Debt is scary. Which is why most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, even when we should. When we were struggling financially a few years ago, I had a debt payoff plan tucked away in the back of a binder, and it rarely saw the light of day, except on payday when I had to look at it. Sometimes, this out-of-sight-out-of-mind setup hindered my progress and caused me to lose traction toward my goals. Realizing this, I decided to create a visual debt payoff tracker so I could have a real and measurable reminder of what we were working for and how far we had come. And it worked!
There is no right or wrong way to make one, so long as it is visually appealing and easy for you to understand. Our payoff tracker was a simple poster board listing our debt, with post-it notes indicating our monthly planned payoff amounts for each – similar to the “Hybrid Method” shown HERE. If you want something a little more visually appealing, have a look at the chalkboard created by Doctor In Debt (shown above). Or if you don’t have that kind of time, you could always do something simple like Eliza from Happy Simple Living (shown below).
The point is, the old saying “What you think about, you bring about” is really true! So if debt payoff is a high priority for you, consider a visual reminder that will help you stay focused. If you prefer an online visual or mobile app, have a look at the Gazelle Budget System & Debt Snowball Tool over at DaveRamsey.com.