The debt avalanche method is simple: pay off your highest interest rate debt first. Make minimum payments on everything else, and throw every extra dollar at the debt costing you the most money. When that one's gone, roll the payment into the next highest rate. Repeat until you're debt-free. It's the mathematically optimal way to eliminate debt. You'll pay less total interest and get out of debt faster than any other ordering — guaranteed. No tricks, no psychology hacks. Just math. The trade-off? If your highest-rate debt also has the largest balance, you might go months without the satisfaction of crossing a debt off your list. That's where some people lose steam. But if you can stay the course, the avalanche saves you more money than any other approach. What Is the Debt Avalanche Method? The debt avalanche method is a debt repayment strategy where you order all your debts from highest interest rate to lowest and focus extra payments on the highest-rate debt first.…