Debtless
Loans & bills
Deferment vs. forbearance: what happens to interest
The general difference between deferment and forbearance on a student loan, and why unpaid interest can capitalize into a larger balance.
Money decisions, made clearer.
The Debtless Journal
Debtless is a 100% free debt payoff app for iPhone. Practical ways to get out of debt, one decision at a time. Clear examples, useful routines and a free app to put your plan into practice. The Debtless Journal is a free debt blog of practical articles on payoff methods, credit card interest, loans, collections, budgeting and privacy, written for anyone deciding how to pay down what they owe. It turns reading like this into a plan, drawing on 442 articles in this library.
The Debtless Journal articles
442 articles
Life & debt
Helping a parent get organized about debt
How to help a parent understand their debt without taking on liability, including permission, an honest inventory, and watching for scams.
Privacy & habits
Remove saved cards from shopping sites
Why removing saved cards from shopping sites adds useful friction against impulse buying and also reduces how many places store your card details.
Getting started
Principal vs. interest: where each payment goes
How a single payment splits between interest and principal, why early payments feel slow, and how that split shifts over time.
Payoff methods
Rounding up payments: small, steady and measurable
How rounding a payment up to the nearest $25 or $50 compares to paying the exact minimum, shown with real month-by-month numbers.
Free debt apps
Using one debt app as a couple
Practical ways to track debt as a couple with one app, including which debts to combine, which to keep separate, and how to review together.
Budget & cash flow
A debt plan for a one-income household
Why a debt payoff plan should look different with one income than two, and how to size a buffer and pace that a single paycheck can sustain.
Credit card debt
Paying your card more than once a month
Splitting one monthly card payment into two, timed with paydays, can lower the interest charged by reducing the average daily balance for the cycle.
Payments & progress
Track interest paid, not only the balance
Why watching the interest charge on each statement, not just the balance, shows the real cost and progress of a debt payoff.
Loans & bills
Student loan default: first steps to get out
What federal student loan default generally means, the first steps to address it, and where to find current options at studentaid.gov.
Life & debt
Lending money to family while you are in debt
How to decide whether to lend money to family when you carry debt yourself, and how to say no without damaging the relationship.
Privacy & habits
Why manual entry can beat automation for awareness
Why typing in your own numbers instead of automatic syncing can build more awareness of your debt, and how to make a five-minute monthly habit of it.
Getting started
How to calculate one month of interest on a debt
Two ways to estimate a month of interest on a debt, the quick APR-over-12 method and the more exact daily rate, with the math shown.
Payoff methods
What one extra payment a year does to a loan
How a single extra payment applied once a year changes an installment loan's payoff timeline, and how to make sure it hits principal.
Free debt apps
A debt tracker for student loans: what to record
Learn what to record for each student loan in a debt tracker, including servicer, rate, group, and plan type, so the numbers stay useful.
Budget & cash flow
The irregular expenses that knock debt plans off course
Car repairs, medical bills, gifts and annual fees don't show up monthly. Here's how to turn them into one predictable monthly set-aside instead.
Credit card debt
Paying before the statement closes: what it changes
Paying a credit card before the statement closes, rather than by the due date, can lower the balance reported to credit bureaus and the interest charged.
Payments & progress
Debt total vs. net worth: which number to watch
The difference between your total debt and your net worth, and why checking both gives a more honest financial picture than either alone.
Loans & bills
Pursuing PSLF? Why extra payments may not help
Why extra payments on a loan you are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness for can reduce what gets forgiven instead of speeding things up.
Life & debt
Self-employed with debt: set aside taxes first
Why setting aside money for taxes has to come before extra debt payments when you are self-employed, and how to build that habit.
Give your plan a place to live.
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