01
Budget calculatorDebt Freedom Planner
Turn every repayment into a route out of debt.
Compare the debt avalanche, snowball and your own payoff order—without sacrificing the emergency savings that protect your progress.
01 Protect your cash flow02 List every debt03 Find your debt-free date
01
Your monthly foundation
Protect today while paying for freedom.
Your extra repayment should fit after essentials, minimum debt payments and savings. Keep an emergency reserve so the next surprise does not become new debt.
Cash available before extra repaymentR 6 500Take-home income − essentials − savings − entered minimum debt payments
Cash remaining after planned extraR 4 500Your planned extra repayment fits the entered monthly cash flow.
02
Your debts
Bring the whole picture into one place.
Use current settlement balances and contractual minimum repayments. Keep a home loan outside the short-term payoff plan unless accelerating it is a deliberate goal.
Debt includedR 387 000
Minimum repaymentsR 11 500 / month
Accounts in plan4
02
03
04
03
Compare payoff strategies
Choose the plan you can keep following.
The mathematically cheapest route is valuable, but consistency matters. Select a card to view its timeline and detailed result.
03A
First, understand the repayment engine.
The accelerated plans keep one monthly debt budget working until the last account is settled.
Accelerated monthly debt budget
R 11 500minimums+R 2 000extra=R 13 500working every month
The entered extra repayment remains level because no yearly increase is selected.How one debt balance movesOpening balance + monthly interest + fee − repayment = closing balanceMonthly interest is estimated as opening balance × annual rate ÷ 12. Actual lenders may calculate interest daily.
- 1Interest and the entered account fee are added.
- 2Every active debt receives its minimum repayment.
- 3The extra amount goes to the strategy’s first priority.
- 4When a debt closes, its released minimum stays in the budget and rolls forward.
03B
Then choose the rule that decides where the extra goes.
Select a plan to update the detailed result and first-month calculation below.
Why avalanche and snowball currently match
Both methods create the same priority order from your entries: Retail account → Credit card → Personal loan → Vehicle finance. Their projections are therefore the same until an input changes that order.
03C
Compare the financial result side by side.
Starting balances are the same. The difference comes from the order in which the extra and rolled-forward repayments are applied.
| Approach | First target | First account settled | Debt-free estimate | Interest + fees | Total paid | Difference vs baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your baseline | No target | Retail accountMonth 25 | September 203049 months | R 133 001R 121 814 interest + R 11 187 fees | R 520 001 | Baseline |
| Lowest projected cost | Retail account | Retail accountMonth 5 | August 202936 months | R 94 174R 88 426 interest + R 5 748 fees | R 481 174 | R 38 828 lower cost13 months sooner |
| Fastest early wins | Retail account | Retail accountMonth 5 | August 202936 months | R 94 174R 88 426 interest + R 5 748 fees | R 481 174 | R 38 828 lower cost13 months sooner |
| Personal priority | Credit card | Credit cardMonth 14 | August 202936 months | R 95 384R 88 952 interest + R 6 432 fees | R 482 384 | R 37 617 lower cost13 months sooner |
Make the plan work harderWhat if you paid R500 more each month?
Test an achievable increase and see the dates update instantly.
Your selected route
Debt avalancheEstimated debt-free dateAugust 202936 months from now
Projected interestR 88 426Plus R 5 748 in monthly account fees
Compared with current repayments13 months soonerR 38 828 less interest and fees
See month 1 in actionHow debt avalanche allocates the entered repayment budgetR 8 403 debt reduction
Month 1 balance movement
R 387 000opening debt+R 4 815interest+R 282fees−R 13 500monthly payments=R 378 597closing debt
| Debt | Starting balance | Once-off amount | Interest | Fee | Minimum | Extra / rolled amount | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | R 45 000 | — | R 825 | R 75 | R 1 800 | — | R 44 100 |
| Retail account | R 12 000 | — | R 240 | R 69 | R 700 | R 2 000 | R 9 609 |
| Personal loan | R 90 000 | — | R 1 350 | R 69 | R 2 700 | — | R 88 719 |
| Vehicle finance | R 240 000 | — | R 2 400 | R 69 | R 6 300 | — | R 236 169 |
| Total | R 387 000 | R 0 | R 4 815 | R 282 | R 11 500 | R 2 000 | R 378 597 |
Why the balance falls by R 8 403: repayments reduce debt, while R 5 097 of month 1 payments is absorbed by estimated interest and account fees.
All minimums are paid first. The remaining R 2 000 is directed according to the debt avalanche priority order.
Debt balance reduction
See the gap open as repayments roll forward.
Current repaymentsDebt avalanche
Today
R 387 000
Month 12
R 277 274
Month 25
R 134 838
Month 37
R 0
Month 49
R 0
The amount shown at right is the selected strategy balance. The grey bar is your current-repayment baseline; the green bar is the selected route.
04
Your action plan
One finish line at a time.
Continue every minimum repayment. Direct the extra amount to the first priority, then roll its full released repayment into the next debt.
Retail accountEstimated month 5 · January 2027
R 700 / month releasedCredit cardEstimated month 15 · November 2027
R 1 800 / month releasedPersonal loanEstimated month 26 · October 2028
R 2 700 / month releasedVehicle financeEstimated month 36 · August 2029
R 6 300 / month released+
Variable-rate stress test
Would your plan survive another rate increase?
The stress increase applies only to debts marked as variable-rate.
Selected plan under stress36 monthsNo rate stress currently applied.
Optional check Would debt consolidation really help?+
Consolidation truth-check
A lower instalment is not the same as a lower cost.
This illustration assumes all included balances are consolidated. Obtain a formal quotation and check settlement, initiation, monthly service and insurance costs before acting.
Estimated consolidated instalmentR 9 102 / month
Term60 months
Interest and fees above current balancesR 159 115
This illustration costs R 64 941 more than the selected payoff strategy, even if its monthly instalment looks lower.
How this estimate works
Transparent assumptions, not a promise.
- Repayment timing
- Interest and monthly account fees are added monthly, then repayments are applied.
- Debt avalanche
- Minimums are paid first; the remaining budget targets the highest entered interest rate.
- Debt snowball
- Minimums are paid first; the remaining budget targets the smallest current balance.
- Current repayment baseline
- Entered minimums continue, but repayments released by settled accounts are not rolled forward.
- Extra repayments
- The accelerated strategies keep a fixed minimum-payment budget plus your extra amount, so settled repayments roll forward.
- No new debt
- The projection assumes no new borrowing, purchases, penalties or missed repayments.
- Lump sum
- Applied at the start of accelerated strategies; emergency savings are not used automatically.
- Balloons
- A balloon is shown for awareness only. Enter the full current outstanding balance including any balloon to avoid understating debt.
Important: This educational estimate is not credit, debt-counselling, tax or financial advice. Actual lender calculations, daily interest, settlement quotations, fees, credit-life insurance and legal terms may differ. If repayments are unaffordable or accounts are in arrears, speak to the lender and a registered South African debt counsellor before taking new credit.