FREE ACCIO DEBT FREEDOM WORKBOOK
A Little About Liz: I'll have the wine! Hey there! That's me, Liz. And I created this workbook to help you get started tackling your debt. I know first hand what it's like to look at all your debt and just have absolutely no idea where to start. I was staring at my debt without a clue back in 2013 and by 2014 I got a plan together and paid off all of my credit card debt, I still have other debt to deal with, but I've got a plan for it too. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, I run Less Debt, More Wine where I help you balance massive student debt and having a life. I'm super pumped to have you as part of the LDMW gang. I hope this workbook helps you come up with a plan for your debt so you can summon debt freedom and spend more time enjoying your life.
Disclosure: This resource contains some affiliate links for your convenience. When you make a purchase after clicking an affiliate link, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission s 16 CFR part 255. I only recommend products that I personally use and genuinely recommend. Disclaimer: The following information has been prepared for general informational purposes only. The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, may not be current, and is subject to change without notice.
Debt Repayment Strategies The Snowball Method Paying off your debt via the snowball method means, prioritizing your debt from smallest to largest. You make the minimum payments on everything and then throw all your extra money at the smallest debt until it is paid off. You then take all the money you were throwing at the smallest debt and apply it to the next smallest debt until it is paid off you continue until all your debt is paid off. You essentially build a huge snowball of payments. Benefit: The benefit of this plan is the quick win at the beginning, it's exciting to have paid off a debt and helps to keep you motivated to keep going. The Avalanche Method The avalanche method has you paying off your debt in order of interest rate, starting from highest to lowest. Mathematically, this one is most likely to save you money in interest. Since you will be paying off the higher interest rate debt first, you are paying off the debt that costs you the most each day. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally, it will save you the most in interest. The downside is that if the balance on your highest interest rate is high, it will take a while to pay off and it is hard to keep your motivation moving forward. Benefit: This method will save you the most on interest. The Snowflake Method The snowflake method doesn't really focus on the order of paying off your debt but rather on the method. The idea is that every extra cent you get, be it $15 rebate, or a quarter you found on the ground, all of it goes towards your debt. It goes towards your debt as soon as you have that money before it can be spent elsewhere. Which means, yes, you could be making $0.25 payments. It may not seem like much but it all really does add up. Benefit: Multiple small payments over the course of the month will add up to more than you think.
The Nor'easter Method The nor'easter method is something I came up with because while I like the avalanche method, there are certain debts that have some emotional attachments. For example, my parents co-signed my bar loan, for both our sakes I want to get it paid off as soon as possible especially since it is a private loan. The was the rest of my loans are it would be somewhere middle of the pack with my student loans, but I bumped it closer to the top along with my car loan. My car loan got bumped because I'm afraid my car will get hit and then I'll be screwed, I didn't want that to happen. The point is, you can pick a method and then tweak it based on your individual circumstances. Benefit: Ability to customize your debt repayment strategy. HOMEWORK Start taking stock of how you are best motivated, is it will small quick wins, or saving money, are you ok with paying small amounts or do you like to see the big payments? 1. Choose a Debt Repayment Method (Avalanche, Snowball, Snowflake, or Nor'easter) 2. List and compare your debt Debt Total Amount Interest Rate
3. Pick one or two loans/debts to prioritize 1. 2. 4. Prioritize the rest based on your chosen debt repayment style 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Tools to Help With Debt Repayment Unbury.me A free debt repayment calculator. Use it to enter your loans and figure out your debt free date. Then put that date somewhere you can see it regularly. Qapital A free app that will help you find extra money, you set rules for when it saves and then it starts saving money for you. Use that money to make extra payments on your debt. This app can definitely help if you plan to employ the snowflake method. Qoins An app that unlike Qapital will actually make the extra debt payment for you. However, it's not free though at $1.99 a month it also isn't unreasonable, up to you if you want to manually make that extra payment or use Qoins to have it made automatically. Bonus Debt Repayment Tips 1.Split your monthly minimum payment in half and make payments every two weeks, the benefit is two fold. You will pay less in interest and if you continue to make payments every two weeks no matter what, you will end up making an extra full months payment in a year. 2. If you have a variable interest rate that just keeps rising or just high-interest rate debt, look for other options, maybe you move your credit card debt to a 0% credit card, or refinance your car loan. Take action to avoid an uphill battle. 3. Pick up a side hustle to help you earn more to pay off your debt faster.