What is the debt avalanche method for paying off loans?

The debt avalanche method involves listing all your debts and directing any extra money toward the one with the highest interest rate first, while making minimum payments on all others. Once that highest-rate debt is paid off, you roll that payment amount into attacking the next highest-rate debt, and so on. This approach minimizes the total interest you pay over time, making it mathematically the most efficient strategy. For example, if you have a credit card at 22% and a car loan at 6%, you'd aggressively pay down the credit card first. The main drawback is that it can take longer to eliminate your first debt compared to the debt snowball method, which may feel less motivating for some people.