Searchers often land on the wrong borrowing tool: a HELOC modeled like a mortgage, a student loan forced into a snowball list, or a snowball treated as a guaranteed interest minimum. These three worksheets keep product structure visible.

Sort by starting balance, pay all minimums, send leftovers to the smallest unpaid balance, and keep the total budget fixed when a debt retires. CFPB reducing-debt education stresses accurate balances and payments; the calculator documents that snowball is not an interest-minimizing claim.

Under a constant-rate, fixed-draw scenario, draw-phase payment = draw × rate ÷ 12. Repayment uses the standard amortizing payment on the same principal. CFPB HELOC explainers highlight the phase change and payment risk; our model does not invent variable indexes or repeated draws.

Compute a standard level payment for one principal, rate, and term; optionally add a recurring extra each month and resimulate payoff. Federal Student Aid’s Loan Simulator remains the reference for income-driven plans and program rules this page intentionally omits.