With expenses like rent, utilities, and food, saving can feel impossible. Without a clear, well-thought-out strategy to guide your finances, it can be hard to get the ball rolling in the right direction. One of these strategies, the snowball saving method, uses the same idea as ‘debt snowballing’ to build your savings over time, no matter how limited your income is.
Download our free Saving Snowball Calculator to streamline your saving journey from today!
What’s Snowball Approach to Savings?
The snowball saving method refers to any savings plan where you set aside a small amount of money regularly. Once you get comfortable, you start increasing the amount you save. So, the savings become bigger and bigger, just like a snowball!
Here’s how the ‘snowball’ method works:
- Step 1: Pick 3 or more saving goals you want to fund. These can be wealth-building or debt-reducing goals
- Step 2: Set a fixed amount to be saved each month, given your income & expenses
- Step 3: Pay the monthly minimum for each goal (optional for savings but required for debt lines)
- Step 4: Roll over the remaining amount into the next (smallest) goal, and so on.
The truth is, by focusing on the smallest goals or balances first, you feel more motivated when you experience ‘quick wins’ that create a higher momentum for debt elimination & wealth creation.
Saving Snowball Calculator: What We Offer
Whether you are paying off debt or saving for a rainy day, a smart financial tool allows you to organize your goals and apply mindful strategies to build your savings. Luckily, this premade Savings Snowball Calculator not only offers standard snowballing-style saving but also custom options for you to prioritize your personal saving goals like an emergency fund, vacation, or a big future purchase.
A monthly tracking view is provided in a separate worksheet. Use dummy values to see how even small contributions, if made consistently, can stack up over time. Verify numbers against actual loan statements, bank interest terms, and investment performance before making any big decisions based on this sheet.
Core Template Features
This Excel-based tool is preprogrammed, so there’s no need to write new formulas from scratch.
This calculator is…
- Simple: A macro-free Excel file requiring minimal user input. Download, enable editing, and start adding your financial data!
- Scalable: You can fund up to 10 goals by default (learn how to scale up for more)
- Scenario-based: Run quick what-ifs to compare financial growth across varying inflation/interest rates, starting balances, etc.
- Strategic: Experience the psychological effect of ‘quick wins’ that come with the snowballing method, while also exploring other (avalanche and custom) strategies.
How to Use the Saving Snowball Calculator
New to finance? Or struggle with spreadsheets? Here’s a clean user guide on how to use this smart calculator, one step at a time. With a clear vision of what information you need to add and what data & insights to expect in return, you are in a better position to benefit from the numbers we churn out for you.
That being said, our sheet is limited by its own theoretical assumptions and technical design. For example, the sheet assumes that interest compounds monthly, not daily, or that inflation rates stay constant throughout.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the steps you need to follow:
Start by adding basic user inputs, including
(B6) Start date
Specify when you want your savings plan to start. The sooner, the better. The date you enter here is directly linked to the Schedule sheet for detailed monthly tracking. When you change the start date, the entire month timeline updates automatically.
(D6) Monthly savings
Decide how much you want to save each month. This amount will stay constant throughout the savings plan. Can I add extra savings in a specific month? See Extra Payment Feature below!
Set savings goals
Our sheet is triggered by blocks of information about each goal. Fund & track up to 10 goals (or more if you scale up!). For each goal, fill in the required fields so we can run strategies for you (snowball, avalanche, or custom), as well as visually track monthly progress in a tabular form in the next sheet.
Goal description
Americans save money for a myriad of reasons! Here are some of the most common ones:
- Emergency funds
- Sinking funds
- Vacation
- To buy a new home
- To buy a new car
- Retirement
- Paying off debt
Start by reflecting on your financial needs & goals. This will be different for a single-person household compared to, say, a family of five. Feel free to ask a finance professional (or even a smart calculator) for advice on what your saving goals should be, given personal factors such as income, expenses, and retirement goals.
Goal amount
For each goal, set a target amount you need to meet. We use the $ sign by default, but you can customize this in Excel for use outside the U.S.
Starting balance
The starting balance reflects what you have to fund each goal as of the ‘Starting Date’ specified by the user above. For debts or amounts owed, enter the amount in negative. The sheet shows owed amounts in red to draw attention to outstanding balances and help you prioritize what needs to be paid down first.
Interest rate
Note the yearly interest rate you expect to earn on your savings. The sheet automatically factors that into monthly interest amounts in the Schedule sheet.
Compound interest isn’t just common—it’s how most Americans save, invest, and borrow. Our sheet only works with a monthly compounding logic (and a fixed rate). For that reason, it will only be a rough estimate of interest earned or paid. For accounts where unpaid interest compounds daily, use our premade Daily Compounding Loan Calculator to manage and track compounding loans!
Minimum Monthly Payment or Contribution
Now, let’s dive into how savings are allocated to each goal, depending on which goals you want to meet first.
Enter the regular minimum amount you will pay every month for each target. This payment is taken from your Monthly Savings.
- Loans/Debts: Enter the monthly minimum needed to repay the loan and keep the account current. Remember, add the amount in negative.
- Savings Goals: Enter the minimum monthly contribution you want to set aside for that goal. You can also leave this blank for specific goals if you think the goal is too far-off in the future or you want to focus more on other goals.
This amount is applied each month starting from the Min Payment Start Month (see below).
Once the minimums are paid, you are left with a Snowball amount (shown in cell F6 right above the table), calculated as Monthly Savings minus all required monthly minimums.
This ‘leftover’ amount is then allocated across your saving goals based on the Snowball Order determined by the user. The Snowball field updates automatically as soon as debt amounts are entered into the sheet, representing the portion of your savings available after covering all minimum obligations.
But hey – before we talk strategy, you might want to ask yourself if you even want minimum payments for each goal?!
