Before we started to get serious about paying down debt, we knew we had debts. Between the car, credit cards and our student loans, it was no surprise we had debt. But we didn’t know exactly how much debt. We knew rough estimates on who we owed to who.
Let’s be honest, we were having a hard time to stay afloat. I was in a car commuting 3 hours a day finishing up my teacher certification and Master’s degree between two different universities, and Hubs was working a minimum of 14 hours a day. Our finances lacked serious organization. I’ve already mentioned how our Bill Pay Tracker helps immensely to keep us on top of our monthly and non-monthly bills. But we still needed to know what our total debt was and come up with a plan to pay it off.
I started searching for a debt free tracker that would show us what our total debt is on each account by the month, and what we paid each month. I had a really hard time finding a printable that worked for us and what I had envisioned, so I created one.
While it’s not as smooth as the spreadsheet we use to determine our payoff date, or as nice of a visual for how much debt we’ve paid off like a tracker you can color in your progress. In the space with the ‘o’, I mark what our current amount owed is, and in the space right below marked with a ‘p’, I notate what we paid on the account that month.
While they may not apply to this tracker, it is one place to keep track of our debt balances and how much we’re putting towards our debts each month, and a place to see the balances come down. I like to keep in our budget binder, and update it as I’m paying the bills each month to help our motivation towards reducing the balances and becoming debt free.
Since originally creating the tracker back in 2015, we’ve paid off quite a few accounts. Actually, of all the accounts on that image above, my student loans were consolidated into one payment, and everything else except the second credit card on that list is paid off! After transferring a portion of credit card debt to a 0% interest card last month, I decided it was time to update this tracker, and refill it in.
To make a good thing even better, I’m sharing this debt free tracker with you so that you can keep track of your payments and balances, and be motivated to continue paying off your debt! You can find it sitting pretty in my Resource Library, absolutely free!
How do you prefer to keep track of your debts? On a debt payment tracker, an excel sheet, or a different way? I’d love to know in the comments below!
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