How to use the chart
Type in the balance you want to clear and decide what one box is worth. The chart redraws as you type. When it looks right, press Print the chart. Only the chart prints, on a single page, without the rest of this website around it.
Put the page somewhere you walk past every day. Each time your balance falls by one box's worth, color a box. You can also click the boxes on screen if you would rather keep a tab open than use paper, but the on-screen version resets when you close the page, so the printed one is the one to rely on.
Where this chart came from
I made the first version of this by hand. One January, when my kids were small and we had been very generous at Christmas, I had a $3,500 balance on one credit card. I knew the number. Knowing it did not make me do anything about it.
So I drew a grid of 70 boxes on a sheet of paper, each one worth $50, and stuck it on the fridge. Every time I paid off another $50, I colored a box. That was the whole system. It worked for me because $3,500 felt impossible and $50 did not, and because the page was on the fridge where I could not avoid it.
This page draws the same grid for whatever balance you have, so you do not need a ruler.
Choosing a box size
The box should be small enough that you color one every week or two. If you only get to color a box every other month, the chart stops being fun and you stop looking at it. Too many tiny boxes has the opposite problem: the page looks like it will never fill up.
Somewhere between 40 and 100 boxes tends to feel right. A few examples:
- $1,000 balance at $25 a box is 40 boxes.
- $3,500 balance at $50 a box is 70 boxes.
- $8,000 balance at $100 a box is 80 boxes.
- $15,000 balance at $250 a box is 60 boxes.
If the balance does not divide evenly, the last box is just worth a bit less than the others. The chart tells you how much.
What the chart does not do
The chart tracks your balance. It does not work out interest. On a credit card, part of every payment goes to interest before any of it reduces what you owe, so a $50 payment lowers the balance by somewhat less than $50. That is why the instruction is to color a box when the balance has dropped by a box, not every time you make a payment.
For the numbers side, use the credit card payoff calculator to see how long a given monthly payment will take and how much interest you will pay along the way. If you have several debts, the debt payoff calculator compares paying the smallest balance first with paying the highest rate first. The chart is for staying with the plan once you have one.
For classes and workshops
If you teach a personal finance class or run a money workshop at a library, school or community program, you are welcome to print and photocopy the chart. A blank version works well as a handout: leave the default numbers, choose "Nothing (blank boxes)", print it, and have people write in their own box value.