Monthly surplus: $4,200 − $3,000 − $545 in minimums = $655.
- Debt payment ratio: $545 ÷ $4,200 = 13%.
- Grade: the ratio is under 20% and the surplus is more than 10% of take-home pay ($420), so the grade is Manageable.
- Minimums only: paying just the minimums, the debts take 7 years 3 months and $10,439 in interest.
- Avalanche (highest rate first) pays Visa card, then Store card, then Personal loan, then Medical bill. It's debt-free in 17 months with $2,007 in interest.
- Snowball (smallest balance first) pays Medical bill, then Store card, then Visa card, then Personal loan. It's debt-free in 18 months with $2,334 in interest, $327 more than avalanche.
- Verdict: the avalanche plan finishes within 36 months, so the audit points to pay it off yourself.
Every formula and threshold behind these steps is published on How the audit works.
What the audit doesn’t do
- It doesn’t check your credit or ask who you are. There’s no sign-up and no form submission.
- It doesn’t recommend a company or a lender. It explains which kind of option fits your numbers, and the guides explain how to evaluate providers.
- It doesn’t know everything about your situation. It can’t see variable rates, promotional 0% periods, late fees, or what’s coming next year. Treat the results as a starting point, not a final answer.
- It isn’t financial or legal advice. For a decision like bankruptcy, a qualified professional can look at the parts of your situation a calculator can’t.
Frequently asked questions
Is my information saved or sent anywhere?
No. The audit runs entirely in your browser. Your numbers aren’t sent to our server or anyone else, and nothing is stored after you close the page. The site’s analytics counts that an audit was completed and which type of result appeared, but it never receives any of the numbers you entered. The privacy policy has the details.
What’s the difference between the snowball and avalanche methods?
Both pay every minimum and put any extra money toward one debt at a time. When that debt is paid off, its payment rolls to the next one. The snowball method goes smallest balance first, for quick wins. The avalanche method goes highest interest rate first, which usually costs less in interest. Research has found that paying off whole accounts can help people stay motivated, so the cheaper plan on paper isn’t automatically the better plan for everyone.[1][2]
How much of my budget should go toward debt each month?
There’s no single right amount, so the payoff plan shows three levels side by side: half, three-quarters or all of what’s left after your bills and minimums. Putting more toward debt finishes sooner and costs less interest. Keeping some back leaves room for costs that don’t come every month. Each level shows its debt-free date and total interest so you can compare.
Why does the audit use take-home pay instead of my salary?
Because debt payments come out of the money you actually receive. Using take-home pay shows how much room your budget really has. That’s also why the audit’s debt payment ratio isn’t the same as the debt-to-income ratio lenders use, which is based on gross income and includes housing.[3]
What do Stretched and Underwater mean?
Stretched means a large share of your pay goes to minimum payments, or you have only a thin cushion left each month. Underwater means minimums take most of your pay, or your bills and minimums add up to more than you bring home. The exact cutoffs are on How the audit works.
Should I include my mortgage or car loan?
List the debts you want a plan for. Credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, auto loans and student loans all work. The audit is built for debts you’re working to pay off, so put your rent or mortgage payment in your expenses instead. Just don’t count any payment twice.
Why doesn’t the audit ever suggest debt settlement?
Debt settlement usually means stopping payments to your creditors while a company negotiates. That can bring late fees and serious damage to your credit, and any debt that’s forgiven may count as taxable income.[4] The audit never points to it as a result. The debt settlement guide explains the risks in full.
Is this financial advice?
No. The audit applies published rules to the numbers you enter and explains the options they point to. It can’t account for everything, so treat it as a starting point for your own decision, and talk to a qualified professional about anything with legal consequences.
Sources
- Can Small Victories Help Win the War? Evidence from Consumer Debt Management. Gal, D. and McShane, B., Journal of Marketing Research.
- Repayment Concentration and Consumer Motivation to Get Out of Debt. Kettle, K., Trudel, R., Blanchard, S. and Häubl, G., Journal of Consumer Research.
- What is a debt-to-income ratio? Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- How To Get Out of Debt. Federal Trade Commission.
- What is credit counseling? Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- What do I need to know about consolidating my credit card debt? Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.