People use the snowball method because it is often more motivating and easier to stick with, even though the high‑rate (avalanche) method saves more money on interest in pure math terms.

Motivation and psychology

The snowball method gives quick wins by wiping out small balances first, which creates a strong sense of progress and encourages people to keep going. Research and industry analyses note that many borrowers are more likely to finish paying off all their debt when they see debts disappearing early, even if this costs a bit more in interest.

Simplicity and behavior

Snowball is simple to understand and follow: list debts by balance, kill the smallest, repeat, which reduces decision fatigue and helps people who struggle with organization or discipline. For borrowers who feel overwhelmed or have many small accounts, quickly reducing the number of bills can relieve stress and improve the chance they actually stick with any plan at all.

When snowball can be reasonable

If interest rates across debts are similar, the extra cost of using snowball instead of high‑rate can be relatively small, while the motivational benefit may be large. In practice, the “best” method is the one a person will consistently follow; for some, that is the mathematically optimal high‑rate method, but for others, the behaviorally easier snowball method leads to better real‑world results.