Debt Payoff Chart

A blog I follow, Medium Sized Family, created a “money saving chart” years ago. I liked it. I like it so much, in fact, that I’ve tried to complete it… more than once. And I’ve never completed it. I start one each year with the best of intentions and then three or four months into the year I forget about it. Then I feel so far behind that I can’t catch up, and I let it completely fall by the wayside. I think that happens for a couple of reasons: one, I don’t have enough left over money each week to cross off a square and so I get discouraged, and two, I have so much debt that I want to put all my “extra” money towards debt.

So that got me thinking, what would motivate me? I decided to make my own chart, but instead of a money saving chart, I made a “debt payoff chart”.

Each chart is equal to paying off $2000 in debt. Since I started using them with about $18,000 in debt, I figure I will need to fill in about 10 charts in all (after stupid tax, aka interest is factored in) until I’m debt free. This is also assuming that my debt continues to go in the right direction and that I don’t add any more debt to our already high debt totals.

Since I just got back on the paying-off-debt wagon, I started to fill a chart based on my current totals. It was pretty cool to fill in an entire chart and then some on my first month back.  On our last debt update we paid off over $2200 in debt! In one month! I’m super proud and super excited that we are one chart down with “only” nine to go!

Next month (about 13 days from now, per our credit card billing cycle) won’t be as good, but we are still making progress. I’m already doing calculations in my head to see if I will be able to complete our second chart this month. (Spoiler alert – I don’t think we are quite going to be able to swing it this month, but that’s just more motivation for next month.)

I’m hoping having this little chart to color in each month will be motivation for me to work on getting out of debt! It’s a small thing, but it’s a visual representation of our progress. I’m sick of sending $1500 - $2000 towards debt every month and I can’t wait for the day that we can put that money in the bank. Or buy a new mattress. Or take The Kids clothes and shoes shopping without having to scrimp and save or wonder where the money is going to come from.

The last couple months we have made huge strides! I hope we can keep doing that and that this little chart will help to spur me on! I’m also really excited for the day this “debt payoff chart” can become a “money saving chart”!

As always, wish us luck; as I wish you the best of luck in your debt freedom journey!