"Curious if anyone's tried switching methods halfway through?"
Funny you mention that—I actually did exactly that. Started with avalanche because, you know, math doesn't lie, right? But after a few months of feeling like I was chipping away at a mountain with a plastic spoon, I switched to snowball. Honestly, seeing those smaller debts vanish felt like leveling up in a video game... weirdly satisfying. Avalanche might save more cash overall, but motivation-wise, snowball was the winner for me. Guess I'm just impatient like that.
Totally get what you're saying about motivation. I started off with avalanche too, thinking logically it made the most sense—lower interest first equals less money spent overall. But after a while, it felt like I was stuck in neutral, barely seeing progress month to month. Switched to snowball and the psychological boost from clearing smaller debts was surprisingly powerful. It's like checking off tasks on a to-do list... small wins keep the momentum going.
Still, I think the avalanche method can work better if you've got fewer debts or if your highest-interest debt isn't huge. It really depends on your personal situation and how you handle motivation. For me, mixing both methods worked best—knocked out a couple of small ones first for that quick dopamine hit, then went back to avalanche once I'd built some confidence and momentum.
Yeah, mixing both worked best for me too. Started with avalanche thinking it was the "smart" choice, but honestly, motivation tanked after a few months. Switched gears and cleared a couple smaller balances—felt way better. Now I'm back to avalanche and finally seeing some real progress...slowly but surely, haha.
"Started with avalanche thinking it was the 'smart' choice, but honestly, motivation tanked after a few months."
Totally get that feeling... but honestly, I found budgeting tools more helpful than either method. Tracking spending closely and setting clear monthly limits made a bigger difference for me than focusing strictly on payment order. Just another angle to consider!
Budgeting definitely helps, but sometimes motivation is the bigger hurdle. Did you find tracking every expense tedious after a while, or did it become second nature eventually? Curious how others handle that...
