Plan to pay off your debts

The payoff planner takes every debt you track, adds up the interest month by month and shows the date you are debt-free, the order your debts clear in and the total interest. You can switch between two strategies and try extra payments to see how the date moves. Nothing you try in the planner changes your debts.

Open the planner

1. Open the Plan tab. It is the fourth tab on a phone; on an iPad, a Mac or the web it is in the rail or the sidebar.
2. Tap Debt payoff: PlanDebt payoff. Once you have debts, the card's subtitle shows your debt-free month and the interest to come.

With no debts, the screen says "No debts to plan" and Go to Money takes you to add one. See track a loan or a credit line.

What the planner reads

The planner uses every debt you have not removed that still has a balance:

• the Amount owed now,
• the Monthly payment as that debt's minimum, and
• the Interest rate (APR, optional), including any dated rate changes and interest-only or grace periods.

Amounts in another currency are converted into your main currency at today's rate, and the plan says "Converted at today’s rate". A debt in a currency with no rate yet is left out and named at the top, for example "Car loan is left out - no exchange rate to EUR."

A debt with no monthly payment has a minimum of 0. It is paid only by extra money you add or by payments freed when another debt clears.

Read the result

• Debt-free shows the month and year of your last payment, how many payments that takes and the total interest.
• If your payments do not cover the interest, you see "Your payments don’t cover the interest yet - add an extra monthly amount to start paying these down." instead of a date.
• A comparison line says what the other strategy would do, for example "Saves €120.00 interest vs snowball."
• Payoff order numbers your debts in the order they clear. Each row says "Cleared Mar 2028", or "Not cleared in range" if it never clears, and shows the interest that debt costs.

The planner pays every debt its minimum each month. All the extra money, plus the minimums freed by debts that are already cleared, goes to one priority debt at a time.

Choose a strategy

Under What if, pick how the priority debt is chosen:

The comparison line under the result shows how much interest one strategy saves over the other for your debts.

Try an extra payment, a lump sum or a consolidation

These three what-ifs sit under the strategy pills. They are not saved: closing the app resets them.

• Extra monthly payment (optional): a slider and a field. The slider runs up to three times your largest minimum payment. The note beneath reads "On top of every debt’s minimum, in EUR." The result card above moves as you change it.
• One-off payment: "Try a lump sum against your priority debt." Enter an Amount (optional) and the date under On (it starts one month ahead). The card says how many months sooner you clear the debt and how much interest you save, or "No change to your payoff date."
• Consolidate: shown when you have two or more debts. "Try folding debts into one loan. Pick two or more, then set the new rate and payment." Tick the debts, then fill in New APR and Payment. The answer reads like "Debt-free Mar 2029 · 4 months sooner · €210.00 less interest", or "No change to your payoff." A bad deal shows as more interest, not hidden. If the new payment never clears the loan, it says so.

If a debt has overpayment terms, a strip under the extra payment or the lump sum says how much goes over the yearly allowance and the early-repayment charge to expect.

Refinance or consolidate for real

The Consolidate card only models. To actually combine debts, open one debt's card on the Money tab, tap ⋯ and then Refinance / consolidate.

1. Under Debts to pay off, tick one or more debts.
2. Under New debt, fill in Name (it starts as "Refinanced loan"), Interest rate (APR), Currency and Monthly payment.
3. Enter Fees / closing costs (optional). By default they are added to the new loan. Turn on Pay the fee in cash to pay them from a wallet (Fee paid from); they are then recorded as an expense.
4. Set the Refinance date and check New debt balance.
5. Tap Refinance.

Tavala creates the new debt, moves each old debt's exact payoff into it with a transfer marked "Refinance", and archives the old debts.

What needs Plus

The planner screen, the payoff order, the debt-free date and the choice between Highest rate first and Smallest first are free with any number of debts. The three what-ifs above are free while you have one debt. With two or more debts they open the Plus sheet: "The full planner works on your first debt. Plus opens it for every debt." Refinance / consolidate is free from your first debt's menu and needs Tavala Plus on others.

Good to know

• The card on Money can show a different date. A debt's own countdown assumes only its monthly payment. The planner pools extra money and freed minimums across all debts, so its date can be earlier.
• The planner looks up to 100 years ahead. A debt that does not clear in that time shows as "Not cleared in range".
• Not a promise. The plan assumes you pay on schedule at today's rates and balances. Record real payments with record a loan payment and the plan updates.
• For one-off sums of your own, try the calculators, such as Loan payment.