“Paying off debts in order of highest interest rate first (the avalanche method) rather than smallest balance first (the snowball method) results in paying less total interest, and on a real credit-card-heavy debt setup can save $1,900 to $3,500 compared to paying off smallest balances first." Supporting post text includes "Most people…”

The core ordering premise is confirmed by peer-reviewed research. Hamilton states the principle directly: "The interest‐minimizing strategy to paying multiple debts is to make all minimum payments and allocate remaining funds to the debt with the highest interest rate." The paper describes the alternative, allocating remaining funds to the lowest-balance debt, as the Debt Snowball, driven by debt account aversion and by financial advisers. Hamilton also quantifies the cost, and the quantification does not match the post's framing. Using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances, the paper finds the average household following the Debt Snowball pays an additional 1.8% to 4.3% in interest, an aggregate transfer from borrowers to lenders of between $46.2 billion and $53.9 billion above what interest-minimizing repayment would produce. The penalty is larger for low-income households, Black households, and households holding more separate debts. The post's APR figure is supported for the United States. Secondary reporting of the Federal Reserve's G.19 release states that the average APR for cards accruing interest rose to 22.15% in Q2 2026, up from 21.52% in Q1 2026, and that the average APR across all accounts was 20.94% in Q2 2026, down slightly from 21.00% in Q1 2026. The G.19 itself defines these as two distinct series: the rate for all accounts is the stated APR averaged across all accounts, while the rate for accounts assessed interest is the annualized ratio of total finance charges to total average daily balances against which finance charges were assessed. The post presents smallest-balance-first as purely emotional. Published research finds a measurable behavioral effect. Kettle and colleagues report that concentrated repayment strategies tend to boost motivation to become debt free and lead consumers to repay more aggressively, and that the effect is most pronounced when repayments are concentrated into the smallest accounts, because consumers infer overall progress from the greatest proportional balance reduction within any one account. Kellogg researchers reported that people with large credit card balances are more likely to eliminate their overall debt when they focus first on the smallest balances, even where that is not the best economic outcome. Hamilton acknowledges the same tension, noting that quick victories may help strengthen the resolve of households that struggle with debt. Explainer sources agree on direction but not magnitude. Chase states the avalanche method typically saves borrowers more on interest than the snowball method. Britannica states the avalanche method will minimize the total amount paid in interest. Experian's own worked example produced a case where the difference between methods was small and ran the other way on savings in that particular configuration, which illustrates how configuration-dependent the dollar gap is.