About this video

• Video Title: Debt Payment Tracker Tutorial - Snowball & Avalanche Method - Student Loan & Mortgage House Tracker
• Channel: Priori Digital Studio
• Speakers: None specified
• Duration: 00:05:29

Overview

This video provides a tutorial on how to set up and use a debt payment tracker spreadsheet, compatible with both Google Sheets and Excel. It explains how to input financial information, choose between debt repayment strategies (Avalanche, Snowball, or Custom), and track progress towards becoming debt-free.

Key takeaways

• Protected Cells: Most cells in the spreadsheet contain formulas and are protected to prevent accidental deletion. If you attempt to edit a protected cell, a message will appear, and you should click "Cancel."
• Setup Tab: All necessary information is entered in the "Setup" tab, which then automates the rest of the spreadsheet.
• Currency and Start Date: You need to specify your currency symbol and the date you began or plan to begin debt repayment.
• Repayment Methods:
  • Avalanche: Prioritizes debts with the highest interest rates to minimize total interest paid.
  • Snowball: Focuses on paying off debts with the lowest balance first, creating a snowball effect.
  • Custom: Allows you to manually order the debts you wish to pay off first.
• Extra Payments: An optional field allows you to input any additional funds you want to allocate towards debt repayment.
• Debt Entry: When listing debts, you input the name, initial balance, interest rate, and minimum payment. The order matters only for the "Custom" repayment method.
• Debt Dashboard: This tab provides an analysis of your debts, including initial balance, total monthly payment, and projected debt-free date, along with visual graphs.
• Spontaneous Payments: The "plus/minus" cells on the dashboard allow for adjustments to monthly payments or adding extra cash for spontaneous payments.