<prompt> Human: Me and my mom were talking about the best way to pay off debt today. I thought it was the snowball way if paying minimum on everything except the smallest and working the hardest to pay that one off and keep going from there. She said that is was paying he highest interest rate off first and paying them off in that order. I would like to now which is the most effect method and an explanation to why it is. Im not in any actual debt it is just a question I would like to know the answer too.  <response>: Mathematically, your mother is right. Paying off the highest interest debt first will save you the most money in the long run. The alternate view is that, for some people, the satisfaction of paying off a loan which will happen more often if you focus on always paying off the smallest debt is a huge motivator. If getting that feeling is whats going to keep you on track i.e. Making your regular monthly payments then it might be a better option. 