Building a Realistic Plan to Pay off Your Debt

Everything you need to know in under 30 minutes

Over the next 30 minutes, you’ll learn everything you need to know to build a realistic game plan to pay off your debt, including how much you need to pay on each of your loans every month.

This course has two sections:

• In section one, you’ll learn about setting a realistic goal to repay your debt and download the spreadsheet I created to build your custom debt repayment plan.

• In section two, you will learn about the two most effective strategies to pay off debt and enter your information about your debt into the spreadsheet to receive your custom debt repayment plan.

Let’s get started.

Section 1: Creating a SMART goal to pay off your debts

Let’s begin by downloading the Excel file below.

(Note: Substack does not let me include Excel files in my posts. So, I had to create a download link to a zipped file to share the workbook. I tested it, and it worked for me, but if you are having trouble downloading the file, email info@benlefort.com, and I’ll send the file to you directly.)

Click HERE or the button below to download your Debt Repayment Workbook.

This Excel file is custom-built to walk you through step by step what you need to do to pay off your debt in the most efficient way possible.

A few things to note:

• This Excel file relies on what are called “Macros” to do some complex number crunching. You may see a warning that “Macros have been disabled” with an option to “Enable content”.

• It is critical that you select “Enable content”; otherwise, the Excel file will not work properly, and your results will not make sense.

• If you have problems with the Macros, send me an email at info@benlefort.com, and I’ll be happy to walk you through them. 

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S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting

In how many years do you want to be debt-free?

Now, it’s time to set your goal for when you want to be debt-free.

Open up the Excel workbook and go to the tab entitled "goal setting".

In cell "C12," enter the number of years you would like to be debt-free. It is important that you do not skip this step. The debt repayment calculator will use this information to calculate your debt repayment plan. If you don't enter when you would like to be debt-free, the calculator will not work.

Gather all the info about your outstanding debt

Before you go any further, you are going to need to have your monthly statements for every loan you have. This includes but is not excluded to;

• A monthly statement for each credit card you have. If you have three different credit cards, you will need a copy of the monthly statement for each card. 

• Monthly car loan statement 

• Student loan statement.

• The monthly statement for any other personal loan, line of credit, or payday loan 

Each of these statements will have critical data you will enter in a few lessons, including the balance of your debt, the interest rate on your debt, and the minimum monthly payment to service your debt. 

You should receive these statements in the mail or be able to acquire them online through your lender’s website. Go ahead and grab those 

I cannot stress enough how important these monthly statements are. Personal finance is called PERSONAL finance for a reason. If you don’t fully account for all of your debts, your results will not be reflective of the reality of your financial statements. 

In the final lesson of the course, you will input the following information for each of your debts into the tab titled My debts.”

1. Type of debt (credit card or car loan)

2. The current balance of the loan

3. The interest rate

4. The Required monthly payment

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Section 2: Your Custom Debt Repayment Plan

The snowball method of debt repayment

The avalanche method of debt repayment

Snowball vs Avalanche

Your debt-free plan

Note: This video used a hypothetical example of how to pay off various debts. Obviously, this spreadsheet only works if you enter accurate information about your debt—So make sure you have your credit card and loan statements in front of you before using it.

You will input the following information for each of your debts into the tab titled My debts.”

1. Type of debt (credit card or car loan)

2. The current balance of the loan

3. The interest rate

4. The Required monthly payment

If you are having any issues getting the calculator to work, send me an email to info@benlefort.com

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Congratulations on investing the time in yourself.

By completing this course, you have learned a lot.

Knowledge is one thing. Following through on that knowledge is another ball game and will determine if you meet your goal or not.

That's why I want to invite you to join—if you haven’t already—the Monthly Savings Club. This is a place where you can get support from myself and other like-minded people trying to improve their finances.

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The above content is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.