Let me guess. You've downloaded a budgeting app, maybe two. You've looked at your credit card balances. You've thought about it. Maybe you even made a spreadsheet once.

But you still don't have a plan.

Not a real one anyway. Not one that tells you exactly when you'll be debt-free and what to do each month to get there. Most people don't. And it's not because they're lazy or bad with money. It's because creating a real debt payoff plan is actually pretty hard to do on your own.

So let's fix that.

Step 1: Get all your debts in one place

This sounds obvious, but most people skip it. Not on purpose. It's just that checking four different apps or websites to figure out where you stand is exhausting. And the numbers change every month.

Write down every debt you have. Credit cards, student loans, car loans, personal loans, medical bills, that money you owe your cousin. For each one, you need three numbers: the current balance, the interest rate (APR), and the minimum monthly payment.

If you're using Spendify, this part happens automatically. Connect your accounts through Plaid and all your debt details get pulled in, including the stuff you'd normally have to dig through statements to find, like interest rates and minimum payments.

Step 2: Pick a strategy (and know why)

This is where most people get stuck. You've probably heard of the debt snowball and the debt avalanche. Maybe you've seen people argue about which one is better. Here's the truth: they both work. But they work differently for different situations.

The Debt Snowball pays off your smallest balance first. You get quick wins, which feels amazing. If you have a bunch of small debts that stress you out, this might be your move.

The Debt Avalanche targets the highest interest rate first. Mathematically, this saves you the most money over time. If your highest interest debt also has a big balance, this could save you thousands.

The key is seeing the actual numbers for your situation. How much interest does each strategy save you? How many months difference are we talking? That's not a question you can answer in your head. You need a tool that runs the math on YOUR debts.

In Spendify's Debt Planner, you can compare both strategies side by side. It shows you the exact interest saved, the exact time saved, and when you'll be debt-free with each approach. No guessing.

Step 3: Know your debt-free date

This is the part that changes everything. Not "I want to be debt-free someday." An actual date. Like, "March 2028."

When you have a real date, something shifts in your brain. It stops being this vague goal floating out in the future and becomes something concrete you're working toward. You can see it getting closer every month.

To calculate yours, you need your total debt, your interest rates, your minimum payments, and how much extra you can throw at it each month. Then it's just math. (Annoying math, which is why most people don't do it.)

Step 4: Run the "what-if" scenarios

This is where it gets fun. What if you put your tax refund toward your credit card? What if you add $100 extra per month? What if you get a raise and throw half of it at your debt?

These aren't hypothetical questions. They have real, specific answers. An extra $100/month on a $15,000 credit card at 24% APR could save you over $4,000 in interest and get you debt-free over a year sooner. That's not nothing.

Play with the numbers. See what's possible. That's how you go from "I hope I can pay this off someday" to "I know exactly when I'll be done."

Step 5: Track your progress (and celebrate the wins)

The number one reason people quit their debt payoff plan? They can't see the progress. When you're making payments every month but the balance barely moves, it's demoralizing.

That's why tracking matters. Not just the balance, but how much interest you've saved, how much time you've shaved off, and how far you've come since day one. Those numbers tell a different story than just the balance.

Every debt you pay off is a win. Every month you're ahead of the minimum payment schedule is a win. Celebrate those.

The bottom line

A debt payoff plan isn't a budget. It's not a spreadsheet you look at once and forget about. It's a living strategy that tells you what to do with your money each month to get to zero.

If you want to build one without doing all the math yourself, Spendify does it for you. Connect your accounts, pick a strategy, and see your debt-free date in minutes. You get 1 month free to try it out.

Check it out at spendify.money.

You've got this.