Min Payment Start Month
If you don’t want to start a minimum payment for a goal right away, you don’t have to. In Column G, set when the minimum payment starts for each goal. Leave the space Blank if the minimum payment starts in Month 1. Put 2 if payment starts in Month 2, and so on.
Keep in mind that for loans, this field should normally be blank/0/1, as minimum payments are typically required from the start.
Changing this start month will automatically update the goal’s target achievement date in the Completed Field of this template.
Snowball Order
This column goes to the heart of the sheet’s design. Think about how you want to assign the snowball amount to your goals. In column H, rank goals in order of priority, 1 being the highest. The snowball is applied in that order. If left blank, the goal is automatically prioritized using the default method.
The default setting directs the snowball amount to the goal with the smallest value or balance first. This is based on the goal amount specified in Column C. However, this is not the only reliable strategy out there!
To save on interest across multiple debt reduction goals, users are advised to use the Avalanche method, where the snowball amount is directed to the account with the highest interest rate—usually an expensive credit card or mortgage plan.
Alternatively, you can use a custom priority order that suits your financial situation and rank goals according to which goal you want to meet first and which one you can comfortably put on the back burner for now.
What Calculations Does the Saving Snowball Calculator Make?
Based on the above inputs, the sheet calculates the following for you:
Your goal lifespan
How long will it take you to meet each goal in years, as well as the exact month and year the goal is successfully met? This helps you set realistic timelines and quickly see whether your current contribution plan is enough—or if you need to increase savings, adjust priorities, or push back certain goals. In this column, you can add years to achieve the goal.
Interest earned or paid
The sheet uses a monthly compounding logic to quickly calculate the amount of interest you earn or pay on each account.
- For Savings: The sheet will automatically calculate the amount of interest your savings earn each month.
- For Debt: The sheet will calculate the interest you owe each month.
Keep in mind that the sheet assumes that each savings goal is for a debt account; this is the amount of interest you would have paid by the end of the loan term.
The Schedule Sheet: Monthly Tracking of Multiple Saving Goals
For the monthly tracking view, access the Schedule sheet to visualize progress until the last saving goal is met. Keep track of how big your snowball pool is every month, what you contribute to each goal, and how much interest you earn (or pay) on a month-by-month basis.
Everything in this sheet is calculated for you, with the exception of column E, where you manually factor in extra savings for specific months, that is, on top of your regular monthly snowball amount (such as a bonus or income from a side gig).
Extra Savings Support Feature
What if I want to save more during a given month? Since it’s not always easy to increase your regular monthly savings, you need a way to factor in one-time or irregular savings.
Let’s say you earn a bonus, get a tax refund, or win a cash prize: how do you add that extra cash to your savings plan?
Go to Column E in the Schedule sheet to specify how much you want to add to the snowball pool for that month. This amount is added to the general snowball pool of that month.
Once you add any extra savings amount, the table updates automatically. The amount is transferred to the account with the highest priority in your snowball order, as indicated in Sheet 1 of this calculator. This will keep happening till the debt marked as 1 in the snowball order is paid off. Once that is achieved, the extra savings will go to other goals based on the snowball order.
For debt lines, consistently paying extra can help you save significantly on interest. For non-debt goals, extra contributions push you to meet goals sooner.
Saving to Get Out of Debt? Try the Avalanche Method…
If you are using this calculator primarily for clearing debts, you might want to use the avalanche method, where the snowball amount goes to the debt line with the highest interest rate, not the smallest balance. This is usually an expensive credit card or home mortgage you want to pay off first to avoid paying extra interest.
Once you manually sort debts by interest rate, start ranking goals in Column E using the avalanche method. You’ll see how quickly your payoff timeline can improve while reducing total interest paid.
For hardcore debt tracking, browse through our full range of Debt Reduction calculators designed to help you pay off debt faster and cheaper!
Visual Aids
The default file comes with two key visual aids that reflect real-time changes or updates in the Savings Table or the Schedule sheet.
Visualizing Goal-wise Progress
This simple pie chart shows your overall progress level against each listed goal as a %, giving you a quick snapshot of your saving journey.
Mapping interest earned (or paid) by goal
This bar chart shows the amount of interest you have earned on each savings account. In the case of debts, this is the interest you would have paid in total till you reach a Starting Balance of zero. Owed amounts are highlighted in red to distinguish them from non-debt savings goals.
Template Disclaimer
This calculator does NOT factor in the effects of inflation. If you want to translate today’s money into future dollars, use an Inflation Calculator to learn what your savings or investments will be worth in the future.
Our built-in formulas do not account for changes in bank policies, any additional fees charged by creditors or banks, or other financial, legal, or government policy considerations that may have an impact on how your savings or debt accounts work.
For example, your bank may change the interest rate on your savings account or charge new maintenance fees that reduce your monthly progress. Similarly, lenders may raise your APR or apply penalty interest, which can increase your debt balance faster than expected.
Since this calculator assumes fixed rates and no unexpected fees or policy changes, real-world results may differ. Always review your specific account terms and seek out professional advice on how to optimize savings for your financial situation and overall life goals.
Tips for Excel Beginners
Spreadsheets are fragile. Even if the file is error-free when you download it, it’s always possible to introduce mistakes later. Here are a few ways you can remove human error from the process:
- Do NOT touch any cells in the payment Schedule unless you are customizing formulas or know exactly what you’re changing (with the exception of Column E)
- Only type in the grey cells. Avoid overwriting any ‘white’ formula cells.
- If you need help fixing a broken formula, see Microsoft’s guide “How to avoid broken formulas in Excel.”
- Be aware that this sheet rounds off at the cent level. Over long periods, rounding differences can result in slight differences from your actual account statements.
