You pay minimums on everything and attack the smallest balance first, regardless of what it costs you to carry. Then you roll that whole payment into the next smallest. It costs a little more than going expensive-first, and far more people actually finish it.
Momentum Is a Real Input
Closing an account out completely does something that a slightly better interest calculation doesn't: it proves the plan works. People who see a debt actually disappear tend to keep going.
You're not just solving arithmetic. You're trying to stay on a plan for two or three years.
Why It Is Called a Snowball
Each debt you finish frees up its payment, and that payment joins the attack on the next one. The amount you can throw gets bigger every time something clears, so the back half goes much faster than the front.
The Honest Trade-Off
If an expensive debt sits at the bottom of your list, you'll pay more to borrow than you would have going expensive-first. That's the price of the momentum, and for a lot of families it's worth paying.
Some people split the difference: knock out one or two small ones for the win, then switch to attacking by cost.
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