Payoff plan
Enter your debts
Add balances, rates and minimum payments. The calculator rolls the extra payment into the next debt after each balance is cleared.
| Debt | Balance | Annual interest | Minimum payment | Action |
|---|
Next best move
- Focus debt
- -
- Monthly payment power
- R 0.00
- Warning
- Enter real minimum payments.
Avalanche normally saves more interest. Snowball can feel easier because it clears smaller debts first. Keep paying every minimum while extra money attacks one debt at a time.
This is a planning estimate only. Interest, fees, arrears, insurance, settlement quotes and credit agreements can change the real result.
South African household debt context | Q1 2026
Why the order you attack debt in actually matters right now
South African Reserve Bank data shows household debt sitting at 62.2% of disposable income in Q1 2026, up from 61.8% the previous quarter, with debt-service costs holding at 8.4% of disposable income. Rate-sensitive debt (credit cards, personal loans, store accounts) is exactly where a plan like this one earns its keep.
| Market figure | Reported value |
|---|---|
| Household debt-to-disposable-income ratio, Q1 2026 | 62.2% |
| Household debt-to-disposable-income ratio, Q4 2025 | 61.8% |
| Debt-service cost as a share of disposable income | 8.4% |
| Credit-active consumers in default (3+ months), Q1 2026 | 41% |
| Total outstanding consumer credit, Q1 2026 | R2.7 trillion |
| Overdue balances, Q1 2026 (share of total) | R237 billion (8.8%) |
How to use this context
With over 4 in 10 credit-active South Africans already three or more months behind on something, the gap between "manage it" and "fall behind" is usually the size of the minimum payments versus what's actually left after rent, food and transport. The avalanche method (highest interest first) matters most when rates are elevated, because interest is what compounds against you every month you delay. The snowball method (smallest balance first) trades some of that interest saving for an earlier win, which can matter if motivation, not math, is the real risk to the plan.
If minimum payments alone are unaffordable, that's a different problem than this calculator solves. South Africa has a formal, free route for that: debt review through an NCR-registered debt counsellor, which can restructure payments and pause legal action (including emolument attachment orders) while a new plan is agreed. It's worth knowing that route exists before a missed payment becomes a court matter.
Figures are South African Reserve Bank household debt-service data and National Credit Regulator / Eighty20 Credit Stress Report figures for Q1 2026 — market context, not individual financial advice.
Sources: SARB household debt-service statistics, Eighty20 Credit Stress Report, Q1 2026, and National Credit Regulator.