Coaching practices for Debt Inventory Spreadsheet

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Debt Inventory Spreadsheet, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• My debt is this giant shapeless dread I avoid even looking at
• I’ve got a handful of debts at wildly different rates and I’ve just been throwing money at whichever one feels most pressing each month
• Everyone online says one way is the "smart" way, but I’ve started and quit every money plan I’ve ever made
• I’m paying down one card while still swiping another, so my total debt barely budges
• I’m doing fine with the payoff plan until some "just this once" purchase appears

Practices that may help

1. List all debts from smallest to largest balance — ignore interest rates for now
   Write every debt with its current balance and minimum payment; sort by balance ascending, not by interest rate.
   The Debt Snowball, Made Practical
2. List all debts ranked by interest rate, highest to lowest
   Sort every debt by APR descending — this single ordering is the entire strategic decision of the avalanche method.
   The Debt Avalanche, Made Practical
3. The Debt Avalanche, Made Practical
   The debt avalanche pays off debts in order of highest interest rate first, minimizing the total interest paid over the life of the payoff. It is mathematically superior to the debt snowball for most people with multiple debts at meaningfully different rates. The challenge is motivational: the first payoff event may take longer than in the snowball, which makes the avalanche harder to sustain. The best method is the one you actually complete.
4. Make an informed choice: when snowball is right and when avalanche wins
   Calculate the total interest cost of both methods before committing — if the gap is small and motivation is your constraint, snowball; if the gap is large and you are disciplined, avalanche.
   The Debt Snowball, Made Practical
5. Freeze new debt acquisition while the snowball is running
   Stop adding to any debt balance while paying down others — an empty bucket never empties if it has a running tap.
   The Debt Snowball, Made Practical
6. Guard against the "one more purchase" exception
   The avalanche fails when every large optional purchase becomes an exception to the debt freeze — pre-commit to what qualifies as an exception.
   The Debt Avalanche, Made Practical
7. Automate the extra payment on the target debt the day after payday
   Schedule the extra avalanche payment as an automatic transfer so the decision is made once, not every month.
   The Debt Avalanche, Made Practical
8. Build a motivation scaffold for the long stretch before the first payoff
   Create interim milestones — balance reductions, interest-saved totals, percentage paid — so the first elimination event is not the only win.
   The Debt Avalanche, Made Practical
9. The Debt Snowball, Made Practical
   The debt snowball, popularized by Dave Ramsey, pays off debts in order of smallest balance first (regardless of interest rate), then rolls each freed payment into the next. It is not the mathematically optimal strategy — the debt avalanche (highest interest first) minimizes total interest paid — but observational research suggests that the snowball’s motivational wins outperform the avalanche for many people who fail to complete the avalanche. Which method is better depends on whether you are more constrained by math or motivation.
10. Pay minimums on all debts, then attack the smallest with every extra dollar
    Never miss a minimum payment on any debt; concentrate all discretionary debt payment on the smallest balance until it is gone.
    The Debt Snowball, Made Practical

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