5 Strategies for paying off Debt
I have talked about the debt snowball before and honestly, it’s my favorite and go to. However, there are other ways to do it. Let me introduce you to options. I’m sure these aren’t the only methods either, but let’s dig in. I was a part of the Ramsey Preferred Coaches program while they had it. I took the Financial Coach Master Training and learned exactly how to make the seven baby steps work for you. Step # 2 in Dave Ramsey’s baby steps is pay off debt. If you are a Ramsey fan you know the only way Dave supports is the Debt Snowball. This is where you list all your debt from smallest to largest regardless of interest rate. You pay minimum payments on everything except the smallest. You throw any extra money you have at the first debt on the list. Once it is eliminated you apply everything you were putting toward it to the next one in line and keep going until everything is paid off! This method helps you get quick wins and a sense of instant gratification. Ramsey is looking at this from a behavioral lens, as progress is the most motivating thing to humans, so when you get a debt paid off fast you want to keep going.
The next method to mention would be the Avalanche method. This was popularized by Suze Orman. This method gives you a financial win if your debt or at least one has a significantly higher interest rate. In her blog post “How to Tackle Credit Card Debt in 2026” she states “Pay the minimum due on every card on time. Pay more on the card with the highest interest rate.” She even recognizes in the post “I know some of you may want to tackle the card with the smallest balance, because it is a more achievable goal.” It provides psychological momentum to stay committed when you are reaching goals, but she is confident that you will make financial progress paying off the highest interest first. This method is not just for credit cards either it would be for all your debt. You just list out your debt by highest interest rate to smallest and get started paying minimums on all your debt except the one with the highest interest rate. Throw everything else at that one.
Have you read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad? I consumed it rather fast in audiobook form a few years ago. It is written by Robert Kiyosaki who believes in good debt and bad debt. To pay off debt he does a Debt Roll where you list all debt in order of smallest payment. He advises making minimum payments on all bad debt and applying any extra cash to the lowest payment. He looks at “bad” debt as consumer debt and “good” debt as assets that produce cash flow, like an investment property or business loan. So, while he is paying off debt, he considers bad he is leveraging himself to buy debt he considers good. This method of paying debt off could be helpful for someone who has a very tight budget to focus on paying off smallest payment first.
Kesla Dickey is a financial coach whose target audience is athletes. She has a coaching business called Fiscal Fitness Phx and she is the CEO of the Financial Coach Academy. She developed the Most Triggering Method. I like this one because just like the Snowball Method it focuses on what motivates us as humans with our behavior. The idea with this method is to focus on paying off the debt that is causing you the most emotional harm. So when I think of Emotional debt I think of anything you used debt for to buy something for an ex, lawyer fees to get divorced, stupid purchased your regret, or anything that you just want out of your life. As soon as you get it paid off you are no longer being punished by payments for a decision made in the past. Just the emotional trigger will motivate you to keep going to get rid of it. Then you list the rest in the order you need to get it done.
Last is a combo method. I need you to understand we are all human, life comes up and situations change. That means sometimes the method you are using needs to change. It is okay for change in the middle of a plan as long as you don’t lose momentum and that there is a good reason for the shift. You might want to start with the most triggering and once you get that one debt that just made you feel gross out of the way switch to the snowball. Or if you have a crazy interest rate and you mentally cannot focus knowing that you are paying all that interest start with the avalanche and then switch to Kiyosaki because you really value assets but want to eliminate consumer debt. Ultimately the most important part is that you pick a method that works best with you and your goals. As a financial coach that is what I would help you figure out.
